My daughter passed his first ABRMS(British) last year, plus Yamaha exam. She had been going to group lesson for 3 years+. But now we quit the group, and put her in private lesson.

She already played simplified/short version of Fur Elise(1 page), Musette in C and a few exam piece from ABRMS book etc. Are there any particular classical pieces she should be playing at this age. Is she behind because of group lesson?

Bach's Musette in D major, and 2 Minuetes from Little Note Book for Anna Magdalena Bach are quite playable for 9 yr's old. Beethoven's Sonatina in G major 1st movement (1 page) is at about the same level as those Bach's piece. by the way, they are all original pieces and not simplified versions. you can find all those pieces in this book:

amazon.com

Thanks Signa.

She also likes Easy Winners, Entertainer by Scott Joplin but the original version might be too hard for her fingering due to multiple note fingering versus single for RH and LH all over the place.

Hi James,

For fear of stating the obvious but nevertheless taking into account limitations of a 9 year-old (finger spread, key signatures, sight-reading, complexity, etc) might I suggest some works which are classics (without being stuffy) and well within the compass of the small fry. Every effort should be made to settle for original works - not simplifications.

1. Antonin Dvorak's Humoresque in G is tuneful with a single note treble melody (few chords later) over an elementary LH profile.

2 Equally charming is Dvorak's famous "Songs My Mother Taught Me" in 22 measures.

3. You haven't lived if you hadn't mastered JS Bach's WTC Prelude I (Book I). The easy repetitive arpeggiated triplets in the RH against the chiming two "starter" notes in the LH make for easy and encouraging progress.

4. I wouldn't leave out Robert Schumann's "Kinderscenen" and for starters the cheerful "Foreign Lands and People". She'll have to learn how to handle a LH rhythmic note pattern of small chords and single notes. With other entrancing names of pieces like "A Strange Story", "An Important Event", "By the Fireside", "The Knight of the Hobby Horse", "Frightening", "Traumerei" and "Falling Asleep" Schumann's vibrant Opus 15 is a liftime treasure trove.

don't bother with Schumann's music for now, because his music usually needs quite a bit of hand stretching to play and would be quite hard for the small hands of a 9 years old. you'd know what i mean by looking at Traumerei...

My daugher also like The Entertainer listed below. It is challenging because her fingers are still short so I have to drop some of the last notes with long fingering extension like in bar 5. Just curious, can we use the same fingers 125 for middle of bar 5. I was trying to alternate fingers before but they are not fast enough. I think we should keep the same fingers to move around.


http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Scores/The-Entertainer.pdf

My daughter likes the Entertainer, original version which is required long finger extension. On bar 5I am thinking for dropping the last stretching notes so she can play, since her fingers are not long enough.

http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Scores/The-Entertainer.pdf

the entertainer has too many double octave passages, which is unplayable for your daughter now i am sure. it is better to select an original piece without needing such octave hand span. it is not worth it to try such big streching piece for now. your daughter could always get back to it later when she grows up little more. staying with a suitable piece for her hands now would be a better idea.

Despite the "kinder" in the name, Schumann's Kinderscenen is not considered to be children's music (the title translates as "Scenes from Childhood"). Most of the pieces are late intermediate to advanced, plus as another poster mentioned Schumann always seems to throw in one or more large chords (> octave stretch) in each one.

More appropriate would be Schumann's "Album for the Young", which contains considerably easier pieces (although they get pretty hard closer to the end of the opus).

If your daughter likes The Entertainer, you might try some Christopher Norton. His 'Microjazz' series has some really wonderful, original pieces that I'm sure she'd have a lot of fun with. 'Coconut Rag' comes to mind, but there are lots of others. I would suggest either the collection 2;level 4, or the collection 3;level 5.
the Boosey&Hawkes site (publisher) used to have some sample pages, I think, but I can't find it today!
http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/010605/details.html

I also have simplified version(no long finger stretching) of the Entertainer that she can try since she seems to like it so much. We'll see.