On Your Way To Succeeding With The Masters, Theory Book: Piano Book

This theory book refuses to treat concepts as separate from the music students are actually playing. By anchoring each exercise to a corresponding piece in the repertoire collection, students encounter whole steps and five-finger patterns not as isolated drills but as features of real compositions they'll perform. The flexible ordering lets you move through the book strategically, matching theory study to whatever repertoire you're teaching.

Working through these pieces feels purposeful rather than tedious. Each one reveals something concrete about how music is built, and the brevity of the pieces means students experience quick success while their curiosity stays engaged. The composition activities invite genuine creativity instead of asking students to fill in blanks.

This book serves late elementary pianists who are ready to understand the structural building blocks of the pieces they're learning. It works equally well for students in group piano settings and private lessons, as the flexible ordering lets you customize the sequence to match your curriculum.

• Use each theory piece as a preview or reinforcement for the corresponding repertoire work. If a student struggles with a concept in a Master's piece, the theory book spotlights that exact issue in miniature.
• Encourage students to complete the composition and improvisation activities directly in the book. These hands-on explorations cement the concepts far more effectively than passive study.
• Reference the glossary frequently during lesson planning. Having students mark or flag terms they encounter builds vocabulary naturally over time rather than through memorization.

Pair this book with the repertoire collection and assign theory pieces strategically as students prepare new works. For teachers managing mixed-level studios, this book's modular structure lets advanced younger students work independently while you focus attention where it's needed most.

• Identifying whole steps and half steps in context
• Recognizing five-finger patterns and transposing them
• Understanding tonic and dominant harmonic functions
• Composing melodies within defined harmonic frameworks
• Improvising variations on given musical ideas
• Extracting concepts from performed repertoire