Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Relative difficulty of MFPA and Helen Marlais

I have been using My First Piano Adventures for all my young beginners, up to lesson book B. I just bought and browsed through Helen Marlais Lesson and Technique book preparatory level, as far as I can see it covers very much the same material as MFPA A and B. I haven't seen the Helen Marlais Grade 1 book (the next step up), but does it follow on smoothly? In other words, could a student go happily from MFPA B to Helen Marlais grade 1?

Where I come from, grade 1 is about a year away from this stage, which is why I ask.

Does anyone use both methods together? I like MFPA, but I think I prefer the artwork on Helen Marlais, and I'm thinking of supplementing with the prep level recital book.

I do use both.

MFPA works really well for the young, young students. But whether they are ready for Marlais or not depends on their cognitive development. Marlais' pedagogy is sound, but Book 1 is quite difficult compared to MFPA Book B. It maybe a stretch to take this leap unless the student is very smart.

I have a student who just finished MFPA Book C, and I'm debating what to do with the student. Probably the Piano Adventures Primer Book because the student is still young and needs more basics reinforced. But that's my judgment call for this specific case.

When you say book 1, do you mean Grade 1?

Maybe another option would be to go from MFPA B to Marlais prep, in which case I might as well introduce it now. I've not had a good look through MFPA C, but the fact it doesn't have a CD is a negative for me. I mean, I loathe the artwork, but I put up with that because I like the CD, and the kids benefit from the aural input too.

The leveling of methods in the United States is somewhat arbitrary. They do not correlate to other systems (such as RCM, ABRSM, TAP, etc...)

The only way to determine how one method might relate to another is to do a bit of analysis yourself. Also, the primary goal of preschool methods (such as MFPA) is readiness. A student may be ready after book A, or after book C, or at any point in between. It's for the teacher to judge when a student is ready and what exactly they're ready for (otherwise, what's the point in having us around?)

Yes of course, Kreisler, I was just asking because I don't have easy access to Marlais grade 1.

I bought a copy of the Helen Marlais grade 1 out of curiosity. It does progress quickly. I have not used it with any students yet but am thinking about pulling it out from time to time to use as supplemental material. (I like to occasionally have students sight read from other methods for a change of pace).

I have been working through the Prep Recital book with a student who wasn't quite ready to move from her Music Tree Primer book into Level 1. I have been working through the book by using one of the off-staff pieces in the beginning of the book as a warm-up and then spending more time on an on-staff piece toward the middle of the book. It may sound a little strange but it seems to be working all right!