The Best of Margaret Goldston, Book 1: Piano Book

Goldston's early-elementary writing strikes a real balance between accessibility and musical substance. Seven pieces in one book gives you genuine variety—stylistic range that keeps practice sessions fresh and lets each student find something that speaks to them, whether that's the playful energy of Honky-Tonk Ride or the programmatic color of Indian Drumbeats. This is repertoire built by someone who understood what early learners needed and wanted.

These pieces capture the joy and curiosity of early piano learning. You'll find playful character pieces rubbing shoulders with pieces that invite students to imagine scenarios and colors, creating a collection that feels like exploring rather than drilling.

Early-elementary and elementary pianists building technique, reading fluency, and confidence with contrasting styles. Teachers looking for reliable, musical repertoire for young students in private lessons or group studio settings will find seven pieces that engage without overwhelming beginners.

• Approach the rhythmic patterns in pieces like Honky-Tonk Ride as conversation between your hands; let the pulse stay steady even when one hand rests, keeping the momentum alive.
• Listen to the key relationships between pieces as you move through the collection. Organizing practice by key family (rather than in book order) helps reinforce harmonic patterns without drawing explicit attention to theory.
• Shape the melodic contours by thinking about where each phrase breathes, even in short pieces. Early-elementary students often play note-to-note; asking where the music wants to settle or lift transforms the sound.
• Experiment with tempo choice before settling on one. These pieces reward slightly slower tempos that let harmonic color emerge, especially in the pieces with contrasting moods.

Use individual pieces as performance vehicles for young students' first recitals, or select 2-3 contrasting pieces to showcase a student's progress across a semester. The stylistic variety makes it easy to pair pieces with other early-elementary repertoire for themed concerts.

• Reading across treble and bass clefs with confidence
• Maintaining steady tempo in pieces with syncopation and rhythmic variety
• Distinguishing and executing contrasting articulations (legato, staccato) and dynamic shapes
• Building independence between hands, especially in pieces with ostinato or rhythmic patterns
• Responding to stylistic cues and programmatic imagery to shape interpretation