New Ideas Piano Series: Preliminary Level A

Author: Bao Huiqiao, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The "Preparatory Level" of the "New Concepts Piano Series" consists of three volumes. Volume is designed for beginners who have no prior piano experience, with a focus on children but also catering to adults. As an important feature, we adopt the modern educational philosophy that emphasizes "practice before theory." In the first half of this volume, instead of starting with note reading, students first play the piano, allowing their fingers to make contact with the keys and their ears to listen to the music they produce. Only in the second half do they gradually learn the staff notation. Moreover, unlike "Beyer," which focuses for a long time on the right hand and white keys, this volume begins with black keys and encourages the use of both hands from the start. In terms of musical style, instead of first establishing and solidifying the functional system of major and minor keys before breaking it, students are introduced to a variety of musical styles from the very beginning of their piano studies—of course, this requires the teacher's involvement. All the pieces in this volume are accompanied by teacher parts, allowing for joint performances between teacher and student. This enables students to experience vivid and complete musical images and rich harmonies from the outset, integrating music and technique into the learning process rather than prioritizing technique over music. The second volume is structured around the theme of playing gracefully, explaining typical performance techniques through progressively more advanced pieces. The third volume is organized around musical theory, combining pieces to explain fundamental concepts such as intervals, chords, and modes. The tasks of these two volumes are no longer just "introductory" but rather prepare students for the "Basic Level" of the "New Concepts Piano Series." The second feature is the inclusion of musical theory and knowledge. To play the piano well, theoretical knowledge is indispensable. The third feature concerns musical styles and the application of the left hand. As mentioned earlier, starting from Volume, students are guided to explore a wide range of musical styles and practice independent use of both hands. Therefore, the later two volumes include more pieces with pop music rhythms, half-step progressions, and sections where the left hand carries the musical theme. The fourth feature is the inclusion of Chinese-style pieces. Since the piano is not a traditional Chinese instrument, playing Chinese pieces may not feel as natural as playing foreign pieces in terms of finger technique. In other words, Chinese pieces often present a greater technical challenge in the early stages of learning. The fifth feature is the tempo of the pieces. Volume is introductory, and most pieces in the second volume are also quite simple. By the third volume, some pieces have technical difficulty comparable to certain pieces in the "Basic Level" Volume. The "new concepts" approach requires a fresh perspective on the pieces. To meet the demands of the curriculum, we have composed and included a significant proportion of new pieces, approximately three-quarters of the total. This proportion may even be higher than in other volumes of the "New Concepts Piano Series." This could be considered the sixth feature of our "Preparatory Level" tutorial.