Piano Playing and Teaching

Piano Playing and Teaching

The piano has maintained a position of prominence in many Canadian homes since the late 18th century. Canadians have thrived on this instrument, and Canada has produced some of the best pianists, piano instructors, and piano methods in the latter part of the 20th century.

A European Invention
At the end of the 17th century, the Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori began making harpsichords with hammers that hit the strings, in order to increase the range of dynamics. His invention spread to German-speaking countries where builders created rectangular pianofortes, based on the shape of another popular household keyboard instrument, the clavichord. These pianofortes became known as square pianos. The cost of one of these square pianos was approximately one-third that of a harpsichord, making the new instrument a more popular status symbol among wealthier families.

The Piano Comes to Canada

In Canada, as in Europe, there was a period in which both harpsichords and pianos were played. According to Frederick Glackemeyer, there was only one piano in Quebec City in 1783. He and a competitor, Francis Vogeler, did much to change this situation. In 1784 Glackemeyer advertised "FOR SALE/FIVE elegant PIANOFORTES! arrived in the latest ships... for a very reasonable price." As the popularity of the pianoforte increased, a greater number of these instruments were imported, either in the shape of the harpsichord (now known as the grand piano), or in the space-saving square shape (the square piano), which later developed into the upright piano.

In 1791, the year of Mozart's death, the expenses of a local musical society included "£3 10s 6d for the use of a Piano Forte." (Indeed, a Mozart piano concerto was performed 6 Dec 1792 at a concert in Quebec City.) In 1802 James Dunlop, a Scottish merchant settled in Montreal, wrote to his sister that "... there is a very good music master here and I brought two Forte-Pianos from London." Advertisements in newspapers indicate that the instrument was well established by the mid 19th century in all the larger centres.

Difficulties in Moving Pianos

Difficulties encountered in transporting pianos to the Prairies were considerable but not insurmountable, at least for a privileged minority. In 1830 Governor Sir George Simpson, taking his bride to Fort Garry (Winnipeg), arranged for the forwarding of her piano. Pianos could be sent by sea to the west coast. When William John Macdonald landed at Victoria for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1850, he was invited to the Langford residence, where he found the eldest daughter "an excellent pianist."

Like Europeans, Canadians of wealth and distinction insisted on a solid music education for the younger generation. The importance of this instrument made the obstacle of Canada's vast wilderness inconsequential. Documents record almost heroic feats such as a strongman hired to carry a piano on his back over the Rocky Mountains, and an Inuk who carried a player piano on his sled across 300 km of treacherous ice and snow to the nearest trading post because he had discovered that the piano would not fit into his igloo (CMJ, 1958, p. 22).

Piano Manufacturing in Canada

Until the third decade of the 19th century all pianos were imported. Since imported pianos were expensive and unsuitable for the Canadian climate, Canadians began making their own. With the wealth of hardy woods from Canadian forests, the Canadian piano manufacturing industry quickly became an international success. In the early 20th century, Canada was a major producer of pianos with the upright piano being "a dominant symbol; of Canada's Victorian era, a classic emblem of slower days, simpler times" (Downright Upright, 1991:11). With more than 100 piano manufacturing companies and individual builders between 1879 and 1925, this Canadian industry was producing 30,000 pianos a year by the early part of the 20th century. (See Piano building.)

Early Piano Instruction in Canada

Most early piano teaching was done privately, though some teachers advertised their studios as "academies of music." Inevitably the first teachers were Europeans who had emigrated; later their numbers included Canadians who had gone abroad for advanced studies. Most were active in various other branches of the profession in addition to teaching. The German-born T.F. Molt (1795-1856) began to teach in Quebec City in 1823, both privately and in educational institutions. He then returned to Europe for further study. Molt claimed to have studied with both Czerny and Beethoven, although records to support these claims do not exist. Molt's style of teaching nevertheless reflected the influence of these European composers, expounding the dynamic and chordal possibilities of the pianoforte.

In L'Album musical (1882) Gustave Smith recalls some of the music teachers active in the province of Quebec in 1856. Jean-Chrysostome Brauneis II, the first of a long line of Canadian-born musicians who completed their studies abroad, introduced the sonatinas of Clementi and the studies of Cramer and Czerny. Paul Letondal, a French emigrant to Canada, as a youth was a pupil of Kalkbrenner (or possibly of one of his disciples). Charles Wugk Sabatier likewise emigrated from France and was the first virtuoso pianist to live in Quebec City and Montreal.

In Toronto the Scottish organist and pianist James Paton Clarke was an advocate of the Johann Bernhard Logier system, which entailed the use of a hand-strengthening device called the Chiroplast and advocated group instruction. The work of these teachers and their contemporaries reflected their particular backgrounds.

Pianists and Concerts

Early Concerts
Pianists were not heard in solo recital until the second half of the 19th century (see Concerts: 1800 to 1899), and the tradition of varied programs (songs, operatic arias, instrumental solos, etc) lingered long. Pianists were involved in these joint concerts as soloists, in chamber music, and as accompanists, and often were required to play versions of the accompaniments of concertos. In centres without orchestras the piano commonly functioned as a surrogate orchestra in the 19th century, not only in rehearsal but also in public performances.

Conservatories and Criteria for Piano Instruction

The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) was founded in Toronto in 1886 with the intent of fostering the development of the whole human potential through music education. Modelling its concept on European counterparts, the RCM established a curriculum and certificate program of high standards, which, by the early 21st century, was considered one of the largest musical institutions in the world with more than 400,000 Canadians participating annually. In 2004 its College of Examiners listed more than 200 piano examiners across the country.

The Western Ontario Conservatory of Music (WOCM) was founded in 1891 with similar principles to those of the RCM. In 1997, WOCM merged with the Western Board of Music (WBM, established 1934 and based in Edmonton). The merger created Conservatory Canada, with its head office in London, Ontario.

The Northern Lights: Canadian National Conservatory of Music (CNCM) was founded in 2001 with a mandate to actively promote Canadian music and bring music to rural and isolated communities. CNCM stands apart from other national conservatories. With its own curriculum and publications (Northern Lights and Making Tracks), CNCM focuses on both educational and performance material. Its publications include new works by both well known and new Canadian composers, including Nancy Telfer, Frances Balodis and Emily-Jane Orford.

Similar graded certificate programs can be found in other national conservatories such as the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique in Quebec. The English conservatory system is also found in the Trinity College of Music examinations, which are available across the country. Universities and colleges have also developed music programs that include a piano requirement.

Canada has never had a legislated, established criteria for piano instruction. The Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (CFMTA) was established in 1935 to promote and maintain a high standard of qualified music instruction. However, in spite of its continued efforts, there is no legislation to protect students from unqualified instructors.

Canadian Piano Instruction Books

In the early years of piano instruction, there was a lack of available material for the young student. In the 19th century, publications such as the Ladies' Home Journal (and other ladies' magazines) frequently published popular dance music and love songs. Unfortunately, published music and methodologies remained limited in Canada until the early 20th century. Although early Canadian instructors frequently developed their own methods, few of these were published.

Molt wrote the first piano instruction book published in Canada, including the first bilingual one, Elementary Treatise on Music/Traité élémentaire de musique (Quebec City 1828) and several published in the USA. This book was followed by his New and Original Method for the Pianoforte in 1835; Remarks on Piano Forte Instruction in 1836; The Elements of Piano Forte Playing in 1854; and Elementary Method for the Piano Forte in 1855.

Pianos in the Private Home

After the middle of the 19th century the piano became the accepted household instrument in middle-class families, and no young lady was spared the lessons necessary to acquire basic skill in the rendition of dance and parlour pieces and song accompaniments. Lady Dufferin's account of facilities in one Canadian convent in the 1870s reads like a harbinger of music-school conditions in the age of the practice room a century or so later: "In one hall there are 12 glass boxes, each containing a piano so that pupils can practise simultaneously; whilst in another glass house sits the mistress, overlooking, but, happily for her, not overhearing" (My Canadian Journal 1872-1878, Toronto 1969, p 24).

Notable Piano Teachers in Canada

Notable teachers across Canada, besides those already mentioned, have included Frank Harrison in Fredericton; Harry Dean in Halifax, NS; Anisia Campos, Jean Dansereau, Paul de Marky, Auguste Descarries, Stanley Gardner, Yvonne Hubert, Lubka Kolessa, Alfred La Liberté, Arthur Letondal, Paul Loyonnet, Germaine Malépart, Dorothy Morton, Léo-Pol Morin, Natalie Pépin, and Émiliano Renaud in Montreal; Guy Bourassa, Frans Brouw, Constantin Klimoff, Hélène Landry, and Berthe Roy in Quebec City; Ethel Barnes, Annie Jenkins, Harry Puddicombe, and Ernest Whyte in Ottawa; J.E.P. Aldous in Hamilton, Ont; G.D. Atkinson, Mona Bates, Boris Berlin, Margaret Miller Brown, Hayunga Carman, Rachel Cavalho, H.M. Field, Edward Fisher, W.O. Forsyth, Reginald Godden, Alberto Guerrero, Lubka Kolessa, Viggo Kihl, Waugh Lauder, Ernest Seitz, Pierre Souvairan, Richard Tattersall, and Frank Welsman in Toronto; Jean Broadfoot, Alma Brock-Smith, Eva Clare, Gwendda Owen Davies, S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, Leonard Heaton, Phyllis Holtby, Leonard Isaacs, Roline Mackidd, John Melnyk, and Grace Rich in Winnipeg; Peggy Sharpe and Lorne Watson in Brandon, Man; Lyell Gustin in Saskatoon; Jenny Lerouge Le Saunier, Alexandra (Sandra) Munn, and Edward Lincoln in Edmonton; Jessie Ackland, John Duval, Leonard Leacock, Gladys Egbert (b McElvie, the first Canadian to go to London on a Royal Schools of Music scholarship), and Boris Roubakine in Calgary; Gertrude Huntly Green, Stanley Shale, Winifred Scott Wood, and Robin Wood in Victoria, BC; and Barbara Custance, Jean (Robinson) Coulthard, Kum-Sing Lee, Glenn Nelson, Robert Silverman, Ira Swartz, and J.D.A. Tripp in Vancouver.

Some important teachers, such as Boris Berlin, Gladys Egbert, Alberto Guerrero, Lyell Gustin, Yvonne Hubert, May Kelly Kirby, Lubka Kolessa, Germaine Malépart, and J.D.A. Tripp, were also significant in their contributions to piano pedagogy.

As the piano continued to play a dominant role in Canadian society, the demand for qualified piano teachers increased. Unfortunately, with little or no regulation over who could teach, some piano instructors with little experience appeared in communities across the country. Even today, although there are well-trained piano teachers in all provinces, the continued demand for instructors has perpetuated the problem of some unqualified piano instructors teaching young people to play.

Canadian Teachers Moving to the USA

Encouragement for accomplished musicians and music teachers was minimal in early Canada. This lack of support drove many Canadian musicians south to the USA to teach and perform. Calixa Lavallée was a notable musician and piano teacher in Quebec and later in Montreal. He left Canada several times to teach and study in the US, returning home in 1880 in an attempt to prove that talent existed in Canada. At that time he tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a conservatory in Canada. He was described by Augustus Stephen Vogt as "a man of extraordinary ability - not merely as a clever executant of the piano, and not merely as an adroit deviser of pretty melodies and sensuous harmonies, but as a genuinely creative artist, a pure musical genius" (Canadian Heritage, 3 Dec 2003).

Visiting European Teachers

During World War II, Montreal was fortunate in having Isidor Philipp as a teacher at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, and other important European teachers (eg, Arthur Friedheim, E. Robert Schmitz) visited Canada at other times.

Piano Instruction in Public Schools

In 1926 Miss Hope Kammerer started piano group classes in Toronto schools. By 1928 this initiative had influenced the introduction of similar programs in Kitchener, Hamilton, London, Pembroke, Milton, Stratford, Belleville, Milverton, Dundas, Galt, Peterborough, Chatham, Brantford, Ottawa, Paris, Oshawa, Windsor, Sarnia, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, and Edmonton. At that time, the Canadian Bureau for the Advancement of Music issued a guide for conducting piano classes in public schools. Group classes in the public school system have continued on and off in many of these centres, including Ottawa, which continued to offer a piano instructional program in the public schools of greater Ottawa in 2009.

Visiting Pianists from Abroad

Although few students could go abroad to study, many in or near the larger cities could hear visiting pianists. In the 19th century, von Bülow, Thalberg, and Gottschalk were among the visitors. Later d'Albert, Friedheim, Gabrilovich, Godowsky, Hofmann, Paderewski, de Pachmann, Pugno, Rosenthal, Rubinstein, and Sauer were among the many virtuosi who came. Composer-pianists such as Dohnányi, Grainger, MacDowell, Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Ravel were heard playing their own works. In 1913 Harold Craxton, England's finest accompanist and later the teacher of many Canadians in London, toured with Clara Butt. (In London he was also an accompanist of Albani.) At a time when many Canadian cities still were isolated, these visits made teachers and students aware of international standards.

Homegrown Canadian Pianists

In the late 19th century and in the 20th century, Canada produced a number of distinguished players of its own, many of course "finished" abroad. Victoria Cartier, Alfred La Liberté, Calixa Lavallée, Salomon Mazurette, Émiliano Renaud, and Moïse Saucier were among the outstanding players in the late years of the 19th century, and the first prodigies - Berthe Roy and Ellen Ballon - were not far in the future. In 1924 in Toronto, A.S. Vogt was able to write (Musical Life and Arts, 1 Dec 1924): "We have attracted to this country teachers of piano and violin playing who compare favorably with the foremost instructors of the most populous centres of the older parts of the world. In my opinion the actual standard of piano playing in some parts of Canada is much higher than that of England, and it is a significant thing that in recent years the piano and violin have almost completely monopolized the attention of young Canadian students." Also distinguished in the early 20th century were Gertrude Huntly Green, André Mathieu, and the duo pianists Bouchard et Morisset.

In the second half of the 20th century Glenn Gould and Oscar Peterson (a pupil of Paul de Marky) attained the highest levels of world fame as virtuosi and as musicians of striking individuality. Numerous others, however, at various times in the late 19th and 20th centuries, also achieved celebrity. Among them, most of the following have entries in EMC: William Aide, Paul Berkowitz, Louise Bessette, Marie-Claude Bilodeau, Mimi Blais, Lise Boucher, Henri Brassard, Agnes Butcher (Boucher), Angela Cheng, Jane Coop, Jacinthe Couture, Barbara Custance, Jean Dansereau, Raymond Dudley, Marc Durand, Janina Fialkowska, Harry M. Field, Monica Gaylord, Reginald Godden, Richard Gresko, Tiiu Haamer, Marc-André Hamelin, Paul Helmer, Sheila Henig, Angela Hewitt, Gertrude Huntly Green, Margaret Ann Ireland, Diedre Irons, Marek Jablonski, Pierre Jasmin, Muriel Kerr, Ida Krehm, Antonín Kubálek, Anton Kuerti, Claude Labelle, André Laplante, Waugh Lauder, Djane Lavoie-Herz, Alain Lefèvre, Stéphane Lemelin, Louis Lortie, Michelle Mares, André Mathieu, Hélène Mercier, Mari-Elizabeth Morgen, Arthur Ozolins, Jamie Parker, Jon Kimura Parker, Patricia Parr, Louis-Philippe Pelletier, Christina Petrowska, Ross Pratt, Yaron Ross, Jean Saulnier, Claude Savard, Ernest Seitz, Jean-Paul Sévilla, Robert Silverman, Elyakim Taussig, Freda Trepel, Malcolm Troup, William Tritt, Éric Trudel, Andrew Tunis, Ronald Turini, Bruce Vogt, and Claude Webster. (See also Piano teams; Prodigies.)

In 1993 Janina Fialkowska began the musical partnership Piano Six, co-ordinating tours to more than 200 communities by six of Canada's top concert pianists: Janina Fialkowska, Jon Kimura Parker, Angela Hewitt, Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Cheng and André Laplant. Other pianists joined the group, including Bernadene Blaha in 1999. In the first ten years, Piano Six made over 60 tours, reaching out to more than 100 000 classical music lovers in small towns and isolated communities. Tens of thousands of local schoolchildren had the opportunity to hear and meet with Piano Six musicians in their schools. Fialkowska expanded Piano Six in 2003 to include internationally famous Canadian violinists and vocalists as well as other musicians. This new group, Piano Plus, presented a much broader range of classical music to schools and communities across Canada. "Piano Plus," Fialkowska said, "is bringing the world's most thrilling music via some of the world's best performers to a vast and fascinating country. We have a job to do, to keep classical music alive, and to find even one more person who loves it as much as we do."

Pianists as Chamber Musicians

Also notable in some instances as concert pianists but particularly active as chamber musicians, sonata or Lieder partners, or coach-accompanists have been Frances Marr Adaskin, John Avison, Louise-Andrée Baril, Leo Barkin, Dale Bartlett, Mario Bernardi (prior to his rise as a conductor), Françoise Bertrand, Carol Birtch, Bernadene Blaha, Suzanne Blondin, Victor Bouchard, Guy Bourassa, Ada Bronstein, George Brough, Réjean Coallier, John Coveart, Chester Duncan, Mikael Eliasen, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Bryan Gooch, Alberto Guerrero, Stuart Hamilton, Paul Helmer, Anna Moncrieff Hovey, Weldon Kilburn, Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky, Greta Kraus, Gordon Kushner, Janine Lachance, Émery Lavigne, Roline Mackidd, Rachel Martel, Diane Mauger, Michael McMahon, Renée Morisset, John Newmark, Arlene Nimmons Pach, Marie-Thérèse Paquin, Marjorie A. Payne, Colombe Pelletier, Charles Reiner, Jacqueline Richard, Berta Rosenohl-Grinhauz, Gloria Saarinen, Claude Savard, André-Sébastien Savoie, Paul Stewart, Dorothy Swetnam Hare, Linda Lee Thomas, Edmond Trudel, Valerie Tryon, Bruce Ubukata, and a number of others.

Canadian Jazz Pianists

After Oscar Peterson, Paul Bley has had the most illustrious international career in jazz. Jazz pianists with entries in EMC also include Norm Amadio, Jon Ballantyne, Tommy Banks, Jean Beaudet, Neil Chotem, Jimmy Dale, Lorraine Desmarais, Gene DiNovi, Wray Downes, Hugh Fraser, Chris Gage, Lou Hooper, Oliver Jones, Maury Kaye, Pierre Leduc, Art Maiste, Al Neil, Paul Plimley, Doug Riley, Renee Rosnes, Joe Sealy, Bernie Senensky, Michael Snow, Don Thompson, Vic Vogel, and Steep Wade. Other Canadian or Canadian-based jazz pianists include Charlie Austin, Ian Bargh, Stuart Broomer, Brian Browne, Tony Collacott, Bill Emes, Bob Fenton, Linton Garner, Sadik Hakim, Ron Johnston, George McFetridge, Bob Murphy, Stan Patrick, Milt Sealey, Gary Williamson, Reg Wilson, and several who emerged during the 1980s and early 1990s: François Bourassa, Brian Dickinson, Phil Dwyer, Mark Eisenman, Wayne Feschuk, James Gelfand, Steve Holt, D.D. Jackson, Jeff Johnston, Diana Krall, Andy Milne, Glenna Powrie, Dave Restivo, and André White. Other Canadian jazz and popular pianists include Andre Gagnon and Hagood Hardy.

Pedagogical Research

In 2004 Gilles Comeau at the University of Ottawa established the first North American piano pedagogy research laboratory. The laboratory research group, together with the National Research Council and the Communications Research Centre, are investigating the incorporation of new technologies in the field of piano teaching and learning. The group takes a scientific approach to piano pedagogy, bringing nature, art, music and science together. This approach to piano pedagogy incorporates computer scientists, biomechanical engineers, cognitive psychologists, health scientists, neuroscientists, audio-visual specialists, software developers, and musicians sharing their knowledge and expertise to enhance and better understand the skill of piano learning. The program includes a collaboration with the Merriam School of Music and Laval University.

See also Canadian Bureau for the Advancement of Music; Jazz; Piano teams; Prodigies; Ragtime.

Other Piano Methods

By the 1930s, piano instruction had become increasingly popular. Canadian educational materials and pedagogies for private instruction were in greater demand. May and John Kirby developed the Kelly Kirby Kindergarten Method (also known as the Kelly Kirby Piano Method) in the 1930s. The Kirby method employed pictures, stories, games, and movement to music, to encourage music appreciation. In 1980 Frances Balodis took May Kelly Kirby's ideas further with her Music for Young Children (MYC). Balodis drew from several sources, including Kirby and Kodaly, to produce a method of stories and games, musical movement, and fun at the piano.

Other methods were encouraged and developed in the mid 20th century. Boris Berlin developed his ABC of Piano Playing, which was first published as a two-volume set in 1941 and progressed into a three-volume set.

Canadian Piano Books Published Before 1968

The following is a list of musical albums published by Canadians for use in piano instruction in the early stages. In almost all cases the works are based on systematic approaches, prepared by teachers rather than composers.

1854
Molt, T.F. The Pupil's Guide and Young Teacher's Manual (Jameson)

1890
Jeffers, Thomas Charles. The Art of Pianoforte Teaching (Toronto)

Smith, Gustave. Le Claviste (J.L. Orme & Son)

1900
Vogt, A.S. Modern Pianoforte Technique, 2 parts (Whaley Royce)

1918
Renaud, Émiliano. Renaud-Phone Piano Method. Included recordings

1920
Morin-Labrecque, Albertine. Méthode de piano, 2 vols (Montreal)

1922
Morin-Labrecque, Albertine. L'Art d'étudier le piano (Montreal)

1929
Kammerer, Hope. The First Period at the Piano (Waterloo)

1930
Berlin, Boris, and MacMillan, Ernest. The Modern Piano Student (F. Harris)

1932
Berlin, Boris, and MacMillan, Ernest. Our Piano Class (F. Harris)

1934
Kammerer, Hope. The Second Period at the Piano (Waterloo)

1936
Kelly Kirby Kindergarten Method. Kelly Kirby Sight Reading (F. Harris)

- Kelly Kirby Workbooks (F. Harris)

1937
Ahrens, Cora B. Daily Sight Playing Exercises for Piano, 4 vols (Waterloo)

1939
Berlin, Boris, and Magee, Edward. Four Star Sight Reading, 8 vols (London, Oakville, Ont)

1940
Berlin, Boris, Boyle, Muriel, and Wilks, Norman. The Boris Berlin Musical Kindergarten Piano Method (Heintzman)

1941
Berlin, Boris. The ABC of Piano Playing, 2 vols (F. Harris)

1945
Blake, Jessie and Hilda Capp, Making Music: A Piano Book for Beginners (Boosey and Hawkes)

1950
Rose, Myrtle, and Guerrero, Albert. The New Approach to the Piano, 2 vols (F. Harris)

Fletcher, Leila (b 1911, d Toronto 1988). The Leila Fletcher Piano Course (year is approximate)

1951
Williams, Edith. Playtime Piano Method (Waterloo)

1955
Ahrens, Cora B. and G.D. Atkinson. For All Piano Teachers (F. Harris)

1965-6
Peterson, Oscar. Jazz Exercises and Pieces for the Young (Ray Brown Publications)

1968
Bubniuk, Irene. Preliminary Piano Work for the Student of Music (Bubniuk Music Ltd)

Works by Canadian Composers

After 1950 in Canada, more and more works appeared that were written by Canadian composers. These creative piano pieces pose modest demands (in the tradition of Bach's Little Preludes, Schumann's Album for the Young, and Bartók's Mikrokosmos 1-4). Examples are:

Beckwith Six Mobiles

Cherney Intervals, Patterns and Shapes; Six Miniatures

FialaTen Postludes

JoachimTwelve Twelve-Tone Pieces

Kasemets1 (plus) 1: Twenty Piano Studies for Beginners

KeninsTwelve Diversities

PentlandMusic of Now (books I, II, III); Space Studies; Three Pairs

WuenschMini-Suite; Six Little Etudes; Twelve Glimpses

Canadian Piano Books & Music Materials Published After 1968

1969
Southam, Ann, 3 in blue: jazz preludes (Clark & Cruickshank)

1979
Bigler, Carol L. and Valery Lloyd-Watts, Studying Suzuki Piano: More than Music. A Handbook for Teachers, Parents, and Students (Ability Development Associates)

Previn, Andre, Matthew's Piano Book: Ten Piano Pieces for advanced students (Wilhelm Hansen/ Chester Music)

Wuensch, Gerhard Mini-Suite No. 2 (Leeds Music Canada)

1980
Balodis, Frances, Moonbeams I; Sunbeams I; Sunshine I (MYC)

Coulthard, Jean, David Duke and Joan Hansen, Music of Our Time, 8 vols (Waterloo Music Company Limited)

Eckhardt-Gramatté, Sophie-Carmen, From My Childhood, 2 vols (Waterloo Music Company Limited)

1984
Vandendool, Grace, Keyboard Theory, 5 vols (Cormel Pub.)

1988
Hammond, Susan, Mr. Bach Comes to Call, audiocassette (Classical Kids)

1989
Hammond, Susan, Beethoven Lives Upstairs, audiocassette (Classical Kids)

1990
Lindsay, Mary, Marching Through the Basics (Ellis, Ivison and Lindsay Music)

1992
Balodis, Frances, My You Communicate (MYC)

2004
Keillor, Elaine, Performing Our Musical Heritage, Piano I and Piano II (Clifford Ford Publications)

2006
Canadian National Conservatory of Music, Making Tracks (Mayfair Publishing)

Canadian National Conservatory of Music, Northern Lights (Mayfair Publishing)

2009
Conservatory Canada, Contemporary Idioms - Jazz (Mayfair Music)

Compilation Albums

Other instructional albums with music by several different composers include Fourteen Piano Pieces by Canadian Composers (F. Harris), Horizons, books I and II (Waterloo) and the repertoire and study albums of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Conservatory Canada. Also in use are international repertoire albums and methods, including those of Trinity College (England), the Yamaha and Suzuki piano methods, and the Lo Kno Pla Music (LKP or Lo(ve) Kno(w) Pla(y)) method, under the direction of Paulette Breault of Sherwood Park, Alberta.

Bibliography

Musicus. "Musical hints, No. IV: music and pianoforte teaching," Literary Garland, vol 3, Jul 1845

Pelletier, R.-O. Le Toucher du pianiste (Montreal 1916)

- Étude de la littérature du piano (Montreal 1920)

- L'Art pianistique (Montreal 1922)

- Guide du professeur de piano (Montreal 1925)

"Start Made in Piano Class Instruction in Toronto Public School," Canadian Music Trades Journal, 27:7, Dec 1926

"Piano Class' Epidemic Breaking out in Schools," Canadian Music Trades Journal, 28:12, May 1928

Sainte-Cécile des Anges, Sister. "Le piano et sa technique," D MUS thesis, Montreal 1947

McCook, James. "Pioneers preferred pianos," Beaver, outfit 285, Winter 1954-5

Ahrens, Cora, and Atkinson, G.D. For All Piano Teachers (Oakville, Ont, 1955)

Churchley, Franklin E. "The piano in Canadian music education," D ED thesis, Columbia 1958

McCook, James. "Some notes on musical instruments among the pioneers of the Canadian west," Canadian Music Journal, vol 2, Winter 1958

Cavalho, Rachel, and Elsaesser, Ralph. "Canadian piano music for teaching," Musicanada, 2 articles, 12, 13, Jun-Jul, Aug-Sep 1968

Beaulieu, Mary L. "A survey of keyboard music of Canadian composers since 1900," MA thesis, Indiana 1970

CMCentre. Canadian Keyboard Music / Musique canadienne à clavier (Toronto 1971)

Chapman, Norman B. "Piano music by Canadian composers after 1940," PH D thesis, Case Western Reserve U 1973

Reti Forbes, Jean. Notes on Playing the Piano (priv published 1974)

Grant, Margaret. Your Child and the Piano (Toronto 1976)

Sandercock, Daphne. Help Yourself to Sight Reading (London 1979)

"Lo Kno Pla Music Program," Canadian Music Trade, Apr/May 1989

Godden, Reginald and Clarkson, Austin. Reginald Godden Plays (Toronto 1990)

Kelly, Wayne. Downright Upright: A History of the Canadian Piano Industry (Toronto 1991)