Premier Piano Course, Performance 4: Piano Book & Online Audio

These pieces respect how students actually learn new concepts. Rather than isolating rhythm patterns or scales for drill, each piece embeds triplets, sixteenth notes, and minor scales into music that's genuinely fun to perform. You'll find deliberate variety across styles (ragtime, jazz, ballads, boogie) that keeps students engaged while the accompaniment audio provides a realistic performance model at both tempo and practice speeds.

Fresh and contemporary without feeling trendy. These pieces shift between introspective ballads and pieces brimming with rhythmic energy, offering students a genuine sense of musicianship rather than mere technical exercise. The variety in style makes the practice experience feel like exploring a musical landscape.

Piano students completing Level 4 of the Premier Piano Course who are ready to tackle rhythmic complexity alongside new harmonic material. This book pairs directly with Lesson Book 4, supporting the concepts introduced there through carefully sequenced repertoire that ranges from lyrical to rhythmically driven.

• Listen to the practice tempo recording first to lock the rhythmic figures into your ear, particularly the triplet and sixteenth-note passages. Familiarity with the accompaniment will make the coordination feel natural when you move to performance tempo.
• In the minor key pieces, pay attention to the harmonic context as you learn the arpeggios and chord inversions. Hearing how these shapes function in actual music makes them stick far better than isolated practice.
• Use the performance tempo recording as a reference for phrasing and tempo stability once you've mastered the notes. Notice where the accompaniment breathes with you.

Assign pieces from this book throughout the semester as your primary performance repertoire for students in Level 4 units. The recorded accompaniments make it easy for students to prepare pieces independently, and the range of styles gives you flexible options for studio recitals or informal performances without needing to add supplementary repertoire.

• Reading and performing triplets and sixteenth notes in musical context
• Playing natural and harmonic minor scales (A and E minor) across one octave
• Executing one-octave arpeggios and chord inversions
• Coordinating with accompaniment audio
• Playing across multiple musical styles and textures