The Music Tree: Activities Book, Part 1: Piano

This Activities book does the heavy lifting that transforms passive lesson learning into genuine musical independence. The unit-by-unit correlation with the core Music Tree method keeps reinforcement targeted and purposeful, while the sight-playing program embedded throughout builds confident readers from day one without ever feeling like drilling.

The activities maintain the Music Tree's characteristic blend of discovery and structure. Students encounter fresh musical problems to solve rather than repetitive exercises, making practice feel like exploration rather than obligation.

This book serves early elementary pianists who need systematic reinforcement beyond their lesson material. Teachers using the Music Tree method will find these activities indispensable for students who benefit from additional practice opportunities between lessons.

• Assign activities sequentially rather than jumping ahead; each exercise builds prerequisite understanding for what follows.
• Use the sight-playing exercises as a warm-up routine, rotating through different pages to maintain variety without sacrificing consistency.
• Balance written work with immediate keyboard application; have students complete an activity, then play through related passages in their lesson book within the same session.

Assign activities as home practice assignments tied directly to each week's lesson objectives. The sight-playing component works exceptionally well as a foundation-building tool during the first year of study, preventing sight-reading anxiety before it develops.

• Sight-reading at the keyboard
• Note identification on the staff
• Rhythmic notation and counting
• Interval recognition and application
• Reinforcement of concepts introduced in the core Music Tree lesson book