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Build your holiday wish list with our inspiring collection of piano teaching resources! From expert repertoire guides and diverse repertoire collections to practical teaching tools and personal essays by leading educators, our publications make the perfect gift to enrich your studio and spark creativity all year long. Read below for a special code to use for 20% off the first three resources!

Inspired Piano Teaching

By Marvin Blickenstaff

Inspired Piano Teaching is filled with practical advice on teaching students at all levels. It is dedicated to keeping inspiration and artistry alive for every student in every lesson. After reading the book, teachers will feel like they have attended a multi-day workshop with Marvin. Topics range from proactive teaching, the interview, and the first lesson to technical gestures, guidelines to interpretation, and coaching a piece to performance. This is a book to be experienced, to be consumed, to be internalized—so that teachers can, in turn, pass musical and artistic concepts to students. 

Piano Literature for Teaching and Performance

By Jane Magrath

The most comprehensive, up-to-date guide for evaluating and selecting graded piano solo literature from Baroque to Contemporary periods. This publication includes significant listings from underrepresented and women composers in addition to an enlarged contemporary collection. Each composer is given a short biography, along with musical characteristics, pedagogical considerations, and a suggested grade level for each piece. 

Recollections: A Pianist’s Essays on Teaching, Performing, and Living

By Robert Weirich

Recollections: A Pianist’s Essays on Teaching, Performing, and Living gathers dozens of articles Robert Weirich wrote for various music journals, including Clavier, over the last four decades. The essays are linked by new writing that is both memoir and an exploration of the place of the arts in American society. There is much here to consider about how a musician makes a life and comes to terms with both success and failure. Ultimately it is about perseverance during a time of great change and the desire for relevance. This book will appeal to the general reader who is curious about the arts. It will be of special interest to musicians young and old. The writing will certainly engage teachers, not only of the piano but anyone of a self-reflective bent. While the subject matter is music-centric, advanced knowledge of music is not required. The writing style is straightforward and personal.

Special Holiday Offer: 20% off these three essential teaching guides using code HOLIDAY. Offer does not apply to other publications listed below.

Weaving Sounds: Elementary Piano Pieces by Native and Indigenous Composers

Compiled and Edited by Connor Chee and Renata Yazzie

Weaving Sounds is a collection of beginner piano repertoire written by the vibrant and diverse voices of Native and Indigenous composers from the Diné, Mohawk, Anishinaabe, Cree, Blackfoot, Jicarilla Apache, Choctaw, and Mohican communities. Each piece is a unique expression of the composers’ cultural roots and personal artistry, offering a tapestry of sounds that are both accessible to beginners and deeply meaningful. The pieces are presented in order of progressive difficulty and include information about the composers and their communities.

Dancétudes

By Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by Susanna Garcia and William Chapman Nyaho

Dancétudes: 7 Vignettes of Dolls and Pets is a set of seven programmatic piano solos by Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr., composed for his young daughter. Dedicated to her dolls and pets, these pieces develop technical proficiency, familiarity with contemporary idioms, and expressive artistry.

Kerr described the title as “a combination of the words ‘dance’ and ‘étude,’” explaining that he wrote them to encourage his daughter’s interest in playing. Spanning late intermediate to early advanced levels, the études explore twentieth-century styles—including impressionism, postimpressionism, modernism, and jazz—each highlighting a specific technique or musical idiom.

Dancétudes serves as a bridge to advanced impressionist and modernist works, and to works in the jazz idiom.

Easter Monday Swagger

By Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by Susanna Garcia and William Chapman Nyaho

Scherzino, Easter Monday Swagger (1970) is a solo piano work by Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr. Subtitled A Fantasy “Romp” on Walk Together, Children, it offers contrasting interpretations of this African American spiritual, blending playful energy with moments of depth and reflection.

Kerr employs imitation, call-and-response, and improvisation, reflecting the performance traditions of the spiritual. By blending these elements into a fantasy-a genre of piano composition known for expressive freedom, improvisatory character, harmonic experimentation, and virtuosity-he creates a distinctive synthesis of African American and European classical elements.

Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?

By Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by Susanna Garcia and William Chapman Nyaho

Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?: Concert Scherzo for Two Pianos, Four Hands is a set of six variations and a coda based on the Negro spiritual. Composed in 1940 by pianist and composer Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr. for his performances on the Black College Circuit during the 1940s, it is an effective showpiece for advanced pianists.

Kerr described it this way: “The piece sets forth the theme transparently and saucily then plunges into querulous, propulsive and percussive ostinato (Allegro Barbaro), with a surprise ending. After a breathing pause (for both players and listeners) comes a slow expressive section (Andante Sognando)…There are two brittle, playful variations (Scherzando) and a ‘Tempo Grandioso’ which leads to a coda which sweeps the players off the stage.”

Technique through Repertoire Books 1 & 2

Selected and Edited by Christopher Madden and Jani Parsons

Technique through Repertoire helps students develop essential technical skills by studying short excerpts from standard piano literature. Book 1 includes examples arranged in order of difficulty for students at early intermediate to intermediate levels. Book 2 includes examples arranged in order of difficulty for students at intermediate to late intermediate levels.

From Rote to Note

Book 1 By E.L. Lancaster and Kevin Olson

Book 2 By E.L. Lancaster and Omar Roy

From Rote to Note: Elementary Piano Pieces that Reinforce Theory and Technique contains nine pieces based on a theoretical or technical concept that students encounter at beginning levels of study. The pieces are designed to be taught from a musical map without the aid of traditional notation.

• Allows students to move intellectually from rote to note, experiencing musical elements before relating them to notation.
• Each piece includes an abstract that maps the piece to aid with memory and practice at home as well as traditional notation of the piece, sometimes with an optional duet accompaniment.
• A teacher section identifies each piece’s concept, giving steps for introducing the musical map, and outlines strategies for teaching the piece by rote.

Questions and Answers: Practical Advice for Piano Teachers

By Frances Clark

For more than 26 years, piano teachers across the country turned first to Frances Clark’s beloved “Questions and Answers” column in Clavier magazine for practical, insightful, and inspiring teaching advice. Now, this treasured collection brings together some of her finest responses—wisdom that continues to guide and uplift teachers today.

In this indispensable volume, Clark addresses the real-world challenges of piano teaching with clarity and compassion. Topics include lesson planning, rhythm, theory, ear training, memorization, phrasing, group lessons, recitals, adult students, and transfer students—each explored with her signature warmth, humor, and experience.

Frances Clark’s writing has inspired generations of teachers to reflect, grow, and bring more joy and artistry into their teaching. Whether you are a beginning instructor or a seasoned pedagogue, this book will become a trusted companion in your studio.

A Piano Teacher’s Legacy

By Richard Chronister

Discover the timeless wisdom of one of piano pedagogy’s most influential voices.

A Piano Teacher’s Legacy brings together the most insightful writings, lectures, and addresses from one of the great music educators of the twentieth century. For over forty years, Richard Chronister inspired generations of piano teachers—transforming how they approached music learning, student motivation, and teacher development.

Chronister’s ideas continue to shape the field today. He founded the first university degree program in piano pedagogy, co-founded the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and created Keyboard Companion magazine to connect and inspire teachers worldwide.

In this essential volume, readers will find Chronister’s thoughtful responses to questions every piano teacher asks:

• How can I nurture a child’s natural love of music?
• How do I teach so students keep learning, practicing, and creating?
• What makes a truly independent learner?
• How can I observe my students—and myself—more effectively?

Written in a clear, conversational style, Chronister’s reflections blend practical strategies with deep insight into the art and craft of teaching. His words challenge and inspire teachers to think critically, experiment, and grow.

Whether you teach in a university setting or a private studio, this book is an indispensable resource for piano teachers, music educators, and anyone passionate about developing lifelong musicians.

The Success Factor: Making Practice Perfect

By Elvina Truman Pearce

The Success Factor: Making Practice Perfectis a definitive, inspiring, and practical guide for piano teachers seeking extraordinary results in teaching, practicing, and performing. Written by Elvina Truman Pearce and edited by Craig Sale, this volume blends encyclopedic pedagogical insight with down-to-earth strategies that teachers can immediately apply in their studios. Jam-packed with actionable teaching tips, it also highlights the reflections and wisdom of one of the most influential piano pedagogues of the last fifty years.

Elvina Truman Pearce studied piano with Isabelle Vengerova and pedagogy with Frances Clark. She was a founding faculty member of The New School for Music Study, one of the founders of The Frances Clark Center, Editor-in-Chief of Keyboard Companion magazine from 2000–2006, and has been actively involved with NCKP since its inception. As pianist, pedagogue, composer, and clinician, she is internationally recognized for her rare combination of excellence, creativity, and practicality.

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