Find Your Back-to-School Focus Piece

Students and teachers, this one’s for you! Looking for new repertoire this school year? At Harp Column Music, we have fun pieces for all levels to get students excited for this upcoming school year. Find the right focus piece for this semester on the list below.

Titles marked with an * are playable on lever harp.

Beginner

*Suo Gan

arr. Marilyn Rummel

I have found that my beginner students love learning songs with melodies to which they can sing along. This Welsh lullaby is such an earworm! It is also a great piece for introducing trickier rhythms.

*Woodland Creatures

Kimberly Taylor

This is a wonderful beginner suite of music. It introduces many things to beginning students like raising, soundboard knocking, octave jumps, crossover connections, etc. I have a student currently working through this collection and she is always excited to make it to the next animal!

*A Little Blues

Pedal Sliders

I find one of the best ways to keep students engaged is by having them learn a fun piece! Students will love practicing this catchy bluesy melody.

*Amazing Grace

arr. Valerio Nicosia

No matter what your playing level is, you can’t go wrong with learning this classic hymn. This collection includes both a beginner version and an advanced beginner version, so you can keep building your skills as you continue to learn. 

*Happy Birthday

arr. Liana Alpino

Many of my students have requested learning “Happy Birthday” to play for their family members and schoolmates, so I finally arranged it for them! They always get excited to learn it. This collection includes advanced beginner and intermediate versions in the three most common keys: C, F, and G.

*Caterpillar Classics

Rachel Green

Get your students learning the classics right from the start of their education with this great collection. On the book, Rachel Green says “harpists will learn to interpret ornaments in Bach, understand harmonic chord progressions of classical dance forms, explore character pieces of the Romantic Era and enter the realm of extended harmonies in Impressionism.” Not only are these great pieces for study, but they also make excellent repertoire selections for student recitals. 

Intermediate

*Blissful Day

Joy Slavens

This fun, happy-go-lucky melody will have your student smiling every time they practice! 

*Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1

arr. Merynda Adams

Every classical music lover knows this famous Bach melody. Now it is available for the intermediate harpist to enjoy with Merynda Adams’ simplified version.

*Waltz for You and Me

Monika Stadler

I absolutely adore this waltz. The melodies and harmonies are stunning and give off an air of mystery and wonder. This piece would make an excellent study on tuning into musicality. 

Tico Tico

arr. Angela Klöhn

This Brazilian, choro tune by Zequinha de Abreu is upbeat and oh-so-much fun! It is sure to perk up any student and get them in the mood for learning with its syncopated rhythms and infectious melody.

*Illusion

Ilyia Magalnyk

I imagine myself within a dream when playing this piece. It is such a nice escape from schoolwork, emails, or whatever else is going on in life. It is wonderful for student recitals, church performances, and beyond.

*The Harmonious Blacksmith

arr. Rylee Livingston

The Harmonious Blacksmith by Handel is a harp classic! I remember loving to practice this piece back in school. Rylee Livingston’s arrangement is for lever or pedal harp, but is especially lever harp-friendly. It also includes more dynamic markings than the original score. 

Advanced

Paisaje despues de la Llyuvia

Jose Enrique Guzman

I feel as if I am immersed in a film score while playing this piece. It is so beautiful and meditative. 

Ragtime

arr. Catrin Finch

This collection includes three original rags by David Hellewell, transcribed for solo pedal harp by Catrin Finch. All three rags are ridiculously fun to play and would make excellent encore pieces on a recital. My personal favorite in the collection is “Chicken-Pickin’ Rag.”

“Meditation” from ‘Romance sans paroles’

arr. Marguerite Lynn Williams

I’m so happy that this gorgeous piece by Cécile Chaminade is now available for harpists to perform. Marguerite Lynn Williams has done such a wonderful job transcribing it from piano to harp. She didn’t stop at “Meditation,” though— check out all six of her Romances san paroles here. 

Rhapsodie

edited by  Rachel Green

Always a classic to learn in school! You can’t go wrong learning this legendary piece by Marcel Grandjany. 

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

arr. Keziah Thomas

This waltz from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet Sleeping Beauty is so much fun to learn. I can’t speak for everyone, but I would have been thrilled to learn this in school! 

Bach Preludes

arr. Maria Luisa Rayan

Bach is always welcome repertoire to learn, right? This collection from Maria Luisa Rayan includes four different Bach preludes that are all from “The Well Tempered Clavier” collection.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.