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Gasse

School of Music

(708) 488-8117

7641 Polk Street
Forest Park, IL 60130
info@gasseschoolofmusic.org

Special Projects

Piano Trios for Tots through Teens:
An Exploration of Piano, Violin and Cello Trios for the Beginning through Intermediate Levels

Being life long professional chamber musicians who love the genre, having taught it (age 5 and up) for more than 20 years and having seen the amazing benefits, we are now parents of children benefiting from our experiences and feel the mandate to share it.

The intention of this project is to provide an extensive graded list of piano-violin-cello trios, which facilitates the proper placement of performers according to age, ability and compatibility. The success and longevity of the ensemble depends on this choice.

The project addresses the following topics:

– Benefits of ensemble playing (not Piano duet/trio).
– Difficulties of forming a student piano trio.
– Discussion of the elements cataloged and the criteria used to catalogue them (technical difficulties on each instrument, musical and ensemble points, likeability, appropriate age, etc.)
– A general grading scheme based on the previous criteria.
– Discussion of collections with uneven difficulties. (either one instrument more difficult than another within a piece, or one piece more difficult than another in the same collection)
– Live performances of select pieces will be given in numerous venues, mainly for music teachers’ organizations, to illustrate the scope of the project.

It is the intention of the authors to motivate other teachers to explore this medium and combine forces with other studios, especially studios teaching different instruments, in order to provide our students with more chamber experience and opportunities. It is also our intention to motivate teachers and composers to arrange or compose new pieces for piano trios, or to publish their old ones, especially in the area of early childhood and beginners levels. We are committed to continue adding new pieces in our catalog to provide ongoing updated information.

Daniel Gasse, DMA
Sarah Gasse, BA, HONS
Emi Murata, MM, NCTM

Piano Trio for Tots through Teens Catalog:

Table of Abbreviations & Descriptions

An Exploration of Piano, Violin, and Cello Trios for the Beginning through Intermediate Levels

Piano Trios for Tots through Teens Appendix 20140322 (1) (1)

Piano Trios for Tots through Teens Appendix 20140322 (1)