Heather Schmidt has written two books on piano education, one for adult learners and one for children.
Created by Juilliard-trained pianist and composer Heather Schmidt, Adult Piano – Level 1, is the perfect introduction to playing piano. A complete course for complete beginners, it gives you everything you need to get started. There are free video lessons to accompany the book available at www.schoolofthesky.com. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to play 20 familiar tunes, including Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, Yankee Doodle, When The Saints Go Marching In and more. The books covers basic hand and arm position, finger numbering, music alphabet and keyboard layout, basic rhythms (quarter, half, dotted half, whole and eighth notes), basic time signatures (2/4, 3/4 and 4/4), reading music in treble and bass clef, C and G major scales, 5-finger patterns and triads, accidentals, dynamics and more. You’ll have a solid foundation in piano playing and be ready for more!
Appropriate for ages 7 to adult. Created by Juilliard-trained pianist and composer Heather Schmidt, NATE THE NOTE is designed to be either an introduction to reading music, or, it can be used to review and reinforce note reading and rhythms alongside any standard piano method. Although some of the material is created specifically for piano students, most of the book can be used by students who want to learn or improve music reading skills for any instrument in treble or bass clef.
What’s covered in Book 1 — Treble Clef and Bass Clef, Staff lines, Music Alphabet, Keyboard Layout, Middle C, Line and Space Notes in Treble Clef, Line and Space Notes in Bass Clef, Basic Rhythms (Quarter, Half, Dotted Half and Whole Notes), Time Signatures (2/4, 3/4 and 4/4), and Basic Rests (Quarter, Half, and Whole Rests).