Premier Piano Course, Technique 1B: Piano

The Hands-Together Workshops set this book apart from typical technique volumes. Rather than isolating hands separately, these focused exercises build coordination skills at the moment students need them most, making the leap from single-hand facility to true ensemble playing feel natural instead of overwhelming. The patterned approach also works brilliantly for ensemble teaching, repetition builds confidence without tedium, and the artistic etudes prove technique isn't dry mechanics but a gateway to genuine musical expression.

These 32 pages feel like progression without overwhelming; each new technique tool opens up musical possibilities rather than adding busywork. The etudes sparkle with character, turning technique building into something that sounds like real music rather than mechanical exercise.

This book belongs with piano students in their first year or so of study who have completed Technique 1A and are ready to expand their technical vocabulary. Teachers using the Premier Piano Course series will find this an essential parallel text for students learning to move beyond basic note-reading into expressive, coordinated playing.

• Approach the patterned exercises as warm-ups before the etudes, using them to establish the technique the etude will then showcase musically rather than treating them as separate work.
• Pay attention to the wrist work emphasized at this level; practice the rising wrist gestures slowly and deliberately in the patterned exercises before applying them at tempo in the etudes.
• Use the Hands-Together Workshops as problem-solving sessions when coordination breaks down, isolating the exact measure where hands lose sync rather than running through the entire piece.
• Focus on the contrasts between legato and staccato passages within each etude, since articulation choices are often what make or break the musical effect at this level.

Assign technique exercises from this book directly alongside corresponding pages in Technique 1A and the Lesson Book to keep a student's practice cohesive and purposeful. The expressive etudes work well as recital pieces at the early elementary level, particularly when you want to showcase not just note accuracy but growing musicality and hand control.

• Smooth legato playing using proper finger and hand position
• Crisp, controlled staccato articulation
• Rising wrist technique for phrase shaping and accent
• Hands-together coordination and independence
• Musical phrasing and expressive playing within technical frameworks
• Pattern recognition and repetition strategies for building muscle memory