Christmas Presents For Piano Players (Part 1 of 2)

And so it begins, festive season, it's certainly well underway now. I think of how excited I was as a child for Christmas, it's not always easiest time of the year as an adult, but Christmas music I just simply adore whether it be singing, orchestral, piano or jazz. The music is always warm and comforting, evoking emotions of happy, safe and fuzzy hot chocolate feelings.

 So what should you get someone for Christmas if they play the piano as an adult or child?

Well a simple book of Christmas Carol's for the beginner is an excellent choice. Christmas carols are a bit easier for beginners to play and they can get a lot out of them musically but do choose a book of Christmas carols specifically for beginners.

If they are a complete beginner at Christmas time, and they’re getting a keyboard/piano, best to pair any sheet music with a tutor book so they have something to reference. Better yet, direct them towards YouTube for some great beginner tutorials. For younger children especially, it’s an excellent resource to introduce to their learning early. Before they get further along, sit with them and help them to figure out the first few steps either with YouTube tutorials or the tutor book, or both. This is great to show them how to approach something new from the start — don’t be scared, be curious, be patient.

If you’re buying a digital piano or acoustic piano for Christmas please see my blog post; how to choose your piano https://trulymusical.ie/blog/what-piano-should-i-buy for suggestions to help you decide. There are a lot of options out there online and what you need may vary based on your particular needs!

For the more advanced or intermediate student a good idea is to look at the Christmas solos for piano books as these can also include jazz arrangements or popular Christmas carols or pop songs depending on the book. In general, Christmas pop songs aren't the easiest to play for beginners as the chords haven’t been introduced yet, the hand is still beginning to learn to move on the keys, so a rhythmic left hand may be too difficult at this point.

However, another great idea would be encouraging them to figure it out by ear — even just the melody line of a song. For example, “all I want for Christmas is you", you could easily try to mimic the vocal gymnastics on the piano, and everyone knows that song (I have sung along to it numerous times, mainly when tree decorating). Doing something like this, figuring out a well-known song by ear is both a festive game and encourages strong musicianship skills.

For everyone beginning to play piano, I highly recommend trying to pick out a few melody lines of Christmas carols or Christmas pop songs or rock songs on the piano or keyboard. You can even try and figure it out with friends who are non-players, make it into a game for everyone. It's all about trying to figure it out how the piano operates and how to match what you hear in your head to the keys of the piano.

If you're looking for something fancy for a piano player and want to spend a little extra time and money on something a little different, there are Christmas music books for piano illustrated and decorated in Christmas themes. These are beautiful gift ideas for somebody who would be advanced enough to play them or even someone who sings.

A gift for the whole year

Another fantastic idea for the piano player in your life is a subscription service to a sheet music library for the year, or simply a subscription to one of the many fantastic blogs and websites that are out there for teachers, students and music enthusiasts. A subscription to an online course on music history or on a specific composer is also very good idea for Christmas. Especially for real enthusiasts!

Do be cautious with online apps or courses that claim to replace the teacher or teach you piano in a very short amount of time. If it was that easy everyone would be a pianist. Likewise, we’d all have abs and speak 6 languages. These subscriptions rarely deliver what they promised. However, these apps can be fantastic as an addition to at-home practice after a lesson with the teacher. Especially as they can include games for helping with the practicing of note values, names and rhythms in a different way. As we all know, the more you immerse yourself in music, and activities to do with music, the more you learn and remember.

All acoustic pianos need tuning at least once a year, so why not find out who tunes their piano and purchase a gift voucher for their next tuning? Also, if you know they are planning to purchase a piano why not find out where they are buying from and get a voucher for the store. It could help a lot in getting the piano they want quicker.

Piano stools are fantastic and you can never have too many, they range in price from just under €100 to quite a bit more, if the Piano player you know has had the same old piano stool for years or worse uses a chair at the piano — treat them to a new stool. The padding gets worn down over time and you end up sitting on very hard wood with numb legs.

And finally, why not buy them tickets to a music event over Christmas? Like a lecture on Christmas music, or any vein of music? Tickets to a Christmas carol concert, or Handel's messiah, or the Nutcracker?

Well I hope I’ve inspired you with ideas for the piano player or for yourself this Christmas, talk you all in two weeks in part 2 of the blog post. And everyone have a relaxed, musical Christmas.