Repertoire
blog posts

Teach music confidently without the stress

Recent Guitar Pedagogy Creativity Repertoire Beginners Studio Business

Creating a Buzz with Piano Film Music

by Tim Topham

Hands up if you’ve ever taught the James Bond Theme, Star Wars or the Pink Panther? My guess is that at least 99% of you just raised your hand, and with good reason. ‘Classic’ film tunes like these are fun to play and teach, have timeless appeal and are loved by students of all ages. ... Creating a Buzz with Piano Film Music

06/04/2015 Read more

Get Unlimited Piano Sheet Music Copies with Studio Licences

by Tim Topham

Studio Licensing: legal music copying I’ve written before about my frustration with the restrictive and outdated copyright laws generally favoured by the big music publishers (see Finally! Digital piano sheet music copyright is starting to make sense), so I was excited to read my friend and colleague, Australian teacher, presenter and composer Daniel McFarlane of ... Get Unlimited Piano Sheet Music Copies with Studio Licences

02/23/2015 Read more

Piano music for teens: Groovy Beats by Daniel McFarlane

by Tim Topham

Never content to sit back and relax, Daniel McFarlane, a prolific Australian-based composer of contemporary piano music for students, has recently released a collection of new books called Groovy Beats.   As you know, I’ve been a fan of Daniel’s music for some time now and featured his music in a number of previous posts, ... Piano music for teens: Groovy Beats by Daniel McFarlane

02/18/2015 Read more

Easy pop music arrangements that actually sound good!

by Tim Topham

Finding easy pop music arrangements can be tough! There’s been a fair bit of discussion over at the PianoFlix discussion threads regarding how hard it is to find pop music arrangements that are not only playable by beginners, but actually sound like the real versions. This is one of the hardest things about introducing pop music into your ... Easy pop music arrangements that actually sound good!

12/23/2014 Read more

Making the most of the AMEB Manual List | The Piano Teacher Magazine

by Tim Topham

How should I use the Manual List? While the Australian Music Examinations Board  (AMEB) releases music books for each grade level whenever they update their exam syllabuses, there is a wealth of other great pieces listed permanently in the syllabus under the “Manual List”. Remember that the exam books for each grade only feature around three ... Making the most of the AMEB Manual List | The Piano Teacher Magazine

08/26/2014 Read more

Piano Repertoire for Students | Live Videochat with Joy Morin

by Tim Topham

Choosing Repertoire for StudentsI've just found out that Joy Morin from Color in my Piano Blog has started recording some regular Google Hangouts (online group chats) with other piano teachers on a number of really interesting topics including choosing repertoire, piano technique and business sense. I've just finished watching her latest video about choosing repertoire for ... Piano Repertoire for Students | Live Videochat with Joy Morin

08/14/2014 Read more
 

Join the the preeminent professional development, learning and networking community for instrumental music teachers.

 
topmusic topmusic
 

Impressions Suite – Jennifer Eklund | Sheet Music for Teens

by Tim Topham

Looking for great piano music at a low price with no copy restrictions? Jennifer Eklund of PianoPronto.com is a busy composer, teacher, presenter and author, well known in America for her Piano Pronto method books. Towards the end of last year, she released a number of new books of solo piano music suited to adults ... Impressions Suite – Jennifer Eklund | Sheet Music for Teens

02/20/2014 Read more

Piano music for boys | 15 of the best pieces by Daniel McFarlane

by Tim Topham

Piano Music for Boys Finding motivating piano music, especially for beginner and intermediate teenage boys, can be difficult. Thankfully, there are a number of composers writing really good music for this demographic around the world. I’ve already blogged about Jo Kochie and Geri Rea; today’s profile is on Brisbane-based composer/teacher Daniel McFarlane, who offers readers of topmusic.co a ... Piano music for boys | 15 of the best pieces by Daniel McFarlane

11/17/2013 Read more

Piano music for boys > 10 of the best pieces by Jo Kotchie

by Tim Topham

I first met Perth-based teacher and composer Jo Kotchie at the APPC conference in 2011. In July this year, we reconnected in relation to the presentation I was giving at the APPC in Toowoomba titled “Fast and Furious: Techniques and Repertoire for Boys” which inspired this blog series. Jo has written a huge amount of music which ... Piano music for boys > 10 of the best pieces by Jo Kotchie

09/05/2013 Read more

Free recital pieces from InsideMusicTeaching.com

by Tim Topham

As you know, I’m always on the lookout for new repertoire for my students. On a recent visit to Philip Johnston’s InsideMusicTeaching website, which is a fantastic resource for all sorts of things piano-teaching-related, I came across his new “Repertoire Browser” page where he has uploaded nine of his own piano compositions which are great ... Free recital pieces from InsideMusicTeaching.com

08/25/2013 Read more

10 of the Best Piano Pieces for Boys by… Geri Rea

by Tim Topham

This is the first in a new series of articles I’ll be writing featuring my favourite piano pieces for boys by a variety of Australian and International composers. I had the fortune to meet Geri Rea at a piano teachers’ PD day at the Convention Centre in Melbourne 2010. Geri is a talented teacher and ... 10 of the Best Piano Pieces for Boys by… Geri Rea

07/28/2013 Read more

Piano Music for Right Hand

by Tim Topham

One of my students broke his LH thumb the other week (footy accident!), so I began researching good music for Right Hand alone. As I was doing this, I thought a few links might be useful for other teachers or students who might come to this page via a google search for the same. I ... Piano Music for Right Hand

06/01/2013 Read more