Students  enjoy playing along with the band as they practice the short exercises.

Each exercise is done twice.  Students not only learn the technique, they feel the beat and smile.

“Extra Special Day” – An early elementary solo with lyrics. Key of F Major – middle C position- use of naturals, fermata, scale. Click here to get your copy.

The Rainbow – The Rainbow is a mid-elementary solo that students will love to play because of the arpeggios and the words.  The first section is in Middle C position and is easily played while students sing the colors of the rainbow.  The B section is my favorite part.  It uses pedal, and pedal changes are easily made for each measure.  I would definitely let the student discover the chord outlines in measures 17-24.  You can even play block chords:  LH – F Major, RH F Major,  LH  E Minor  RH  E minor   etc.  You could even introduce the term sequence.  The Coda is simply a C major arpeggio in different octaves.  This is a solo that would be very good for a recital. Click here to get your copy.

Dozen a Day Songbook – contains songs from Broadway and movies arranged by Carolyn Miller. There are 3 levels that contain concepts introduced in Dozen a Day- Mini, Preparatory, and Book 1. Click here to get your copy.

John Thompson’s First Disney Songs arranged by Carolyn Miller. Click here to get your copy.

Carolyn Miller's new TAKE A BOW Recital Series

The “Take a Bow” recital series has just been released!

Book 1 contains 8 original Early Elementary solos. There are a wide variety of solos; many are energetic, dance-like solos with fun lyrics. Titles include Clap Hands Dance, Sing a Happy Song, Big Ben, The Curious Kitten, Hoedown, Tico Taco, Barnyard Boogie, and The Merry-Go-Round. Optional teacher accompaniments have been included to give students the opportunity to gain valuable skills needed for future ensemble playing.

Book 2 is at the Mid-Elementary Level. “Drifting” and “Gentle Breeze” portray peaceful images through soft, rolling arpeggios. Some titles can help with imagination and making the pieces come to life. For example, standing in line at the movies and hearing the sound of “Popcorn” popping! In “Bouncing”, think of things that bounce . Other titles include “The Frog”, “A Little Swing”, “Race to the Finish”, and “Gorilla in the Wild”.

Book 3 is Later Elementary. This book contains one of my favorite teaching pieces, “Mist”. I use this to teach the balance between melody and accompaniment. It also gives the student to play many graceful arpeggios. “Crossover” is patterned, but moves quickly and is full of impressive hand-crossings. “Fireflies” is a flashy piece that my students always love to play. Other titles include “Arabian Dance, “Spanish Dance”, “The Busy Bee”, and “Flight of the Fly”
All of the solos in this book sound more difficult than they really are. I hope you enjoy.

Book 4 is Early intermediate. This book opens with “Catwalk Strut” which is a moderate swing solo. Students seem to like the jazz feel. “The Dancing Butterfly” creates the picture image of a dancing butterfly. “Flying Away” and “Soft Ocean Breeze” captivate the illusion of flight and floating. The “Alaskan Majesty” was written after witnessing the beauty and grandeur of the glaciers. Students get to play deep sinking chords. Other titles include “Etude in C Minor, “Scaling the Heights” and “Chromatic Adventure”.

To view Carolyn Miller’s new recital series TAKE A BOW, please click here

Caroling with Carolyn – Willis 12627 – Mid-Late Elementary
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The music fits well under the fingers -  15 solos including – Joy to the World, We Three Kings, Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, The First Noel, Jolly Old St Nicholas, Silent Night.

Christmas with Carolyn -  Willis 12744  -Early Intermediate
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9 solos including – Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Angels we Have Heard on High, O Come All Ye Faithful, Jingle Bells, and more.   These arrangements have beautiful arpeggio patterns and pretty chords.  As a bonus, they all have technical value. Students will love playing them.

Teaching Little Fingers to Play Christmas Carols Willis  12255
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Students who begin lessons in September should be able to play these carols by Christmas.   All solos have teacher duet accompaniments.

Teaching Little Fingers to Play More Christmas Carols Willis  12603
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These 8 carols are mid-elementary including O Christmas Tree, Go, Tell It on the Mountain, Away in a Manger, Jolly Old St. Nicholas and more.   All solos have teacher duet accompaniments.

First Christmas Duets (2 students)    HL00416871
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These duets are equal part duets.  There are 8 popular duets including Believe, Do You Hear What I Hear, Frosty, Nuttin’ for Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus and more.  They are for the elementary level pianist, but more advanced students will enjoy them, too.

Boogie Beat by Carolyn Miller

Willis Music Company 11546: Click here to purchase

Sometimes our students want to be rock stars after one semester of piano.  Boogie Beat can be learned quickly and the student can feel successful.  Before giving this piece, I teach the boogie pattern in C,  F,  and G.  After the student can easily play these patterns, I show them the music and we find the left hand patterns (12 bar blues).  The right hand is easily learned.  We learn the A section first.  The B section is all built on the C minor 5 finger position.  The return of the A section has a little different ending.

Boogie Beat Part 2

Willis Music Company 12076E

There is also a Boogie Beat –Part 2 which is a duet part for the solo (one piano).  The music looks hard, but after you learn the first two measures, the rest is just patterns. The fingering is important.  I sometimes teach beat 3 & 4 first.

I have used this music in the following ways.

1.     Boogie Beat as a solo

2.     Boogie Beat and Part 2 as a two student duet

3.     Duet – Mother and student

4.     Duet – Teacher and student

5.     Ensemble – adding drums

Carolyn Miller

The world always wants to know how great minds think. Here is an interview with composer and pianist Carolyn Miller by Alex Thio, collaborative pianist and piano teacher.

As a piano teacher myself, it has been nothing less than a pleasure to have my students learn many of your original piano compositions. Tell us a little more about how you became a composer.

Carolyn:  When I was in my twenties, I composed some piano music just for fun.  I sent it to a publisher and they didn’t accept it for publication.  Many years later I composed some music that I thought piano students would like to play.  I sent it in, and the publisher accepted it.  After that, I just kept composing and sending it in to the publisher.

We hear that you’ve composed ‘musical gifts’ for all of your grandchildren. Will you tell us what these pieces are and how you came about writing your first musical gift dedicated to your first grandchild?

Carolyn: When I held my first grandchild, I thought “What can I do for this child that would be special?”  That night I composed Marissa’s Lullaby.  I put a few words to it so I could sing it to her.  My next grandchild was a boy.  His song is called Austin’s Adventure.  It has bits of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. The third grandchild has Kaitlyn’s Kool Kat followed by twins Abigail’s Dance and Alexandra’s Dream.  Number 6 is Riley’s Rhapsody.  Now the publisher prefers not to have names in the titles so number 7 “The Race Car” was dedicated to Adam.

We all have different composition processes when creating new musical material: some compose at the piano, with pencil and manuscript paper; others seem to hear their ideas in their heads, and compose in front of the computer. Can you share with us how you get your musical ideas on paper?

Carolyn: I like to sit down at the piano and just improvise until I hear something I want to use.  Sometimes I know what technique I want to emphasize, such as arpeggios etc. so I expand on that.  I try to compose songs that fit well under the hands, have technical value, and are fun to play.  Once I know what I want to play, I use Encore music writing program to get it printed.

For the ‘budding’ composer, what would be your best advice?

Carolyn: Learn your chords and keys and experiment with different sounds.  If you’re just getting started, take a song like Merrily We Roll Along and vary it a little by adding passing tones, upper and lower neighbors, change to a minor key or change the rhythm.  Have fun!

This is a mid-elementary solo that sounds harder than it is to play.  The student moves to various places on the keyboard.
Suggestions for teaching this solo.

• I would make sure the student can play the 5-finger pattern in C major and minor, both legato and staccato.

• Help the student discover how measures 1-8 are similar to 9-16

• Notice how the RH melody is reversed in measure 25.

• If a student has trouble playing RH legato and LH staccato in measure 9, I have the student pat the thighs-hold RH down and lift LH.  When they can do this, try playing just the C in both hands-holding the RH and playing the LH staccato.

• When the piece is learned, try playing it in C Major.  Discuss how different this makes it sound.

To purchase Dancing Bears sheet music and to view an excerpt of the solo piece, please click on this link!
You will be directed to Hal Leonard Online

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