Colourfast Piano Music

by Margaret Dylan Jones

"I particularly liked the way you inspire the young pianists to think about

what they are learning and playing" and

 

"You have provided an attractive set of pieces to introduce them to contemporary music.

What you have done shows the mark of a good musician and teacher."

 

(David Tunley, then Professor of Music at the University of WA,

referring to Colourfast Piano Music and Child's Play)

From the pen of a piano teacher of 16 years' experience and a long time composer of educational music, these ten or so pieces help develop keyboard geography and musical imagination.

Suitable for adults and children.

These delightful and easy pieces will stimulate the imagination in both young students and older beginners. Their wide variety of style encompasses frequent use of F sharp and B flat, which are usually the first black notes that students need to learn. Common tasks are introduced, such as the use of triads or pedalling. Students of all ages will love the easy but engaging rhythms.

Music teaching should involve a partnership between composer and teacher, and between these two and the student. Rather than try to "do everything" for the student and teacher, EASY QUESTION PROMPTS assist the creativity of both. Hence, the prompts are provided for the teacher as examples of ways to get the student thinking about the music. As the composer says:

"Compositional insights are only useful if you work them out yourself. So---question prompts are designed to engage a student's mind, almost effortlessly, on the task of getting into the meaning and emotion of a piece but without providing all the answers".

The use of EASY QUESTION PROMPTS makes learning easier, quicker, and a lot more fun. Often students give completely unexpected answers that are perfectly correct. Unexpected answers are marvellous---imagine the feeling of involvement and recognition a student feels when he or she finds something in the music which the teacher hadn't thought of!

Each piece also has suggestions for practise.

Teachers: please give your students the chance to really understand what their music is about. Explore these charming pieces in partnership with the composer.

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