Holiday Greetings 2020
Dear Friends and Colleagues around the world, Happy Holidays to you and your families! There is great hope as we enter 2021. We wish you safe, healthy, happy holidays now, and with the prospect of happy times ahead. Let us play music for a seasonable time! Whatever it may be—a carol, a sonata, or a favorite popular […]
New! Adult Piano Adventures Spanish Edition
Nancy and Randall Faber are pleased to announce the release of the Spanish edition of their popular Adult Piano Adventures Course Book 1. Similar in format to the English edition, Adultos Piano Adventures Todo-en-Uno provides a comprehensive course in reading, playing, and listening to music. Students learn music notation, chord playing, rhythm, harmony, and musical form—all […]
Piano Adventures Receives 2018 MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award
We are pleased to announce that Piano Adventures® by Nancy and Randall Faber has been selected as the recipient of the MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award for 2018. The method was selected by members of the Frances Clark Center Board of Directors and ratified by the MTNA Board of Directors at its winter meeting. […]
Level 2: Articulation and the Wrist
An essential concept of Level 2 is beginning articulation, specifically legato and staccato. These terms are so familiar to us as music teachers that we might overlook the importance of these touches in developing technique and musical expression. Perhaps you have noticed that there are no articulation marks at Level 1—no slurs and no staccato […]
Synergy at Level 1
There is much to share with our beginning students. With limited lesson time, how do we maximize our results? Fortunately, Level 1 presents three elements of pedagogy that have exponential value when taught in combination: introducing new notes with varied fingerings to develop note-reading skill utilizing arm weight for tone production and technique development using […]
The Power of Primary Chords
Perhaps the favorite application of music theory in piano instruction is the teaching of I, IV, and V7 chords – that familiar cluster surrounding the root-position I chord. Primary chords are a guiding concept for Level 4 (Spanish Edition) and the corresponding Student Choice books. The I‑IV-V7 chord formula is favored for good reason: The chords […]
Building a Bridge
At the Primer Level we lay foundations. We are beginning everything that will follow. And, in the words of Plato, “You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing.” Guiding a young student to form a rounded hand shape so the […]
The Blank Space … Where It All Begins
Occasionally after a student has played a piece in a lesson and the performance did not reflect the musical details in the score or just seemed a bit off, particularly when played more convincingly in other attempts, a seemingly innocent question is asked. “Point to the spot on the page where the music begins.” For […]
Teach and Learn with ACE
To the student, Piano Adventures implies an exciting exploration. To the teacher, Piano Adventures implies a philosophy and mission to develop the student’s musical mind and heart. The process of guiding a young person to develop the mind (intellect) and the heart (expression) can help form valuable life skills: confidence, curiosity, discipline, self-esteem, sensitivity to nuance, […]
A New Approach to Technical Fluency
In keeping with the Year of Technique and Artistry, Nancy and Randall Faber are pleased to present Hanon-Faber, The New Virtuoso Pianist—a fresh, new approach to the 150-year-old keyboard exercises of Charles-Louis Hanon. Why This Edition? Concert artists recognize that finger strength is subordinate to the coordinated use of fingers, wrist and arm, which together harness […]