Doodles by Alison Mathews
Doodles by Alison Mathews
Much, much more than just a note-reading book
Alison Mathews’ Doodles: Easy Reading Pieces for Piano in 4 Difficulty Levels is an extremely effective resource for teaching musicianship and creativity. I’ve used it many times, and it’s a big hit with my students.
What differentiates Doodles from the many other note-reading books out there is that it is filled with creative suggestions for how to change the piece. Here are a few samples:
“Try this at a different octave. Where does it sound more scared?”
“Choose different dynamics on the repeat”
“Use sustain pedal if you like”
“Try repeating with your own right hand chords. Experiment with a mixture of black and white keys for a sour sound!”
“Slower and sleepier every time you repeat”
These are really stimulating for students, who really enjoy transforming the piece, and contributes to the broader development of their expressive skills and musicality. In my experience even the most timid students come up with their own original suggestions for how the piece could be enhanced even more. This instills a growing confidence in their own creativity.
The book also works really well with those students who love improvising and composing but don’t really enjoy note-reading: get them to figure out the piece, and then reward them with 5 minutes of experimenting. It’s very effective!
Doodles is suitable for students between about UK Grades 1-3. The sequel, Doodles 2: For Piano Explorers, is suitable for intermediate-advanced students, and I’ve even used it usefully with a student preparing for their Grade 8 exam.
Doodles and Doodles 2 are published by Editions Musica Ferrum and are available wherever you buy music.
Alison Mathews introduces the book in this video: