What defines “intermediate” in piano teaching?

Intermediate simply means the middle stage of learning. Most teachers rely on a beginning method series, such as Piano Adventures, Piano Safari, or Alfred’s Basic Piano Course, to introduce new piano students to technique, repertoire, theoretical concepts, and everything else that is needed in the earliest stages of learning to play. However, these methods are intended to be just that - a way to begin a student’s journey at the piano. When a student completes the series of books, he is not ready to play the advanced repertoire, such as Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata or Debussy’s Clair de lune.

So what are some specific skills that indicate that a student has moved beyond the beginner (or elementary) level into the intermediate level? The following is an informal list of things students entering the intermediate level should be able to do:

• read on the staff, including ledger lines

• keep a steady pulse in both simple and compound meters

• read basic rhythm patterns including triplets and sixteenth notes

• understand key signatures and play in a key

• play triads and understand triad inversions

• play two different things in two different hands

• play and know major and minor penta-scales

• understand and play one-octave major and minor scales

• play basic articulations such as staccato, legato, and tenuto

• understand the use of the damper pedal and execute basic legato pedaling

What books should I use?

If students completing an elementary method series are not ready for advanced standard repertoire, then how do we choose repertoire and ensure a smooth progression through the intermediate grades towards advanced mastery of the instrument? The easiest solution is to use a graded intermediate repertoire series, such as Jane Magrath’s Masterwork Classics. Many publishers have put out wonderful series of intermediate repertoire containing pieces from the Baroque period all the way to modern day. Depending on the priorities of the publisher and editor, each series has different strengths and weaknesses. Of course, different teachers, including you and I, also have different priorities, so different series will appeal to different ones of us.

Please click here to read more about my thoughts on these series and see video reviews of two of my favorites.

For teachers who do not wish to use a graded series, and instead prefer urtext editions or composer compilations (such as the Alfred Masterwork Series), care should still be taken to ensure a smooth progression. Jane Magrath’s book titled Piano Literature for Teaching and Performance is an invaluable resource and can be purchased through the Piano Inspires website here. (The older edition of this book was titled The Pianists Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature and is available on Amazon here.) Exam syllabi can also be helpful in leveling repertoire; please see my answer to a question about exams below.

WHAT components make up a well-rounded intermediate curriculum?

Many teachers who have the goal of their intermediate students reaching advanced levels focus solely on repertoire and technique at the intermediate level. Certainly these two components should be the core of piano lessons, as being physically able to play pieces at the piano is what most students want to gain from their lessons. However, unless a student is also receiving a strong musical education outside of private piano lessons, it is my opinion that piano teachers should also incorporate music theory and functional keyboard skills as a significant part of lesson time throughout these years. Examples of functional skills include:

• sight reading

• playing a melody or chord progression by ear

• harmonizing a melody

• improvising

• transposing

• reading lead sheets and chord charts

• arranging a folk melody or holiday tune into a solo piano arrangement

• playing in ensemble (such as piano duets)

• accompanying a singer or instrumentalist

Functional skills enable students to serve their communities in a musical context. They also allow for students to be more creative and take more ownership of their own music-making, therefore increasing motivation and satisfaction.

What about exams?

Some teachers may be very familiar with exam boards such as AMEB, ABSRM, or RCM, depending on their location. Other teachers may have never sent students to exams. The answer to whether or not students should participate in exams entirely depends on location as well as the teacher’s and student’s preferences and goals. Some students are ideally suited to take exams, and others are not.

Growing up in the US, I was not exposed to an exam system until I began teaching professionally. Since I teach in Illinois, I send a portion of my studio to complete exams in the ISMTA Achievement in Music system every year.

Exam syllabi and repertoire lists can be very useful for teachers even if they do not ever intend to enter students in the exam. I frequently use my own ISMTA syllabus as well as the RCM syllabus to look up leveling of specific pieces of music.

Why is music theory important, and why should intermediate students learn basic analysis skills?

The simple answer to this question is that students learn best when they understand what they are playing. Basic analysis (such as finding scale patterns or broken chords within a piece of repertoire) facilitates quicker learning and memorization. It also allows for students to play more expressively. Understanding and hearing of dissonance (or simply finding the “special chord”) allows students to highlight the expressive moments written by a composer.

I show examples of how I do basic analysis in each of my How to Teach Intermediate Repertoire videos on my YouTube channel. Click here for the full playlist.

how many pieces should i assign each student each week?

This is a difficult question to answer, as I believe lessons should be tailored to the individual student. However, I advocate for a repertoire-rich teaching philosophy, meaning that all intermediate students should be interacting with many pieces each term of their study. (For more information about a repertoire-rich approach, click here to read about the 30 Piece Challenge.) I also hope that in any given week, my students’ assignments have a variety of tasks, including multiple pieces of repertoire as well as some sort of creative activity or functional skill development. Therefore, a typical assignment from me for a student at the mid-intermediate level might include:

• scales and other technical warmups

• a Baroque and/or Classical piece

• a 19th-century piece

• a 20th-century piece

• a piece in a more popular or jazz style

• a lead sheet to play and arrange

• a written theory assignment

For students who learn quickly and practice regularly, I might also include a YOYO (you’re on your own) piece from a book slightly below their repertoire level. For students who are struggling to regularly practice, the assignment will not be as in depth or have as many elements, and I will focus on assigning the things that require the most home attention.

Why not let students play repertoire that is too difficult?

If you poke around my blog or my YouTube channel, you’ll quickly learn that I’m passionate about teaching appropriately-leveled repertoire to each student. But why? Why shouldn’t we let our students learn pieces that are above their reading or comprehension level? Pieces that might be motivating because they are standards in the piano repertoire, but that might be too hard for our student to read, understand, or handle technically?

The problems I see with consistently allowing students to play music that is truly above their level are the following:

1. While teachers often assume that harder, recognizable repertoire is motivating for students, I have frequently seen the opposite play out. Students who try to play something above their level often become frustrated after learning the first few lines.

2. Learning music significantly more difficult than previous experiences can cause technical problems, bad habits that are difficult to fix, or even injury.

3. Students who take months to hack through a difficult piece often rely on rote learning, measure by measure, and this type of learning is terribly limiting. (I am not saying that all rote learning is bad - it is certainly not! I use it on a daily basis with my beginner students!)

To read more of my thoughts on this subject, please view this blog post and video. At this link, you can also download my Repertoire Difficulty Worksheet which can help you determine just how hard an individual piece is before assigning it to a student.

What makes a great intermediate teacher?

We all can probably agree on many qualities that make a great music teacher in general, whether in lessons with a beginner or an advanced student. But what qualities are needed to be a truly great teacher of intermediate level students? Here are some of my thoughts, which you can also hear me discuss in this video:

• Teachers of intermediate students must be advanced players.

• Teachers must be inspiring and enthusiastic. While elementary pieces often have descriptive titles and are written to be immediately engaging, intermediate students play sonatinas and minuets and many other historical (and therefore less culturally relevant) works. We must love the repertoire we teach, or at the very least, be able to “sell” it to our students, even if it is simpler than our advanced repertoire.

• Great teachers of intermediate students approach their relationship with the student more like that of a coach than a teacher. While beginning students need us to show and tell everything because they have never encountered each new concept, intermediate students need less telling and more leading. They already know so much. We as teachers serve them best when we lead them to discover what each piece holds and make connections to concepts they already know and musical experiences they have already had.

• Teachers must teach good practice habits. Students at this level should be growing in independence, gradually becoming more and more autonomous in their study. The intermediate years are the best place to learn good practice habits, and unfortunately, I’ve heard from many musicians that they did not learn these until they studied for their undergraduate degree.

• Lastly, but most importantly, great teachers of the intermediate level know how to distill advanced musical and technical concepts to the student and explain them in a way that is age-appropriate and experience-appropriate for the individual student. Many teachers understand performance practice or harmonic analysis but do not know how to lead an adolescent or recreational adult student in the same understanding. Alternatively, teachers sometimes wrongly assume that students are incapable of understanding intricacies such as sonata-allegro form or basic Baroque ornamentation. While it takes care and experience, learning to communicate in an individually appropriate way is what will ultimately help our students learn and understand their music in a manner that will allow them to perform expressively and take ownership of their music-making pursuits.

Do you have other questions about teaching intermediate piano students?

Feel free to look through my blog and YouTube channel as well as consult the resources linked here. But if you are interested in some personalized feedback, please check out my Teacher Consultation Service linked here. I’d love to chat with you!

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