I, too, am a fan of The Music Tree.

What I do is start with the pink Dozen a Day book, then transition to Music Tree Part 1.

This sequence seems to work with most every one of my students. As stated above, The Music Tree gives me fantastic results with reading and technique, along with expression and creativity.

YES! It is so good. The more I use it, the more I like it.

To motivate uninterested students, Piano Adventures Gold Star Adventures is the way to go.

It's nice to revisit an old thread like this, to see how much (or little) I have evolved as a piano teacher.

I LOVE the Kieth Snell books - solid classical repertoire. I usually move beginners to that series after about a year of lessons (starting with primary or level 1 depending on the student).

The downside is that it is strictly repertoire, so all technical instruction needs to be instigated by the teacher. The scale books and theory books that accompany this series are EXCELLENT. I find the higher level theory books to be excellent college preparation. Many students would be able to test out of theory 1 if they're really paying attention to the theory assignments.

As I progress to the harder levels, I sometimes stick to the 1 highlights book instead of using the separate baroque/classical romantic/20thc. books so that I can supplement with other pieces.

I like to use either Alfred's Basic Piano Library or Alfred's Premier Piano Course, although I tend to prefer the latter. I've used Bastien and Piano Adventures, although I tend to prefer the Alfred books. I also like to supplement them with A Dozen A Day and the Keith Snell Classical Repertoire series.

Main method book: "Music Tree: Time to Begin" and "Level 1."

Young ones get "My First Piano Adventures" or "Music for Little Mozarts" instead.

If needed, we'll continue to "Premier Piano Course" or "Piano Adventures" or "Hal Leonard," depending, for a very graded and slow pace. However, considering changing this to: "Music Tree: Time to Begin" to "Celebrate Piano" for pretty much anyone under the age of 10-12 as a standard.

If not needed, for classical repertoire (which I tend to move into immediately), Keith Snell all the way I use the standard 3-book route because it has pretty much every piece needed, and supplement the Contemporary portion generously.

All have:
Theory books: Keith Snell Fundamentals of Piano Theory
Sight-reading books: Line a Day for the method book kids, Four Star for those in repertoire

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Pianoeagle, how do you deal with the Alfred Basic Library kids who get stuck in position playing?

I have not had an overall issue with students getting stuck in position playing. During the first year, some students do have trouble starting the pieces in the right position (i.e. they get so used to having pieces in G Position that they don't realize that one song is in C Position). This is usually an easy obstacle to overcome when the student reads the note names out loud prior to playing.

Also, I introduce Keith Snell and supplemental repertoire early into the curriculum, along with scales (earlier than when Alfred introduces them). The supplemental repertoire fills in the gaps and allows students pieces of similar difficulty to their method books, but with perhaps some added concepts, i.e. 6ths, 7ths, minor key signature.

I have always enjoyed teaching with 'Teaching Little Fingers To Play', by John Thompson. After my students finish that first book, I move onto Nancy and Randall Fabers 'Piano Adventures'. I start with level 1, and move on at their pace. I have always had performing students, so I teach using the performance levels. Also, I would say that if there is something in the book that you don't agree with, don't worry about it, just skip that page or that song. You are the teacher, teach what you believe is best for your students!

I love the Piano Adventures series (and the My First Piano Adventures books) but only up until the 3A level. However, by that time they're usually ready to be out of method books anyway.