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Pupil Saver

Leah Claiborne

Winter 2022 Pupil Saver: Rippling Spring Waltz by Estelle Ricketts

When one thinks of waltzes in piano repertoire, there is no limit to the variety of composers who have contributed to this delightful genre. It is a dance that is not only fulfilling to perform, often showing different levels of virtuosity in the right hand, but also highly pleasing for audience members. Among the many waltzes that permeate our lit...
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Desireé González-Miller

Autumn 2021: Pupil Saver: Prelude No. 5 from Ten Preludes for the Piano by Carlos Chávez: Modernism Meets Mexican Indigenous Music

PRELUDE NO. 5 from TEN PRELUDES FOR THE PIANO by Carlos Chávez It is the Roaring Twenties in the United States. Financial prosperity, art deco, Felix the Cat, and jazz are flooding the streets of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In Mexico, the 1920s painted a very different scene. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 brought social and ...
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Ivan Hurd

Summer 2021: Pupil Saver: Russian Dancer

The Janice K. Hodges Contemporary Piano Competition and Festival held annually in San Antonio, TX, is unique in its focus on twentieth- and twenty-first century repertoire. Norman Dello Joio's (1913–2008) "Russian Dancer," the sixth piece from his Lyric Pieces for the Young, appeared as a choice on the Grade 7 repertoire list from 2018–2020. It was...
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Leah Claiborne

Pupil Saver: Adagio in F Minor by Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Can you imagine performing a piece by a Black composer who was born into slavery? What a piece of history you would have at your fingertips! Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, and composer. Born in Guadeloupe, his father was a wealthy plantation owner and his mother was enslaved on the plantation. ...
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Desireé González-Miller

Winter 2021: Pupil Saver: A Glimpse into Colorful Mexican Romanticism

  INTERMEZZO NO. 1 IN E MINOR BY MANUEL M. PONCE Manuel M. Ponce (1882–1948) is undoubtedly one of the most prominent composers in Latin American history. Among his piano pieces, one of the most beloved is his Intermezzo No. 1 in E Minor. This intermezzo has similarities to Brahms's Intermezzo in E Minor, Op. 119, No. 2. Both wo...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

Summer 2020: Pupil Saver: Toccatina No. 5 by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee

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Toccatina No. 5 by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee, Modern Miniatures for Piano Solo, Book 2 I had a dull moment this weekend (doesn't happen too often) and decided it was time to go through my motivating music in hopes that I could find the perfect piece for one of my teenage students for a talent show. The requirements: it needs to b...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

Spring 2020: Pupil Saver: Caribbean Blue by Lynn Freeman Olson

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I teach in a piano camp every summer—it is the highlight of my summer and I so look forward to working with students in this setting. I have just listened to the audition of my prospective student for the camp: a boy in middle school who is playing at the intermediate level. The purpose of the audition is to assess his level of playing and sight re...
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Meg Gray

Winter 2020: Pupil Saver: First Steps into Ragtime

First steps into Ragtime If you're looking for a lively early-intermediate piece in ragtime style, you can find it in the music of Florence B. Price, one of America's preeminent African American composers. Ticklin' Toes checks all of the ragtime boxes, yet in a way that is accessible for students who are not advanced enough to tackle the music...
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Carmen Doubrava

Autumn 2019: Pupil Saver: The Peacock by Olive Dungan

Olive Dungan's intermediate solo, The Peacock (a Poem without Words) was first published in 1953. I have found that students today still delight in this musical depiction of a beautiful majestic bird. Olive writes in the score, "The composer trusts that the pianist will create the magnificent and slow walk of the peaco...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

Summer 2019: Pupil Saver: Dramatic Chords and Incomparable Views

Rebecca is in her senior year of high school. She is a lovely person who is a talented artist and is also a good pianist. Rebecca leans probably more toward art than music, thus her playing level has stayed around late intermediate to early advanced. Finding music for her that sounds difficult and appealing is often a challenge. At her most recent ...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

January/February 2019 Pupil Saver: The thrill of the risk

My student Katie, 17, enjoys playing the piano as much as she loves playing soccer. From what I hear, she is an aggressive, risk-taking soccer player. The same could be said for her piano playing: she is adventurous with tempo and sometimes aggressive with sound. I needed a piece that would both capitalize on Katie's strengths while encou...
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Carmen Doubrava

November/December 2018: Pupil Saver

Rev It Up! David Karp's Toccatina in D Minor (FJH) is a high-energy intermediate piece that will rev up any student. Written almost entirely in the treble clef, the rapid sixteenth notes, syncopated cadences, and interesting mix of major and minor sounds add up to an exciting and riveting contemporary pi...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

September/October 2018: Pupil Saver

From the "Motivating Bookshelf Logan is sitting on the piano bench, his mother behind us. Logan and I are discussing repertoire for both short- and long-term goals. Logan is in soccer, tennis, robotics, piano, violin, and a plethora of church activities. Following a polished performance of "The Little White Donkey" from Jacques Ibert's Histoir...
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Carmen Doubrava

July/August 2018: Pupil Saver

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A grand setting for C minor by Carmen Doubrova Some students diligently practice their repertoire pieces, but are less enthused about scales and exercises. Fortunately, long ago, I discovered Ballade from Betty Colley's early-intermediate collection Styles for Piano (Kjos). This piece is a brilliant study of the natural minor scale. The C-mino...
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Linda Mannering
Hello Carmen, Thank you for this article. I cannot find Betty Colley's early-intermediate collection Styles for Piano (Kjos) or ... Read More
Saturday, 21 July 2018 09:33
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Adrienne E. Wiley

May/June 2018: Pupil Saver

Ibert-
 Got a Pupil Saver? We love to hear from you. If you are interested in submitting your Pupil Saver for consideration, please contact Susan Geffen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. I have an advancing student who is really interested in playing French music. Although I decided to steer away from Debussy for the moment, I remembered that French c...
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Wei Chen (Bruce) Lin

Jan/Feb 2018 Pupil Saver - Nocturne by Catherine Rollin

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Nocturne from the collection Spotlight on Romantic Style by Catherine Rollin (Alfred) is an accessible and motivating piece for the intermediate pianist. My first encounter with Rollin's music was her Concerto Romantique when I was searching for a first concerto for a piano student. I was, and continue to be, impressed with how captivating her musi...
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Carmen Doubrava

Pupil Saver: Set your alarm

Students are sure to make time for Kevin Olson's energetic early-intermediate piece Time's Up! (FJH). The imaginative use of changing meters and brisk tempo give this piece a delightful spontaneity and definitely make it an enjoyable introduction to asymmetrical time signatures. The A section, in 5/4 meter, uses the treble clef for both hands. Thou...
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Adrienne E. Wiley

Pupil Saver: Jamaican Rumba by Arthur Benjamin

Once again, my high school student—who seems to be involved in every activity possible—needed a unique piece. I had in mind what I wanted: The piece needed to be fairly short, patterned for quick and easy learning, impressive, and infrequently played (that last requirement was more for me than for the student). I found the perfect piece, Austr...
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Carmen Doubrava

Pupil Saver: Mendelssohn Song without words, Op. 30, No. 6

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Stress reduction at the piano It's exciting to see a student advance after years of diligent work, but often the thought of moving on to larger works is daunting and stressful, especially for those students juggling too many activities. That big piece will never be finished, and interest wanes. One solution for student burnout is Felix Mendels...
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Wei Chen (Bruce) Lin

Pupil Saver: The Song of Twilight

The Song of Twilight," by Japanese composer Yoshinao Nakada (Frederick Harris Celebration Series: Piano Repertoire, Level 3), is an accessible and motivating piece for the late-elementary pianist. When I prepared students for the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program, many students chose this piece as their finale because of its soaring melo...
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