Succeeding with a Notespeller, Grade 2B: Piano Book

The design here refuses to treat note reading as drudgery. Brilliant colors and carefully sequenced interval work make this book something students genuinely reach for, rather than something assigned to them. At the 2B level, when students can still get frustrated with reading, Marlais gives you a tool that builds confidence through repetition that doesn't feel like repetition.

Bright and purposeful. The visual design energizes the page without distracting from the musical content. There's a sense of forward momentum as students move through increasingly challenging reading tasks.

Any student in their second or third year of piano study who needs structured reinforcement in note reading and interval recognition. This book works especially well alongside a primary method to fill gaps and maintain focus on literacy skills.

• Tackle ledger lines gradually. Work through the above-staff lines first, then below, then the mixed drills. Students absorb better when they see a logical progression rather than scrambled presentation.
• Use the interval focus as a listening tool. Have students play matched pairs of intervals at the keyboard before writing them, so their ears anchor what their eyes are learning.
• Rotate through the scale studies (C, G, D, A, F) across multiple weeks rather than completing them all at once. Spacing out scale work builds retention and prevents fatigue.

Deploy this as a consistent weekly supplement during lessons when note reading is plateauing. The 40-page length makes it ideal for a full semester or year of parallel study, working a few pages per week in tandem with repertoire.

• Reading ledger lines above and below the grand staff
• Identifying and writing intervals of a 6th within a harmonic context
• Recognizing enharmonic spellings and their practical applications
• Playing and reading C, G, D, A, and F major scales
• Strengthening note recognition speed through repeated, varied drills