Arja Suorsa-Rannanmäki

Colour Keys the Piano ABC

Colour Keys Piano ABC is designed for young beginners. Piano ABC is suitable for both private and group lessons. This method book applies the ideas of Zoltan Kodaly who believed in the importance of developing the inner hearing skills through audio-visual means.A child-centered Colour Keys method, which is based on the Colour Strings approach, introduces new musical concepts in the simplest manner possible. The different octave ranges of the keyboard are illustrated with a coloured slip that is placed behind the keys. In addition, a different character represents each octave. The staff is constructed gradually from a single-line staff into a five-line staff. The method uses relative solfa. Little do wandering on the keyboard suggests transposition. A transparent transposing slip will guide transposition and functions in every key. The pieces present a collection of folk songs and children's songs from many different countries. This separate Teacher's Guide (also available in Finnish) offers pedagogical information about the teaching material as well as the lyrics to the songs.