Ep. 38 – May in Motion: Graceful Dances at Two Levels

On the first Monday of each month, The Piano Pedagogy Playlist features a piece from Chris Caine’s A Year in Twelve Keys—a collection that explores all twelve key signatures using only the notes within each key. For May, we turn to Dance in May, an expressive and graceful work in 3/4 time that deliberately avoids the feel of a traditional waltz. Instead, the piece invites students to think in longer phrases—shaping a continuous, legato line while navigating octave writing, carefully choreographed hand-offs of the melody, and nuanced pedaling. As a companion piece, I’m playing Pink Tulips from “A Splash of Color” by Dennis Alexander. Though significantly simpler from a technical standpoint, it does share a similar sense of motion. Subtle surprises in harmony and phrase length give the piece a sense of expansion and musical curiosity. Together, these two works offer a thoughtful look at how we can help students develop a sense of flow and expressive timing across different stages of study. Dance in May (from, A Year in Twelve Keys) Chris Caine Late Intermediate Digital Download Pink Tulips (from, A Splash of Color) Dennis Alexander Early Intermediate Printed Edition