You won’t likely find Piano Safari method books in an Amazon search or on the shelves of your local music store, but chances are you’ve heard a piano teacher raving about it.
Those piano teachers who stumble on the Piano Safari books and implement them with their beginning piano students seem to love the unique approach to teaching note reading.
So, I just had to see for myself!
Is Piano Safari worth its higher price tag? Would I switch from my current piano method book favorites to the Piano Safari method book series?
Piano Safari: An In-Depth Review
In this article, I’ll summarize weeks of study, research, experimenting, and pondering to bring you an in-depth look into the philosophy of the Piano Safari method books.
I’ll be using my 10 categories for comparing piano method books to see how this method stacks up to other methods I’ve tried.
The categories are:
- Pacing
- Positions
- Notation
- Theory
- Technique
- Levels/Path
- Aesthetics
- Song Selections
- Pricing
- Availability
For a more in-depth explanation of what each of these categories entails, please check out my blog post Best Piano Method Books For Beginners: My Top 3 Picks where I break down each one in detail.
Once I’ve covered Piano Safari’s “rating” in each of these categories, I’ll summarize what is truly unique about this method, my opinion of the series as a whole, and who I think should give Piano Safari a try.
Quick Disclaimer: This post is entirely based on my opinions and personal experience with these books. I understand that other teachers may have a different experience with the books reviewed in this post.
Pacing of Piano Safari Method
Pacing refers to…
- the speed at which new concepts and skills are introduced
- how much review or repetition is included within the books
- and how quickly the songs increase in difficulty.
Compared to other piano method books, Piano Safari moves at a fast pace, but not as fast as it might seem at first glance.
Let me explain.
Comparing Apples to Apples
Each lesson book (known as the Repertoire Books) is quite comprehensive.
Level 1 actually covers all concepts that would be included in the Primer Level and Level 1 books of another series.
Same with Level 2. For example, if comparing Piano Safari to Piano Adventures, Level 2 (one big book) in Piano Safari covers the same material, more or less, as Piano Adventures Level 2A and Level 2B books.
With this in mind, we understand that one book in the Piano Safari will take a student farther than one book in another series. And we also understand that students will likely spend more time within each Piano Safari level as a result.
However, there’s more to my “fast pacing” designation.
Level 1 Zooms into Gear
Students will be challenged at every level of the Piano Safari journey.
Quickly advancing note reading ability, rote memorization skills, finger independence, and hand coordination are part of the method and should be expected.
Particularly in Level 1, students dive right in! One example of this is eighth notes.
Eighth notes are introduced right away (within the first few pages) of Level 1 and used in both rote and reading pieces throughout the Level 1 books.
Students are also asked to play with finger independence and hand coordination within the early songs of Level 1 (see sample page).
Level 2-3
Level 2 introduces dotted quarter note / single eighth note rhythms, which is pretty early compared to other methods.
Level 2 also includes a few challenging original classical works that perhaps you wouldn’t expect to tackle until Level 3.
Level 3 Repertoire Book contains mostly original classical pieces by Reinagle, Diabelli, Czerny, Kohler, and Gurlitt.
More examples of the pacing of this method series will come up as we discuss specific aspects.
Positions
Let’s talk about the hand positions introduced within the Piano Safari method books.
Well, actually, there ARE NO hand positions introduced in any of the Piano Safari levels!
No Hand Positions
No mention of C Position, or G Pentascale, or any such language. I have never seen another method quite like Piano Safari in this regard.
So, that begs the question, how do beginning piano students know where to place their hands?
Starting Notes
We’ll get into Piano Safari’s note reading approach in the next section, but the way in which students know where to place their hands in Level 1, is simply by:
- Labeling the first note for the right hand and the first note for the left hand and then
- Placing the indicated finger on the correct note.
Sometimes the hands end up in a familiar hand position (like you might find in other method books), but even then, the position is not labeled or described as such.
And often the hands are not in any recognizable “position.”
At the Very Beginning
Unique to the Piano Safari method, students starting Level 1 are exposed to black keys and white keys right away.
Similar to other methods, they will learn a few songs on the black keys only. But, quite quickly, they will be playing songs using both black keys and white keys. I was surprised at how many chromatic passages are included within Level 1 as most methods wait until Level 2 to tackle maneuvering half steps with the fingers.
All songs, even those using black keys, are notated on the staff. I will go into further detail in the Notation section of this review.
Lots of Rote Songs
Perhaps Piano Safari’s most notable unique feature is the prevalence of rote songs.
Rote songs are songs notated on the staff for the teacher, but taught to the student through mimicry, hearing, and repetition.
The rote songs included in Level 1 and Level 2 are complicated to look at. Of course, the student is not expected to read the music of the rote songs, but parents or novice pianists are likely to struggle to read these songs as they are quite complex. They contain moving octaves and syncopated rhythms as well.
I’ll share my personal experience teaching these rote songs in a later section of this review.
Traditional Hand Positions Show Up in Level 2
Throughout Level 2 Repertoire, students will be placing their hands in some of the hand positions we are familiar with from other methods:
- C Major Pentascale
- D Minor Pentascale
- G Major Pentascale
- D Major Pentascale
- E Minor Pentascale
However, it must be noted that no positions are introduced, talked about, labeled, or pictured on any Repertoire pages.
Students are still identifying the first right hand and first left hand note of each piece to determine the starting position.
Level 3: No More Positions
Five-finger hand positions, whether labeled or not, are done away with entirely come Level 3.
Students no longer label the first notes of each piece.
Hands are expected to move freely about the keys without hints.
Notation
A Very Unique Approach to Teaching Note Reading
Intervallic Reading
Piano Safari uses intervallic reading to teach notes on the staff.
You’ve heard me talk about guide notes before in my piano method reviews, and intervallic reading is similar to the guide note approach.
In both a guide note approach and an intervallic approach, students are taught a few landmark notes on the staff. These are memorized by the student.
In the guide note approach, students then fill in the rest of the notes by deduction.
Similarly with intervallic reading, students may not be able to name every note between the guide notes, but because recognizing intervals is emphasized they are able to read by pattern.
I like intervallic reading better than just guide notes because it gives students a tangible tool for interpreting the notes on the staff. We all read by pattern instinctively anyways. An intervallic reading approach heightens students ability to quickly recognize patterns of steps and skips (and later fourths, fifths, etc) as they are reading music.
The result of successfully implementing the intervallic reading approach is fluent note readers and sight-readers.
A Missing Link?
However, where I believe Piano Safari may leave some students behind is in the implementation of the intervallic approach.
By only teaching two guide notes in Level 1, students end up relying heavily on playing by ear which may actually hinder their note-reading fluency in the long run.
Some students seem to have natural music literacy, and they will likely progress through the Piano Safari books just fine. Or they may have a pianist parent at home ready to assist with every practice session.
But others may be put off by the lack of hints and instruction on the page when they attempt to play their assignment at home.
Note Reading At Each Level
Let’s break down how notes are introduced in each level of Piano Safari.
Level 1
Even in the first pages of Level 1, nearly every song is notated on the staff.
That which the student cannot read, they are taught by rote.
The idea behind this approach is that students will see the music as they hear the sounds and eventually connect the two to become fluent note readers.
The advanced nature of the notated pieces in Level 1 may make it difficult for beginning students to even understand what they are looking at, however. Students may be confused even on the “Reading songs” as to where to begin.
But the book endeavors to get students reading by pattern on the staff early on. The fully notated rote pieces are balanced by short one-hand tunes to help them hone in on the skill of reading up and down by step, and later on, by skip.
Two landmark notes are taught and memorized early in Level 1: G4 (treble G for right hand) and C3 (bass C for left hand). Students are expected to recognize these two landmark notes and read by steps or skips from there.
Level 2
Rote and reading pieces are also included throughout the Level 2 Repertoire Book.
A new landmark is introduced (yes, just one) and it is: Middle C for right hand and left hand! An interesting approach considering most methods start with Middle C as the first staff note taught.
Fourths and fifths are introduced early in Level 2 and reviewed throughout the Repertoire Book.
By the end of Level 2, students are expected to read pieces using all notes on the staff and some ledger line notes. Positions are still not mentioned and moves are not indicated in the music.
Level 3
By Level 3, students will need to be fluent in reading music. There are no starting notes to label in Level 3, no hints about moving, no key pictures.
Level 3 students are reading up and down the staff along with ledger line notes with full octave scale patterns.
Level 3 looks like a “grown-up” etude book. If students did not master note reading by the end of Level 2, they will be lost in Level 3!
Theory
The Theory Books available to accompany Level 1, 2, and 3 are pretty standard. They are simple pages, instructions, with no games or frills.
Theory books emphasize copying notated passages and focus on intervals to support the notation approach of the Repertoire books.
There are also other types of assignments included such as writing and naming notes, listening, and composing.
Level 3 Theory is quite intense! Roman numerals, figured bass, diminished and augmented triads, and harmonizing a melody are included in Level 3.
Technique
Piano Safari emphasizes technique at every level. I would say that there is a focus on technique rather than a focus on drilling note names.
Level 1
While there isn’t a separate Technique Book for Level 1 students, technique is incorporated into the Repertoire Book.
In the Level 1 Repertoire Book, students are immediately playing white and black keys (chromatic passages), moving from high to low, and soon playing with hands together.
Because of the prevalence of rote songs, students are not limited to the technical skills required to play the few notes they know on the staff. Rather they are moving freely, playing chromatically and playing syncopated rhythms. Their technical skills will need to develop quickly to pull off these songs (or they may need to spend a good amount of time on them to reach mastery).
Improvisation is also included in Level 1 and 2 Repertoire Books.
Level 2
A separate Level 2 Technique Book is available.
Whereas the Repertoire books make no mention of positions, here is where the student “thinks in positions!”
Students will learn patterns and then transpose it into pentascales (5-finger scales) until they are familiar with the major and minor scales.
The logical layout and repetition of the Level 2 Technique Book contrasts the free-flowing style of the Repertoire Book.
Level 3
A separate Level 3 Technique Book is also available.
Similar to the format of Level 2, students will learn scales and patterns and transpose them to different keys.
In Level 3, students are now working with one-octave and two-octave scales.
They will also cover (and transpose) arpeggios, inversions, and chord progressions.
Levels/Path
Piano Safari Levels Available
There are just three levels within the main core curriculum of the Piano Safari series.
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Level 3
While there is a preschool mini-series available (Piano Safari Friends), and a few books published for The Advancing Pianist, these three levels remain the extent of the core lesson books, known as Repertoire books in the Piano Safari method series.
Each book, and therefore, each level is quite comprehensive by comparison.
Repertoire books are over 100 pages in length.
One level of Piano Safari covers at least two levels worth of learning in other popular piano method series such as Alfred or Faber.
After Piano Safari Level 3
By the end of Level 3, students will be playing at an intermediate level.
Piano Safari Level 3 is a bit more advanced than other methods’ Level 3 books. It includes advanced coordination, reading, and technical skills, mostly through classical etudes. More on the song selection in a bit.
There is no Level 4 in the Piano Safari series. Although the authors publish a technique and sightreading book under the level “The Advancing Pianist,” no core lesson or repertoire book is published.
I believe it is the intention of the authors that a student who has completed Piano Safari Level 3 would go on to jump into a classical literature collection.
Aesthetics
Piano Safari does not look like other methods! The aesthetics are quite unique inside and out.
Inside the Books
All inside pages are completely black and white, no color.
The design is very simple with only sparse line illustrations on select pages.
Because of the simplicity along with the chosen fonts and real black and white photos, I get a homemade vibe from the inside of the Piano Safari books.
Outside
The outside design of the Piano Safari books is a different story.
The covers are professional, high quality, and appealing to the eye.
Because the Repertoire Books are quite large (over 100 pages), they are spiral bound.
Floppy Spiral
Although the spiral binding on the Repertoire Books is great, I discovered one setback:
The Level 2 and Level 3 Repertoire Books flopped over at the top on my piano’s music rest.
Just a minor issue, but I did find that I needed to place something rigid behind these books to see the top line.
Saddle-bound Theory & Technique Books
All of the Theory and Technique Books are saddle-bound, meaning they have a stapled binding, not spiral binding.
Song Selection
Overall, the songs found in all levels of Piano Safari Repertoire Books sound fantastic!
These authors are all wonderful composers and this series really shines in its great-sounding original pieces!
The composers include the two authors along with two guest composers.
Composers include:
- Katherine Fisher
- Dr. Julie Knerr Hague
- Christopher Fisher
- Wendy Stevens
Level 3 Repertoire Book features many classical composers, such as:
- Cornelius Gurlitt
- Anton Diabelli
- Alexander Reinagle
- Carl Czerny
- Juan Cabeza
- Louis Kohler
- And others
If you’d like to hear some excerpts from all three levels, check out my video review of this series. (Hint: you can skip to 20 minutes into the review to jump right to the listening examples.)
Level 1-2
Both Level 1 and Level 2 Repertoire Books contain interesting and dynamic original compositions by the composers listed above.
A mixture of Rote Pieces and Reading Pieces are included.
By including Rote Pieces from the very beginning of Level 1 through the end of Level 2, students get to play great sounding music beyond their reading ability.
The Reading Pieces are, of course, much simpler but are also nicely composed, especially in Level 2.
Level 3
The Level 3 Repertoire is different in that is it almost entirely classical etudes with only a few of those wonderful original compositions included.
Level 3’s song selection is heavy on the classical side and will definitely prepare students to dive headfirst into classical literature.
However, a student who is not into classical music will NOT likely enjoy Level 3 Repertoire Book.
Pricing
Repertoire Books
All 3 Repertoire Books are $18.95.
These are big, 100+ page, spiral-bound books.
Theory Books
All 3 Levels offer a separate Theory Book. They are $10.95 each.
Technique Books
Technique Books are available for only Levels 2 and 3.
- Level 2 Technique Book is $10.95.
- Level 3 Technique Book is $16.95.
Sightreading & Rhythm Cards
Sightreading & Rhythm Card packs are available for all 3 levels as well.
Each level of Sightreading & Rhythm Cards is a 80-card pack of 8.5” x 5.5” index cards that include an “on the keyboard” sightreading excerpt as well as a rhythm to tap.
Each Sightreading & Rhythm Card pack is $14.95.
Value Packs Available
There are student packs and teacher packs to save some money! So if you know you need all Level 1 books, for example, you can save a little bit by bundling and buying the pack.
Other Resources Available
If you try out Piano Safari books, be sure to check out all the resources on their website. They offer teacher training courses, as well as more helpful student cards, sheet music, and much more. They offer a lot of products so I won’t list them all here!
Availability
Piano Safari books are only available at pianosafari.com! You will not find these books anywhere else.
Unique Features of Piano Safari
Here is a summary of the most unique features of Piano Safari as compared to other piano method book series:
What are the MOST UNIQUE features of Piano Safari?
- Intervallic Reading
- No Hand Positions
- Less Focus on Note Names for Beginners
Other unique features include:
- Heavy use of rote songs and early exposure to full-staff notation
- Challenging technique and a heavy focus on technique
- Integration of sightreading and the longterm path towards music reading fluency
- Big, comprehensive, black and white, spiral-bound Repertoire Books
- Online training available for teachers
My Opinion of Piano Safari
My Conclusion After Checking Out This Series
Piano Safari is a truly unique approach from cover to cover, from level to level. I believe this method requires a commitment from the teacher, along with training, and a plan. This isn’t a method that “teaches by itself.”
It also requires a lot from a student at every level. Students must be committed and up for the challenge week after week likely with much support from a parent. A successful Piano Safari student would need to be a student who is purely inspired by music in and of itself (because of the lack of frills, and the constant mental challenge).
The method focuses more on teaching technique and letting note reading take a backseat. I’m guessing the idea is that instead of forced memorization of notes, students will travel down a more natural path to fluent note reading.
The prevalence of fun rote songs in Level 1 is a great idea, however, because of the way they are presented on the page, I doubt students will be gleaning any visual cues from the staff music at all. They’re just going to be watching the teacher show them. It seems very dependent on an adult helper. And it seems like a rude awakening when they reach the higher levels if they rely heavily on their ear.
The sight reading and rhythm cards are unique, but a little dry. I can’t picture students getting excited about these cards unless a teacher were to gamify the process.
Will I Be Using Piano Safari in My Studio?
I can definitely see the benefits of this method, but I don’t think it’s for every student. Although I believe it’s designed as a self-contained ecosystem, I will consider using certain aspects of the method alongside my current method book.
For example, I will keep the sight-reading cards handy as an end-of-the-lesson activity for students that could benefit from some out-of-position note-reading. And I can see these being an easy go-to activity for partner or group lessons.
The book that interests me the most is the Level 2 & 3 Technique Books. I do plan on trying these out with my students who pick up on things quite quickly. But I would not hand these books to a student who is easily overwhelmed by new positions or moving patterns.
And I might use some of the rote pieces in the Level 1 Repertoire Book as recital pieces for some of my first-year students.
Who Should Try Piano Safari?
If you are seeking a method that tosses hand positions completely out the window, you love improvisation and playing by ear, and you want to foster great sight-reading skills, consider checking out Piano Safari.
Piano Safari is a Perfect Match for…
So, in summary, you should look into Piano Safari if most of the following are true:
- You don’t like the idea of hand positions.
- You like including improvisation and playing by ear into every lesson even for beginners.
- You don’t mind a slow path if it means students end up as fluent readers in a couple of years.
- You prefer a technique-driven approach to getting young students starting on the keys.
- You are committed to a traditional, classical path for students as they advance.
If these attributes describe your teaching approach, then you should definitely check out Piano Safari!
Piano Safari May Not Be the Series for…
But maybe the above philosophies don’t entirely ring true for you. Maybe you like some aspects of the Piano Safari approach, but aren’t ready to go all-in.
I’m with you! There still may be resources within the Piano Safari method series that can be a helpful addition to your studio shelves. So, it’s worth checking out the website.
But if Piano Safari doesn’t feel like the perfect match for you, consider other method options (and there are a lot out there)!
Other Methods
Looking to see what’s out there?
Let’s continue the piano method search!
Here are some other piano method articles to check out: