There is nothing better than having some new sheet music to just dive into and start playing! Nothing seems to help with practicing as much as a new, exciting song to play. I have taught piano for years and years and the trick to getting a student “going again” is to set a good piece of music in front of him/her and just let her take it away. I know it works for my kids, cause it always works for me!
So what is the best piano sheet music? Take a look and I will give you some of my favorite and best affordable piano sheet music not only for my students, but for me as an adult as well. I will start out with beginner and move towards more advanced music.
Piano Pronto (Early Beginner to Advanced Method Books)
Jennifer Eklund has definitely found her way into my studio’s musical library. Gone are the days of Alfred and Bastien! Jennifer Eklund has not only modernized method books, she has brought fun and applicable music education to the forefront. Her Piano Pronto books teach by discovery just as much as it teaches intentionally within the pages. The kids are learning chord patterns and progressions without even realizing it. Theory is throughout the pages as well as music history and other tidbits of useful info. I have found my kids to enjoy this method and as a teacher, I like it so much more than anything else I have ever taught from!
You may have heard of the nationwide children’s music classes called Let’s Play Music. Teachers from their program have now started to refer people to these method books of Jennifer Eklund’s as their students graduate from their program. They are well liked, but still coming into popularity.
I just have to say that I am SO glad to have found these method books because they have become game changers in my studio!
In case you are interested in her theory books (she calls them Power Pages) I have had success with them as well. I don’t love them as much as I love her Method books, but I think they are worth having.
Songs I Love to Play! Volume 1&2 (Late Beginner)
Songs I Love to Play! Volume 1 and Songs I Love to Play! Volume 2 by Jennifer Eklund are some of my kids’ favorite songbooks. There are so many songs in these books that they come to love. The best part for me as a parent and as a teacher, is that the kids are motivated to practice because they love the songs! Seriously, even as I write this article, I want to go play some of these songs myself!
The songs are fun to play and I really like how Jennifer Eklund is intuitive in her songwriting. The notes and the flow just make sense for the fingers, making it intuitive to practice. Jennifer Eklund also writes her music with a lot of basic chords. I LOVE this for my students because it helps them to identify those patterns and makes it so much easier to pick up on the music when they do. A lot of other common composers are not as intuitive. I grew up on Alfred and Bastien books and I see their value. But Jennifer Eklund uses the basic chords and building blocks of music in a beautiful way that is just so intuitive and super helpful for further education as they progress on their musical journey.
If there is any song that will perk my kids up, it is End Game (found in Volume 1). If I have a student who thinks they just don’t like piano and they are about done with it and I need a serious pick me up — then out comes End Game.
Both books have a mix of classical music as well as traditional type music. I think it is important to practice both styles of music. I do enjoy the music of both of them, but there are a few songs that inevitably become the kids’ absolute favorites. I do not require my students to memorize the songs, but these songs almost always come back memorized because they like them that much!
Volume 1:
- End Game
- Fifth Symphony Theme
- Spanish Dance
- William Tell Overture Theme
- Feelin’ Blue
- Bluesy Tuesday
Volume 2:
- Above and Beyond
- In the Hall of the Mountain King
- Rondalla Aragonesa
- Canon
- The Return
- Whirlwind
- Thursday Blues
Spotlight Solos Volume 1 (Late Beginners)
Once again, Jennifer Eklund pulls it together into one great book called Spotlight Solos that my kids love. This has been a book that I have let them borrow, but they end up buying their own copy because the kids want their own book. It has a fun variety of contemporary songs. This is a book that they will fly through. If you already own the Songs I Love to Play! Volume 1 and Volume 2 then you may not want to purchase this as it has many of the same songs you already own. It is a much smaller book than Songs I Love to Play! and it doesn’t include any classical songs, just contemporary songs written by Jennifer Eklund. I would list some of my favorite songs and I will — but just so you know, I am listing all the songs in the book because there really aren’t any of them that my kids don’t like.
- Someday
- Spanish Dance
- End Game
- The Return
- No Limits
- Bluesy Tuesday
- Super Spy Guy
- Oh Snap!
- Skipping Town
- The Chase
Perfect Patterns (Early Intermediates)
So I have to admit that Chrissy Ricker just has a few things figured out. She writes so many fun songs, with a lot of variety, and they are showcases! They really are pretty simple in Perfect Patterns, but man do they make our kids look good. They are pretty easy to learn with a lot of patterns (hence the name of the book), but super fun for the kids. I have had my student’s play these pieces in talent shows and have had other music teachers exclaim, “Wow! I didn’t realize you could play so well!” My kids feel like a million bucks when they play these songs. The best part is, they are not hard to learn. And yes, this is one of those books that my kids almost always end up memorizing on their own, just because they play it so much.
Even though it says it is for early intermediates, it really could be for late beginners too.
Some favorites:
- Nemesis (this can live up to it’s name!)
- Pursuit
- Rockin’
- Precarious
- Chasing Rainbows
- Enchantment
- Daredevil (an absolute favorite)
Perfect Patterns Plus (Early Intermediates)
I love what Chrissy Ricker did with this music in Perfect Patterns Plus! So what I love about what she did with this book is that she is totally teaching technical skills in an exciting, real, live, applicable way. The songs are catchy and fun to play. But its educational to boot! She will take a song and teach a unique technique throughout the song. The technique includes things like left hand leaps, rolled chords, two octave scales, arpeggios, and hand crossing to name a few. What an AWESOME way to learn these techniques, right? I can’t imagine the pain I went through as a child as I learned these things through rote exercises and drills. This is way more exciting and in my experience, way more effective because they are learning through experience not just rote playing.
Once again, although it says early intermediates, I would say late beginners can do this too. Maybe late beginners and early intermediates are practically the same thing anyway?
I should admit, that I have several of Chrissy Ricker’s books and they are really enjoyable. A couple other of my favorites are Let’s Quest. (I like Volume 2. This song book is inspired by video games and my pre-teen boys particularly enjoy them.) She also does a Christmas songbook called Medley Magic that is fun. Most of her books are targeted towards the late beginner/early intermediate.
She does have a few books that I would love to try out and are on my “wish list” for more piano music. When I try them out, I will let you know what I think. They are the Destination Adventure series that seems geared to a beginner and up level.
Contemporary Disney: 50 Favorite Songs (Intermediate)
I am all about a nice thick book of excellent songs to choose from and Contemporary Disney: 50 Favorite Songs is definitely one of them! The great thing about Disney is that everyone knows it. That makes it a great advantage because as you learn the songs, you know how its supposed to sound. This is awesome for ear training. You can play the song and self-correct. It becomes a discovery of new concepts as you play music as you already know how it sounds.
One of the other reasons I love this particular Disney collection is that it is better written than some others. Modern music can be difficult to read or write and this one does a good job of making it easy to read/play.
Kids and adults alike love to sing to the music they know — this engages the brain in a more holistic way as you play. It helps you learn the piano more. So choosing songs that you know and love helps you to better learn the music. And, of course, who doesn’t want to be able to show off to friends or family with songs most people are familiar with? So, naturally, a book such as this would help keep up practicing through intrinsic motivation.
The Library of Piano Classics (Late Intermediate)
While I love contemporary music and while I am an advocate of playing songs that you know and love and hear on the radio, I am still a stick in the mud when it comes to learning and playing the classics. No matter what kind of style you or your child is inclined to, each student has so much to learn from the classics that it just can’t be skipped over!
The reason I believe that The Library of Piano Classics is late intermediate level is because the music is written more like the classical music of the time and needs some pre-training to be able to master these. There will be some music in there that can be played by intermediate, even maybe early intermediate. And some music may be more advanced. So you do get a little bit of a variety of levels throughout this book, which will for sure provide you with many hours of great practice.
But what a great compilation of classical music! It has some of my favorites. It definitely will have some of yours, too. It is a must have in your sheet musical library!
River Flows in You and Other Eloquent Songs for Solo Piano (Late Intermediate)
This lovely book is a compilation of “twenty four beautiful, timeless solos”. Not only do I love playing from River Flows in You and Other Eloquent Songs for Solo Piano my teenage and young adult kids do too. This is a contemporary sheet music book. The students love music like this and can’t seem to get their fill of it. Maybe because it just spells romance all over and boy can you put emotion into these songs! There are very few songs in this book that I don’t enjoy playing. Some are a little easier to play than others.
And even though I threw the word “romance” into my description, the boys enjoy some of these songs as much as the girls. Get the boys on All of Me by Jon Schmidt from the Piano Guys and they will look like a pro! I just love how the song has you slam the piano with your whole forearm for a couple of the parts. Talk about a showcase! Super fun to play.
Even some of my early intermediate students can play a couple of these songs such as Primavera by Ludovico Einaudi and Watermark from Enya. You also have Yanni, Jim Brickman, John Williams, Yiruma, Carter Burwell (Twilight) and others. It’s a great collection.
The John Williams Piano Anthology (Late Intermediate)
At a late intermediate level, you just have to play a little of the timeless selections of John Williams in this Piano Anthology. This book has a Star Wars, Themes from E.T., Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Indian Jones, Superman, The Mission, and many others. John Williams stirs the emotions and does he know how to bring drama! These songs bring your favorite movies to life. Any student of the piano would want to play some of these songs!
Hans Zimmer Collection (Late Intermediate)
Hans Zimmer is one of the modern composers who have shaped movies as we know and love them today. From Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Spirit, Pearl Harbor, Lion King, and more — this Hans Zimmer Collection is a great collection of Hans Zimmer at his best. Another favorite in my music library.
In my opinion, these are the best of sheet music! Do you have any suggestions on what you have found to be great music? Would love to hear!
In my opinion, these are the best of sheet music! Do you have any suggestions on what you have found to be great music? Would love to hear!
