Let's Celebrate Summer!, Book 1: Piano Book

This book pairs creative solos with thoughtful activity pages that reinforce what students just played, making summer practice feel less like a break and more like a natural continuation of learning. McArthur and Matz understand elementary pianists well enough to write pieces that sound and feel rewarding while staying accessible, so students actually want to play them again.

Bright and approachable, with melodies that feel celebratory without being overly complicated. The activity pages echo what you've just played, creating a satisfying sense of connection between your fingers and your understanding.

Elementary pianists wrapping up lessons before summer or beginning their summer practice routine and teachers who want to keep students engaged without formal lesson structure. Students who benefit from seeing musical concepts reinforced through multiple modalities will find the pairing of performance and activity pages particularly valuable.

• Play through each solo without stopping on your first pass, even if you make mistakes. This builds performance confidence and helps you hear the complete musical shape.
• After completing the activity pages, return to the solo and notice how the reinforcement activities clarify rhythm patterns or hand position challenges you encountered.
• Record yourself playing both solos and listen back to identify which passages need slower practice tempo before the next runthrough.

Assign one solo and its accompanying activities as a summer practice assignment, letting students work through them at their own pace. The 8-page format fits easily into a summer packet alongside other material, or use it as an end-of-year review to reinforce fundamental skills before the break.

• Hand position and finger independence through solo performance
• Recognition of rhythmic and melodic patterns through correlating activities
• Music reading and recall in a low-pressure summer context
• Note identification and staff literacy reinforced across multiple exercises