Creative Composition Toolbox, Book 6: Piano Book

Rossi builds composition skills in a logical, scaffolded sequence that actually makes sense to students. Rather than overwhelming them with theory divorced from sound, each chapter introduces a tool, shows how it works, and sends them directly to the keyboard to use it. Late intermediate pianists will recognize they're learning the same harmonic and structural concepts that shape the music they already play.

Empowering. Each concept feels achievable because Rossi introduces it clearly, shows it in action, and immediately puts you in control of it. You'll discover that compositional choices you'd thought were out of reach (modulation, canon, secondary dominants) are actually deliberate techniques with rules you can learn and apply.

Late intermediate pianists ready to move beyond playing composed pieces and understand how music actually gets written. This book suits students who ask questions about chord choices, want to write their own pieces, or are preparing for theory assessments that include composition. It works equally well in private lessons, group piano classes, or as a theory supplement in music school curricula.

• Start each new chapter by playing through the example passages before attempting your own composition. Hearing how the tool functions makes writing with it intuitive.
• Use chord symbols to guide your left hand decisions early on. They anchor exploration and prevent random wandering when you're first improvising with secondary dominants or altered chords.
• Return to your own compositions from earlier chapters as your harmonic vocabulary expands. Revise a simple chord progression using quartal harmony or secondary dominants to hear how much more sophisticated it becomes.
• Record yourself playing your compositions, even rough drafts. Listening back reveals balance issues and helps you hear whether parallel motion or contrary motion serves your musical intent.

Assign chapters sequentially as pianists progress through their repertoire, so they understand the compositional choices they encounter in pieces they're learning. Alternatively, use specific chapters to reinforce theory concepts: secondary dominants when studying sonata form, counterpoint alongside Bach inventions, modulation when learning multi-movement works.

• Reading and writing chord symbols on lead sheets
• Composing with ostinatos as structural anchors
• Writing parallel and contrary motion between voices
• Recognizing and using altered chords for color and tension
• Building progressions with quartal and quintal harmony
• Writing secondary dominants and resolving them correctly
• Modulating between keys using pivot chords and other techniques
• Composing canons with proper voice leading
• Developing counterpoint across multiple voices