In Recital® with Christmas Favorites, Book 2: Piano Book

Warm and accessible, like opening a collection of music box favorites. The pieces breathe with the simplicity of well-loved melodies while introducing enough musical vocabulary to feel substantial and worth playing well.

Elementary pianists ready to move beyond single-line melodies and explore keys without key signatures. Students at this level benefit from the reinforcement of familiar holiday material while tackling new articulation and hand position challenges.

• Shape the legato passages by listening ahead; students should hear the phrase before their fingers execute it, especially in longer tied note sequences.
• When accents appear, anchor them with a slight wrist rotation rather than just finger pressure. This prevents tension and creates a cleaner articulation.
• Block the intervals during practice before playing them as written. This builds hand shape awareness and prevents the common habit of looking down at the keys.

These arrangements work beautifully in early December recitals where younger pianists share the program with more advanced students. They also serve as excellent repertoire for holiday gatherings or community events where familiar music connects with audiences of all ages.

• Playing tied notes across bar lines
• Distinguishing legato and staccato articulation
• Reading accidentals in place of key signatures
• Executing accents with proper hand position
• Playing from upbeats
• Building chord awareness through blocked intervals
• Maintaining five-finger hand positions through key changes