Playing With Colour: Book 2: Piano Book

Welcoming and logical. The coloured notation strips away early anxiety about reading, allowing young hands to focus on technique and musicality. As pages progress, the shift toward standard notation feels like a natural graduation rather than a sudden leap.

Elementary piano students beginning their first year of study who benefit from multi-sensory learning approaches. Teachers seeking a sequential foundation that builds technical and theoretical understanding simultaneously rather than sequentially.

• Use the graphic illustrations for hand position and direction before playing each exercise; let students trace the path visually before their fingers move.
• Work through the coloured notation section thoroughly in the first lessons so students internalize the colour-to-key connection before standard notation demands their attention.
• Incorporate the improvisation exercises as weekly explorations rather than isolated drills; encourage students to create their own patterns within the same colour families they've learned.

Book 2 follows Book 1 in a continuous curriculum designed to build across an academic year or longer. Students using this series develop reliable sight-reading and ear training skills that translate directly to other repertoire, making it ideal for studio teachers establishing strong foundational habits.

• Reading coloured notation and transitioning to standard staff notation
• Left and right hand coordination using graphic spatial guides
• Basic rhythm recognition and notation
• Melodic ear training through listening and identification
• Improvisation within defined harmonic and tonal frameworks
• Sight-reading accuracy at elementary level