Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Kabalevsky 24 Pieces for Children, Op. 39...

Hello all,
I'm getting familiar with these pieces. I have a question about number 7, "Playing". It is written in Bb major.
Would you teach the Bb major scale before teaching this piece?

I just checked our state syllabus and it's included in a level 1 piece, but the Bb major scale is not included in the syllabus as a scale requirement.

I'm confused!! I think the piece is adorable.. perfect for one of my students, but I just wonder about throwing a key signature at her, as she's level one Faber.

Thanks,
BevP

Bev, different editions print these gems in different order. My Kjos edition has "A Game", which is in Bb as #5 and Prelude, in g minor, as 19.

Students learning A Game are probably not ready for black key scales, so no, I wouldn't. Students playing "Prelude" should be ready to learn G/g scales.

John

I teach my students all scales in all keys once they have worked on C major hands together and can do it well. However, we do not work on pieces that are in any key other than C, F or G for quite some time.

If you do want her to learn the piece, consider putting all the flats in ahead of time. If she can understand flats at this point well enough to play it, that is. I think have two flats will be confusing for her. At this level, one is hard enough to remember.

Try another piece and plan on giving this to her later on.

Hey BevP -

Hello again!

As you probably know, I am a big fan of scales.

However . . . I don't feel it's absolutely necessary to know the Bb major scale to play Kabalevsky's "Playing" effectively. The scale is a bit more difficult than even the Db and Gb I find, so as long as your student knows to make B's and E's flat from the key signature, I think you'll both be ok.

As we go along in a method book, sometimes we'll hit a piece in a key before the student knows the scale of that key. For instance, when using Bastian, songs are written in F major long before I teach that scale. So I just explain the Bb and on we go.

Good luck, I love the Kabalevsky pieces. Have fun!

Joan

I don't see any need to teach a Bb scale before this piece.