Stringtastic Beginners: Teacher's Accompaniment: Teacher's Accompaniment Piano Book

Accessible and genuinely playful. These pieces avoid the sterile feel of many beginner materials by offering genuine variety in style and mood, inviting students to explore beyond simple exercises while solidifying fundamental technique.

String teachers managing mixed-level ensembles, classroom music programs where students progress at different rates, and studio teachers who want flexible material for private lessons. Works equally well for one-on-one instruction and groups of up to eight or more.

• Balance the string tone carefully against the piano part, especially in the earlier pieces where open strings might overshadow a lighter accompaniment texture.
• Download both the full backing track and piano-only version to tailor your teaching approach; use the backing track for confidence-building runs and the piano-only version for detailed rehearsal of rhythm and ensemble precision.
• Prepare students for the transition from open strings to D major scale notes by isolating those first scale passages in warm-up, then hearing them in context within the actual pieces.

Embed this into a full-year curriculum where you're teaching strings across grade levels or mixed ability. The progression from open strings through D major scale naturally maps to a semester arc. You can also use individual pieces as warm-ups or fillers throughout the year, or draw from the collection to build informal ensemble concerts.

• Open string tone production and bow control
• Reading notes in treble and alto clefs
• Left-hand finger placement and intonation on the D major scale
• Ensemble listening and rhythmic alignment with accompaniment
• Shifting between open strings and fingered notes within the same phrase
• Musical phrasing and dynamic shaping in simple contexts