Simply Sensational!, Book 1: Piano Book

Alexander has a gift for disguising musical substance in accessible technical writing. These pieces expand hand position naturally across the keyboard, so students notice their own growing facility while remaining engaged by genuinely appealing melodies and harmonies that don't feel simplified.

Open the book and discover pieces with real character and emotional weight. "Yesterday's Dreams" carries wistfulness; "Just Us" feels intimate and conversational. Each piece spans enough of the keyboard that students feel the expansion of their technical world, yet the writing never strains or frustrates.

Late elementary to early intermediate teenage and adult piano students ready to move beyond simple folk melody arrangements. If your students have learned basic hand position, five-finger patterns, and simple two-hand coordination, they are ready for these pieces to feel genuinely accomplished.

• Let the piece titles guide your interpretation. "Full Moon Rising" invites rubato and dynamic shaping; approach the phrasing as you would a short story with its own arc and mood.
• Map out the hand position shifts before memorizing. Alexander spaces his passages deliberately, so identify where you expand to the upper keyboard and where you return to a comfortable mid-range.
• Balance texture against melodic line. These pieces often feature fuller textures than what late elementary students typically encounter, so listen for the main voice and allow accompaniment to support rather than crowd it.
• Record yourself regularly. The psychological boost of hearing these pieces sound polished builds confidence and motivation to tackle the next piece in the collection.

Use these pieces as recital foundations for students in their first two years of study. A single piece like "Full Moon Rising" serves as a complete recital item, or pair two shorter selections to fill a student's recital slot. The variety of moods also makes this collection ideal for semester-end studio recitals where you want consistent quality across multiple performers.

• Expanding hand position and keyboard navigation across the full range
• Phrasing longer melodic lines with shape and direction
• Balancing melody against accompaniment texture
• Sustaining musical intent across pieces with harmonic movement beyond diatonic harmony
• Building interpretive choice through dynamic and tempo shaping