Fun Piano Music Using Steps and Skips

“Ok, we’re officially moving on from this song. I think I’m going to go crazy if I hear this tune one more time!”

The look of absolute relief on my student’s face told me he felt the same. This student was consistent with practice, and had been moving through his method book at a steady pace. That meant it was probably the song that was creating this sudden struggle, and not necessarily the material.

He didn’t receive a “get out of jail for free” card, though. The subject matter still absolutely needed to be taught and understood. After all, steps and skips music is how many method books introduce beginning staff reading, and they’re a large part of beginning piano music.

But, my student needed a piece that was going to engage him enough for this particular lesson to stick. If I dreaded listening to the method book song, and he dreaded practicing it, it was time to make things more musical and fun – for both of us!

In less than 2 minutes, I was able to identify which piece would be perfect, thanks to the “Skips/Thirds” page in the Student Solutions Catalog. Suddenly he was back on track with consistent practice, and really learning the material from the method book again.

What do you mean by steps and skips music?

These pieces don’t use only steps or only skips. They work like a method book in which concepts build on each other. So the pieces in the “Seconds” category use motives that are made up of repeating notes or steps. The pieces in the “Thirds” category use motives that are made up of repeating notes, steps, and skips. The wonderful thing about most of these pieces is that they use multiple registers so that students aren’t getting “stuck” in one register on the piano.

How can I use pieces that focus on seconds and thirds?

Using these pieces to take the place of a method book piece that just isn’t connecting with your or a student is one I’ve already mentioned, but here are several other ways they can be used:

• Sight reading practice. If a student is not strong in their sight-reading abilities, looking at songs with intervals no greater than thirds is a wonderful way for them to begin building that muscle.
• Working on other challenging areas. If a student is struggling with a different concept – rhythm, phrasing, etc. – removing any interval larger than a third can be a way to make focusing on those other areas easier.
• Duets. A few of the pieces are duets (one a teacher duet, the other student duets). For students working on a duet for the first time, focus can be difficult. Keeping the notes within a smaller range can help remove some of the difficulty.

Which ComposeCreate pieces include intervals no larger than steps and skips?

The Student Solutions Catalog has three pages dedicated to seconds and thirds! If you haven’t already downloaded the Free Student Solutions Catalog, you can find out more information and download it here. This 88-page PDF was designed to help you find music you need quickly and easily so that you don’t waste time searching for a piece that meets a specific need. 

The catalog is very user friendly – just click on anything in the catalog to go directly there! See something in the Table of Contents you want? Just click it and you get taken directly to that page. See a piece on a page you want to check out? Just click the picture and you’ll be taken directly to that item in the store.

Not only can you find music based on a theme, like seconds, but you can search for pieces that solve specific problems, themed music, holiday music by level, and so much more. There are so many ways to use this Catalog – you can find some great ideas  listed on this post.

Download the FREE Student Solutions Catalog here!

Seconds/Steps Music Available:

Thirds/Skips Music Available:

Want to be notified when we have new idea shares and webinars?

If you are a piano teacher and want to know when articles like these get published, please join our email newsletter! We send out weekly newsletters with articles, new music notifications, free webinar opportunities and free teaching resources! We’d love to have you a part of the ComposeCreate community.