Be A Star at Christmas!: Elementary to Late Elementary Piano Book

This collection bridges the gap between holiday fun and serious interval study. Rather than treating Christmas music as a break from learning, Costley uses recognizable melodies to anchor students' understanding of intervallic patterns, making the pedagogical work feel organic and rewarding.

Warm and direct, with the clarity that comes from familiar melodies presented in clear harmonic language. These arrangements let the Christmas music shine while keeping the intervallic patterns in sharp focus.

Elementary and late elementary pianists ready to move beyond note-by-note decoding. Students benefit most when they've had some grounding in interval recognition but are still building fluency and confidence.

• Slow down your tempo in early readings to let students hear the intervals clearly before they worry about speed or expression.
• Have students map out the interval patterns on staff paper before playing, marking each skip and step to build visual recognition.
• Encourage students to sing the interval shapes aloud while pointing to the staff; this strengthens the connection between sight and sound.
• Work through one piece at a time, mining each arrangement for the specific patterns Helen Marlais's method emphasizes in that level.

Schedule this in the fall so students have time to internalize the interval work before December performances. The book works equally well as the centerpiece of a holiday recital or as part of a mixed program that showcases how methodical study of intervals opens up repertoire.

• Recognizing interval shapes (seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, octaves) across different registers
• Identifying common intervallic patterns within melodies
• Applying interval knowledge to sight-read unfamiliar material more confidently
• Understanding how patterns repeat and transform across pieces
• Building faster, more efficient score preparation habits