Teacher's Handbook for Succeeding with the Masters & The Festival Collection: Piano Book

This handbook solves the logistical puzzle many piano teachers face: how to use two excellent series without fragmenting the curriculum. By mapping a unified teaching sequence across both collections and connecting practice strategies from Succeeding with the Masters directly to Festival Collection pieces, Marlais and Althouse give teachers a coherent year-round roadmap that transforms two separate collections into one integrated literature-based program.

Organized and purposeful. Rather than juggling multiple books and wondering which piece teaches what, you move through a carefully sequenced journey that builds technique and musicality in parallel across over 450 works. The inclusion of recordings and composer context means each piece feels like a conversation with a master, not just an exercise.

Piano teachers looking to build a comprehensive, sequenced curriculum that draws from over 450 pieces across two series. Studio teachers and school music instructors will find the handbook essential for planning units, assigning repertoire at appropriate technical and musical levels, and connecting historical understanding to the pieces students play.

• Use the historical information and composer biographies to frame each piece before students play it; context sharpens musical choices
• Leverage the full-performance recordings as interpretive reference, not as a model to imitate, so students develop their own musical voice
• Cross-reference the Practice Strategies between series to reinforce a single technical or expressive concept across different repertoire

Use this handbook as your primary planning tool at the start of each teaching year or semester. Rather than choosing one series or juggling two separately, follow the suggested sequence to assign pieces from both Succeeding with the Masters and The Festival Collection in a way that reinforces technique, encourages deeper musical understanding, and prevents repetition. The handbook transforms your library of over 450 pieces into a coherent, progressive curriculum.

• Understanding historical context and composer biography as components of musical interpretation
• Applying consistent practice strategies across different repertoire and style periods
• Building technical facility while studying music from Renaissance through contemporary composers
• Making connections between pieces at similar technical levels but different musical styles
• Developing independence through structured, teacher-guided repertoire selection