Contest Winners, Book 2: Piano Book

This collection cuts through the noise by assembling pieces that have already proven themselves on festival stages. Each solo comes with McArthur's specific guidance on practice strategies and performance choices, so your students don't have to guess what makes these pieces work.

This book captures that sweet spot where technique meets musicality. The pieces are refined without being precious, with enough character and variety to keep a young pianist engaged across a full practice session.

Pianists at the late elementary and early intermediate level who are preparing for festivals, competitions, or just want to expand their solo repertoire with pieces that have real musical substance. Teachers building a curated library of reliable recital material will find this collection especially useful.

• Listen to how the accompaniment shapes the phrasing before diving into the solo line; let the harmonic movement guide your rubato rather than fighting against it.
• Map out the dynamic arc across the entire piece first, then work backward to identify which technical passages need extra time to sit comfortably at performance tempo.
• Record yourself early and often, even at slower tempos; hearing your own tone quality and articulation choices reveals problems that looking at the page never will.
• Lean on the suggested practice tips provided for each piece; they're written by someone who's watched hundreds of students tackle these exact solos.

Assign these solos as contest prep material for the fall festival season, or draw from them throughout the year as supplementary recital pieces that complement the student's primary method book. The graded progression also makes this a solid source for student performances in studio recitals or informal school assemblies.

• Sight-reading graded repertoire across multiple styles and keys
• Pedal technique and voicing balance appropriate to each piece's character
• Sustaining musical shape across longer phrases without losing forward momentum
• Applying practice strategies to prepare contest-level material efficiently
• Interpreting performance markings with attention to dynamic subtlety and articulation
• Building stamina and confidence for solo performance situations