Blues for Kids: Piano Book & CD

Energetic, playful, and grounded in genuine jazz tradition. These pieces skip the artificial simplification that drains beginner jazz of its character, instead delivering authentic swing, blues changes, and Latin rhythms scaled to young hands and early reading skills.

Beginning pianists ages 6-10 who respond to contemporary styles and want to play music that sounds like real jazz from day one. Students who find traditional beginner books unmotivating will engage more readily with pieces named for friends and featuring familiar idioms like boogie and salsa.

• Listen to the complete mix first to absorb the groove and phrasing before you attempt it hands together. Yasinitsky's pieces rely on rhythmic feel, not just note accuracy.
• Use the separate hands tracks strategically. Practice your right hand to the backing while listening to the recorded left hand, then swap roles. This trains your independence rather than just drilling parts in isolation.
• Pay attention to swing articulation and swing feel notation throughout the book. These pieces teach jazz vocabulary alongside technique, so rhythmic interpretation matters as much as precision.

Insert these into your winter or spring recitals to add color and diversity to a program otherwise dominated by classical repertoire. Pair them with the illustrations and coloring pages for a family-friendly component that invites audience participation or creates take-home activities for younger siblings.

• Swing feel and jazz articulation
• Blues changes and chord progressions
• Syncopated rhythm patterns and syncopation reading
• Left-hand independence and accompaniment patterns
• Interpretation and musical expression beyond note-reading
• Listening and ensemble coordination through backing tracks