Alfred's Group Piano for Adults: Popular Music Book 2: Piano Book

Familiar melodies suddenly become yours to interpret. Whether you're working through the bright energy of Don't Stop Believin' or the cinematic sweep of a Disney arrangement, there's immediate reward in playing music you actually want to hear yourself perform. The lead sheets open up improvisation and reharmonization in a way that feels playful rather than academic.

Adults returning to music or discovering keyboard for the first time, working through the Group Piano curriculum at Book 2 level. These students want real songs they recognize, not exercise pieces, and this collection delivers exactly that while reinforcing the harmonic and technical concepts they're learning in the core text.

• Use the lead sheets to encourage chord exploration beyond the written notes; ask students to voice the harmonies in different octaves or inversions rather than playing them exactly as notated.
• Return to the solo pieces after working through the corresponding lead sheet material; students often hear the harmonic framework they've internalized reflected back in the arrangement.
• Build confidence with shorter pieces first (Take Five, How High the Moon) before tackling longer narrative arrangements like Rhapsody in Blue or the Hamilton selection.

Assign pieces from the solo section as take-home material between group sessions, then use class time to play through them together and discuss interpretation choices. When you reach a corresponding lead sheet in the core book, have students prepare the solo version first so they understand the melody before harmonizing it.

• Sight-reading melodic lines with moderate rhythmic complexity
• Harmonizing lead sheets with block chords and basic voice leading
• Interpreting popular song arrangements with appropriate phrasing and tempo
• Recognizing and playing common harmonic progressions in a tonal context
• Building confidence with repertoire that extends beyond elementary keyboard studies