I like this piano book. It’s called Pieces for Children by Dimitri Kabalevsky. If you’re looking for additional recreative music for a beginner to intermediate pianist, I think this book is full of songs with character.
The music in this book is not large note music which I often see for a beginner child pianist. And the simplest music in this book would be fitting for a child who’s completed Mrs. Curwen’s Preliminary Lessons.
(Remember that a child who has completed Mrs. Curwen’s Preliminary Lessons has the powers to read all the notes on the staff. This book would not be well suited for beginner student only familiar with a small portion of the staff.)
In one of his books, it says,
“Kabalevsky several times cites the quotation by Maxim Gorky that books for children should be ‘the same as for adults, only better.’ This quotation is the guiding principle behind all of Kabalevsky’s music for children. He did not want to compose simplified or dumbed-down adult art, but good art for children.”
I see a lot of similarities between this Kabalevsky book and Mrs. Curwen’s philosophy of music.
If I hadn’t been able to have found Mrs. Curwen’s 1st Solo Album, Kabalevsky’s book is, at this point in my knowledge and research, the book I would have substituted for her solo album.
How did I stumble up Kabalevsky’s book?
I am far from an expert in piano pedagogy. I did not study pedagogy in college, and I’ve done very, very little research on methods of teaching piano outside of Curwen. I started researching Curwen as a result of my respect for Charlotte Mason. Once I started researching Mrs. Curwen’s method, I was sucked into her philosophy as I saw it working extraordinarily well with my students.
I’ve had large stacks of piano books handed down to me over the years. I probably hadn’t even shuffled through all of them until recently. I pulled them off the shelf in the basement at the beginning of last semester, and I felt I had a fairly good handle on what to look for in music as it compared to Mrs. Curwen’s philosophy.
I went looking for a few additional beginner level books to use with my students. I pulled out the purple Kabalevsky book pictured above that someone must have given me in a box with lots of other random music. I had never opened it before. Flipping through the book, I started to see traits and character in the music that reflected what I had observed in Mrs. Curwen’s books.
I started using music from his Opus 39 with one of my beginners. It’s one of the pieces my little student plays over and over again. It’s simple for her yet melodic. The harmonies are tight making the thirds sound so sweet. It only moves in seconds and stays within the five finger span.
I ordered the combined book of Opus 27 and Opus 39, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised (and encouraged!) as I read the historical notes on Kabalevsky.
“Kabalevsky believed that ‘no piece of music, however short and modest, should pass by a child without touching his mind and heart.’ And it is easy to hear in his pedagogical works that he was focusing on developing a real culture in children rather than just getting them to practice or learn scales.”
The pieces in this book are not arranged from easiest to most difficult. I’d recommend looking for pieces within your student’s powers. What intervals can they read well? Do they need to stay within the five finger span?
I have used this book with some of my beginner (Step 1) students. I start in Opus 39 (near the back of the book) with 1. Melody. Then I moved to 3. Rambling next.
In the eulogy following Kabalevsky’s death, his influence in music was summed up well. “Kabalevsky believed and demonstrated that music cultivates the artistic tastes and the creative imagination of children, as well as their love of life, of people, of nature, of motherland, and fosters their interest in, and friendships toward, peoples of all nations.”
If you purchase his book, I’d highly recommend reading the historical notes at the front. They are rather encouraging for any musician passionate about teaching children.
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