Faber Piano Adventures - recommended piano education books

Here are some links to the Faber Piano Adventures series books for students learning the piano.  I have found these books to be thorough and very clearly presented, with many very enjoyable and varied pieces.  My students, from the very young beginning pianist to the intermediate level adult pianist, find these books stimulating and challenging without being frustrating.

Faber Piano Adventures books include the Lesson, Performance, Technique and Artistry, and Theory books plus the supplementary Gold Star Performance, Popular Repertoire, Christmas, and a new sight-reading book.

Faber also offers many other piano book for early and beginning students such as books on improvisation, duets, collections of rock 'n roll pieces, classics, favorite pieces, and many more.

Links to a selection of these books are listed below:

Piano Adventures Lesson Book, Primer Level

Level 2A - Lesson Book: Piano Adventures

My First Piano Adventure, Lesson Book A with CD

Level 1 - Performance Book: Piano Adventures

Accelerated Piano Adventures for the Older Beginner - Lesson Book 1, International Edition

Adult Piano Adventures All-in-One Lesson Book 1

ShowTime Popular: Level 2A (Showtime Piano)

Upcoming Movement, Rhythm and Art Camp for kids, July 14 - 18

Here is some more information about the Movement, Rhythm and Art Camp happening on the 14th to the 18th of July at the Bothwell Center, Livermore:

• The time is from 2-5pm each day (Friday is one hour shorter).  The cost is $195.00 for the 5 day camp.
• The camp is for both boys and girls aged 7 - 18 years.
• Please contact me for further information, or to sign your child / children up for the camp.

The camp is made up of three components:

1. Movement or creative dance, where students will learn about using their bodies to express creative ideas.

• Students will think about various ways in which they can use their limbs, torso, head etc. (stretching, bending, moving through space, using props such as fabric, hoops etc.).  They will think about rhythm and repetition and also how a dance can tell a story just like an artwork can.
• Students will go on to choreograph their own dance as a group, devising a beginning, middle and end (i.e. making a story), which will be developed and then rehearsed and finally performed on Friday, the 18th of July, for parents, family and friends.

2. Rhythm, where students make the music for the dance they will perform.

• Students will use drums, rhythm sticks and other simple rhythm-making instruments to learn about making various beats.
• Students will learn to perform together as a group using different beats.
• Students will create their own beats and compose a piece of music that will accompany the dance during the performance on the 18th.
• Some / all of the students can play during the performance, and we will record the drumming as well, to play during the performance.

3. Art, where students will learn about Rhythm in Art.

• Students will learn about rhythm and how it is used in art.  We will look at various examples of artwork throughout the ages, and from various parts of the world, that use strong rhythmical images.
• Students will explore rhythm in their own artwork on the first day, and then go on to make costumes and sets / props for the dance performance on the 18th of July.
• Students will use their own ideas in making their costumes.  We will use fabric sheets, card, paper, rope or string and other recycled or found objects, which the students can paint on and make into costumes and props.

Students will be encouraged to use their own ideas in their creations during the camp.  The dance component is very exploratory, with the aim of helping the students aware of the space around themselves, and how their bodies interact with it, as well as how their bodies can be tools in artistic expression.  There is no need for students to be elaborate in their movements unless they want to be; students can be as vigorously expressive or minimally expressive as they like.

New students artwork: hands, anime, landscapes ...

Sculptured hands by my younger students ( 7 to 12 years old)

Here are the results (and examples of the works in progress) of the sculptures of hands my younger students have been working on.  

After drawing their own hands for the first half of the month, the students began working on clay sculptures of their hands.  

The aim of the sculpture project was to continue the intense observation (proportion, size, shape and relationships between shapes, and details such as wrinkles, nails, bones, soft areas, muscular areas, rounded areas etc. of the hands).  The students also worked on a concept of their own choice that they could incorporate into their sculptures.  The students explored Halloween themes (they enjoyed the idea of disembodied hands ... !), hands holding objects, and hands as an expression of mood or gesture (hands stretching, fingers bending, clenching etc.).

We used armature in the form of wire and sticks to work the joints in the fingers and to attach the fingers to the palm of the hand.

The most commented-on observation was how far down the thumb is located from the rest of the fingers.

The students worked very hard on this month-long project, and were very pleased with the results they achieved after pushing themselves those (many!) extra miles.

The work shows such energy and some really excellent observation!

Hands, hands and more hands ...! (A drawing and sculpting project for my younger students.)

This is the start of a month-long project my younger students (ages 4 years to 12 years old) are working on.  We are studying hands: proportions, shape, size and other details such as wrinkles in the skin, shadows and light, and the bone and muscle structure under the skin.  

The students are beginning with lines drawings of their own hand and will work towards a more conceptual drawing with the hand holding something or grabbing something, making an artwork that is meaningful to the student, and that conveys an idea or emotion through the expressiveness of the hand. 

We will go on to make clay sculptures of their hands, taking their second drawing as inspiration, but not necessarily just copying what they did in their drawing.  Through the sculpture, the students will develop their ideas as well as their observational and technical skills.

Drawings after the first hour of intense observation and plenty of readjustments:

  

Drawings at the beginning of the first hour: