Some Guidelines and Sources for Choosing Repertoire

by Nancy Ostromencki and John M. Zeigler, Ph.D.
Rio Rancho, NM USA

e receive a great deal of e-mail from students and teachers asking for help with repertoire. Without hearing the student play, having a listing of past repertoire, and knowing something about the student’s technical abilities, this is a difficult task. We usually suggest that the students ask their individual private teachers about appropriate repertoire and communicate to the teacher regarding music they would like to study and the technique needed to help further that study. Choosing appropriate repertoire involves a careful balancing of skills, physical ability, musical interests, pedagogical value, existing repertoire, and emotional maturity of the student. The teacher needs to take a thorough knowledge of the student's level of playing and use it as a springboard to explore and expand the students technical and musical abilities.

Piano Education Home

This is the abstract for the article. The full text of it, and many other articles not available on the online Piano Education Page, can be obtained by purchasing the PEP CD. To find out more about the PEP CD, click here.