Myklas Contest Winners, Book 4: Piano Book

This collection spans moods from the rhythmic sparkle of 'Festival Bells' to the rhythmic swagger of 'Walk It Slow,' with detours through Spanish flair and wintry imagery. Each piece has its own character, but all share a satisfying blend of technical challenge and melodic clarity that rewards the student who engages seriously.

Late intermediate pianists preparing for festivals, contests, or recitals will find substantial material here. These pieces sit at exactly the right difficulty level for students ready to tackle independence between the hands, expanded harmonic vocabulary, and changing meters without overwhelming them.

• Work through the chord voicings and inversions slowly before bringing them up to tempo. Block them first if needed, then integrate the hand independence gradually.
• Pay close attention to meter changes. Mark them clearly on your score and practice counting through the transitions until they feel natural rather than jolting.
• Listen for the character implied in each title. 'Spooky Blues' and 'Tarantella Espagnole' have completely different musical personalities; let that guide your interpretive choices.

Use individual pieces from this book as stepping stones between early and advanced intermediate repertoire. A single solo works beautifully on a student recital program, or program several pieces from the collection across an entire season to showcase your late intermediate students' progress.

• Reading and executing chord inversions in both hands
• Managing metric changes and mixed meters within a single piece
• Coordinating rhythmic independence between hands, especially sixteenth-note figures
• Navigating more complex key signatures
• Sustaining a consistent tempo through technically demanding passages