Piano Train Trips by Juan Cabeza is a collection of 18 piano etudes, plus a series of supplementary exercises. The etudes (stations) are designed to practice one specific musical aspect in each piece and are composed in styles that are appealing to all students.
Focusing on a single musical or technical feature will enable the student to master each concept by listening, memorizing, reading, and practicing a single skill. For example, in the etudes based on intervals, the student will learn to identify the intervals clearly in the score, perceive them aurally, and relate them technically to the piano in a given key. The etudes focus on scales, intervals, pentascales, chords in inversion, and other standard pianistic patterns.
In the exercises, the student plays the technical pattern emphasized in the corresponding etude with a teacher accompaniment. This provides further rhythmic and technical reinforcement for mastering each concept. Furthermore, many of the etudes and exercises were designed to be easily transposable to other keys.
This book is a perfect complement to any piano method or curriculum of standard repertoire. It is important to provide the student with a varied repertoire of many pieces to learn throughout the school year. Using this book will enable the student to experience pieces in various styles and to improve reading, technique, memory, and analysis skills.
The pieces in Piano Train Trips have been used successfully in both individual and group lessons and are appealing to children and adults alike at the late elementary or early intermediate levels of study.
