Spook-tacular Pieces: Bastien Piano Basics

Here's a "seasonal" post to help get students into the spirit of Halloween!  October is the time to browse the shelves again for more fun pieces to introduce to students especially now that autumn has fully kicked in.  For the younger beginner (4-6 years old), I really enjoy introducing Bastien's Piano Basics supplementary Halloween-themed books - the pages are colourful and the songs are creative and easy to learn.  Although these books come straight out from the Bastien series, they work quite flexibly with other piano course publishers. 

If you haven't checked out "Halloween Party" for pre-readers yet, I would highly recommend this one in particular for younger students who haven't fully learned their notes on the grand staff and are still experimenting at the beginning stages of playing the piano (ie/ white keys in the five-finger position beginning on C). 

There are no bar lines or time signatures - this is to accomodate early-readers who are still getting familiarized with individual note values (rhythm, beats/counts).  Occasionally, you'd have to teach an accidental (like flats in "Parade of the Ghosts") or demonstrate playing a "cluster" of notes ("Black Cats' Dance") but it all adds to the imaginative qualities of playing Halloween-themed music.  The Teacher's Notes section at the back of the book helped me quite a bit with understanding and fully visualizing a piece as it would look on a regular grand staff.

Bastien's level one book called "Halloween Treats" works in a similar way - it is the perfect supplement for the beginner reader (grand staff) and some very simple hands-together rhythms with some accidentals.  Some additional concepts include eighth notes, left hand cross-overs, staccatos, ties, triads and utilizing the pedal technique.  Also, I find that the short written theory activities following each song are quite helpful in engaging the student.  The pages that feature a "terms and symbols" matching game, "hopscotch" and naming/colouring notes on the staff make lessons more fun!

To see more titles for Halloween-themed piano pieces, please check out the publisher Neil A. Kjos Music Company.  Outside of piano course books there are some great activity sheets available such as Halloween poetry, colouring sheets etc. that are suitable for younger children.  Happy haunting everyone!