There are many external links to different websites, music, and books in different posts all over this site that I use all of the time. I’ve grouped them here as a helpful spot to quickly find each of them.
The majority of these items I use regularly or have purchased myself for piano lessons or personal use and highly recommend them! (please note that some of these are affiliate links).
Here is a list of all the topics covered.
Find a Local Piano Teacher
Choosing a Piano
Items I use while Teaching Lessons
Resources for using Mrs. Curwen’s Method
Helpful Website Articles
Free Downloadable Music on this Site
Supplemental Piano Music
Free Piano Audio Files on this Site
Find a Local Piano Teacher
Many have emailed, asking if I know of any local Curwen Inspired Piano Teachers. They are few and far between, but we’ve started to compile a list. Click here for the directory.
Choosing a Piano
My biggest encouragement to you is to find a real piano. Don’t start with a small keyboard. Playing piano on a keyboard is extremely difficult. The keys on a keyboard are very light to the touch. Because of this, it’s easy for our fingers to stumble or accidentally play more than one key at a time.
The better the sound and tone we can produce, the more desirable it is to play our instrument.
If you wait patiently, you will likely be able to find a free piano as long as you can haul it away. Please find a piano tuner or technician who can look over the piano for you before hauling it away or buying one used. The tuner will be able to estimate the cost of any repairs and tuning. Some pianos that have been neglected for too many years come with very brittle strings. These pianos are hard to tune well, and the repairs can often cost quite a bit of money.
Some brands of pianos have stood the test of time. Here are a few brands that have some great quality pianos: Yamaha, Baldwin, Steinway, Kawai, and Suzuki. Before buying a piano, read up a bit about the brand.
Items I use while Teaching Lessons
- Metronome (there are many apps and a free metronome on google that can be used easily. I always weigh the pros and cons of pulling out my phone for anything in front of some students. It can be a quick distraction!)
- Small White board
- Free Printable – Blank Grand Staff – Single Line
- Free Printable – Staff paper for unbarred sentences – Double Lines of Grand Staff
- Free Printable – Staff paper for unbarred sentences – Triple Line of Grand Staff
Resources for using Mrs. Curwen’s Method
If you plan to teach any of the lessons yourself, you will need your own teacher’s guide. Click here for a post about why Mrs. Curwen says ‘this method cannot be used effectively without the Teacher’s Guide.’ There is a free PDF version in archive in the first link.
I have several original editions of Mrs. Curwen’s Method (sucker for old books :), but at the request of many of you who have spent much time searching, we have reprinted the 31st edition and made it available for you to order from the shop.
Mrs. Curwen recommended several resources by Tobias Matthay on Piano Technique. I use the one geared towards the child . Read a post about Tobias Matthay here.
- BOOK – Act of Touch
- BOOK – First Principles of Pianoforte-playing. – this is a shorter version of Act of Touch
- BOOK – The Child’s First Steps in Pianoforte-playing. – this is focused towards teaching the child
Helpful Website Articles
AmblesideOnline.org: Articles by Mrs. J. Spencer Curwen
Charlotte Mason Poetry: Original Articles from the PNEU
- Our Relations with Music and Art
- Music
- A Few Remarks on Music Teaching, Part I
- Includes details on the Sol-fa Modulator
- A Few Remarks on Music Teaching, Part II
Free Downloadable Piano Music on this Site
Skill Level: 1st Step
Supplemental Piano Music
I will add supplement piano music (outside of the books Mrs. Curwen wrote) that I have successfully used with my students. Mrs. Curwen emphasizes the importance of selecting music specifically designed for a beginner child. Read more in this post where I discuss “Why is Christmas Music so difficult to Play?”
1st Step Lesson – here is a post listing all of the books I use.
Mrs. Curwen recommends Farm Scenes by Walter Carroll if teaching children from rote. I have also used it in teaching children in the early lessons of reading music.
- BOOK – Farm Scenes by Walter Carroll Skill Level: 1st Step
I’ve grown to appreciate many of Kabalevsky’s arrangements. He composed for children. “Kabalevsky believed that ‘no piece of music, however short and modest, should pass by a child without touching his mind and heart.’ Read a post about Kabalevsky here.
- BOOK – Dmitri Kabalevsky – Pieces for Children, Op. 27 and 39 Skill Level: 2nd Step
This is a book of Hymns with teacher duets that I’ve used with many of my students. You can see that it is not part of Curwen’s series of books nor has it been written based upon her method of what is considered beginner music (i.e. five finger span and intervals of seconds.)
Why do I use it? Many of my students are familiar with many of the songs in this book. They like that. Even though this book is a ‘Level 1’ book, I use it with my 2nd Step students. I want their leisure repertoire to be simple to play. That’s where so much of the joy is found in learning a musical instrument.
- BOOK – PlayTime Piano Hymns: Level 1 Skill Level: 2nd Step
Free Piano Audio Files on this Site
These posts all contain links to piano music I recorded to help families where the teacher isn’t advanced enough to demonstrate these pieces to the student.
For students practicing duets at home, the duet recordings allow the student to play their part alongside each teacher duet.
- Recordings of the Teacher’s Part for 1st Step Duets
- Songs for Two, Three, and Four Pulse Comparison
- Recordings from Farm Scenes by Dr. Walter Carroll