Why Use Piano Adventures?  

Our piano students at Signature School of Music use Piano Adventures, by Randall and Nancy Faber.
We believe in these method books and our students love the music, too!
Piano Adventures® has set a new standard for a new century of piano teaching.  It is fast
becoming the method of choice at leading university pedagogy programs and major teaching
studios around the world.  But more importantly, Piano Adventures® is bringing smiles to the
faces of thousands of piano students.  It can do the same for your students.  Here's why:

Approach to Reading
Common Problem:  
"What hand position am I in?" or "But she still doesn't know her notes!"
Faber Solution:
Individual note recognition
Intervalic reading
A multi-key understanding.
Concepts that are carefully sequenced and reinforced to ensure success.

How?
  • Students begin by learning a limited set of notes - the notes of Middle C Position. . . yet
    they play these notes with varied fingerings.  For example, the student plays Middle C
    with finger 1, finger 2, and then with finger 3.  As the student learns Treble G (the next
    in a series of important guide notes - Middle C, Treble G, Bass F), the pieces require
    the student to play finger 3 on G, and then 5 on G.  Similarly, varied fingering is used
    for Bass F and other notes presented.  This pedagogy has several important benefits:
  • It prevents the student from equating a particular note to a particular finger.
  • It teaches the precise relationship between a note and the keyboard.
  • It allows for a free and balanced drop of the arm and hand into the finger.
  • It avoids the overuse of two thumbs on C.
  • It reduces the student's dependence on preset hand positions.
  • The notes of Middle C position include all seven tones of the major scale, allowing the
    student to play numerous familiar melodies (included in the PreTime® Piano and
    PlayTime® Piano supplementary series).

Special Features:
The fingering for the first note in either hand of each piece is set up for the student to identify
the note name, write it on a blank, then place the hand according to the note and finger
number given. The student learns the fundamental procedure of music reading and becomes
self-sufficient in this process.  No longer will the teacher be plagued by the student asking,
"What hand position?"

Along with individual note reading, the student is required to read by the contour of the
musical line - step or skip, up or down.  This intervalic reading approach promotes fluency,
recognition of melodic pattern, and understanding of the musical line.

At level 2A, with the student firmly grounded in note reading, a multi-key approach is taken.  
Here the student learns the major and minor 5-finger patterns in C, G, D, and A. . .not so
many as to overwhelm the student's reading or to become tedious, but enough to grasp
transposition and basic chord recognition.  (The student is encouraged to learn all 12 major
and minor 5-finger positions in exercise format.)  Minor is included early to tantalize the ear
and to offer additional appealing sounds.  At Level 2B, the complete major scale is introduced
along with key signatures and primary chords in the keys of C, G, and F.

Pianistic Music
  • Pianistic arranging is one of the hallmarks of the Fabers' material.  All of the music in
    Piano Adventures is specifically written or arranged for the piano.
  • The pieces feel right and sound right at the piano.
  • Easy and effective use of the damper pedal opens up the rich sonority of the
    instrument.
  • The pieces incorporate essential pianistic gestures—the motions and phrases that are
    integral to piano playing.
  • Pianistic pieces develop fluent piano technique.  The pieces are written to encourage
    freedom at the keyboard, promote a relaxed wrist, and to introduce gestures that carry
    the hands across the full range of the instrument.

Artistic Music
The pieces included in Piano Adventures® are eminently musical.  A method can only be as
good as its music, and the music of Piano Adventures® shines.  The course combines
technique and artistry so that the teacher may bring out the maximum expression in the
student's playing.  Parents notice the musicality. . . students thrive on it. . . and you the
teacher will appreciate the artistic results.  The Technique & Artistry books in Piano
Adventures® are ground-breaking and unparalleled in teaching technical gesture for artistic
playing.  The "Technique Secrets" and exercises deliver the pianistic tools to play with ease
and expression.  The "Artistry Hint" and "Artistry Piece" that conclude each unit bring student
awareness of sound and musicality to new heights.

Student Appeal
Students are attracted to the pieces and sounds of Piano Adventures®.  Ten years of
painstaking pilot testing has ensured that the method has wide student appeal.  Literally, over
one hundred pieces that did not pass the test of student enthusiasm were discarded and
replaced, until the method met the standard and musical taste of both piano student and
teacher.  The tremendous appeal of the music as published has been confirmed by the
thousands of letters and comments from teachers and students across North America.
Our Curriculum for
Piano Lessons