Supersonics Minis
Shorter, musically complete versions of Supersonics pieces, designed to make repertoire more flexible without reducing the musical level.
What are Supersonics Minis?
Supersonics Minis are shorter versions of full Supersonics pieces. They keep the main musical ideas, technical focus, and character of the original, but remove some of the repetition or extended development.
The difference is length, not level. Minis are not simplified exercises or fragments of pieces. Each one is written to work as a complete piece of repertoire in its own right.
That makes them useful in all sorts of ways. A student can learn a Mini and move on, use it as a quicker way to explore a new sound or skill, or move from the Mini into the full version if they want to spend longer with the piece.
The format itself is deliberately easy to read. Minis use landscape pages, generous spacing, clear engraving, and uncluttered layouts. For students who find long pieces or dense pages discouraging, that can make a surprisingly big difference.
One format, lots of ways to use it
Some students may use Minis occasionally. Others may work primarily through the Mini books for long stretches of their learning. They can sit alongside the main Supersonics Piano Method, replace selected full-length pieces, or be combined with completely different repertoire.
The point is not to create an easier pathway. It is to make the pathway more flexible. Teachers can cover a broad range of musical material without every new idea requiring several weeks of work, while still choosing longer repertoire whenever a student wants or needs more depth.
This becomes particularly useful as students progress. At the earlier levels, Minis can make the first stages of learning feel more manageable. By Levels 3, 4, and 5, they become a very practical way to explore more keys, styles, rhythms, modes, textures, and other musical ideas without turning every one of them into a major project.
Level 1 Minis
Level 1 Minis follow the same overall sequence as Supersonics Piano Method Level 1, including its connection with the Junior series. Students still work through the reading, rhythm, coordination, and technical ideas of the level, but through shorter pieces.
The two Level 1 Mini books can be used as a complete alternative pathway, or students can move between them and other Supersonics materials such as Level 1, the Junior books, Quick Start A, or Reading & Technique. This makes it easy to change format when a student would benefit from shorter repertoire without having to change the underlying learning sequence.
Take a look at Level 1 Minis
Level 2 Minis
Level 2 Minis follow the same musical progression as Supersonics Piano Method Level 2. The reading range continues to expand, coordination becomes more involved, and students encounter the same broader range of rhythms and keyboard movement in a shorter format.
The two books can be used as the main Level 2 pathway or mixed with full-length repertoire. For students who are perfectly capable of the musical material but lose momentum with longer pieces, the Mini format can keep things moving without lowering expectations.
Take a look at Level 2 Minis
Level 3 Minis
Level 3 is where the Mini format becomes particularly useful. The method starts to open out into more keys, tonalities, rhythms, modes, styles, and creative work, and students do not necessarily need a long piece for every new idea they encounter.
The Level 3 Minis are divided into two books. The first concentrates on the main key areas of the level. The second moves into pentatonic and blues sounds, swing, chromatic writing, semiquavers (sixteenth notes), new time signatures, modes, and jazz-influenced material.
Teachers can work through the whole Mini sequence or select the areas that matter most for an individual student. Using the Minis across the level makes it possible to cover a lot of musical ground while still leaving time for selected longer works.
Take a look at Level 3 Minis
Level 4 Minis
Level 4 is deliberately broad and flexible. Students explore the first six major and minor keys alongside historical repertoire, jazz and blues, pop-style chord work, modes, unusual scales, creative activities, and a wide range of other styles and sounds.
Every piece in Supersonics Piano Method Level 4 has a corresponding Mini version. Teachers can therefore use the full Level 4 book as the main pathway, work primarily through the Minis, or combine both with other repertoire.
This makes it possible to use Level 4 as a framework rather than a fixed sequence. A student might explore all six major keys fairly quickly through the Air Navigators Minis, for example, then spend considerably longer on one or two full-length pieces that particularly interest them.
Take a look at Level 4 Minis
Level 5 Minis
Level 5 continues the flexible approach of Level 4 and completes the exploration of all 12 major and minor keys. Students also encounter world music, historical repertoire, contemporary solos, chord-based playing, creative work, and increasingly varied technical and musical demands.
Every piece in Supersonics Piano Method Level 5 also has a corresponding Mini version. Together, the Level 4 and 5 Minis give teachers a particularly efficient way to introduce the full range of keys and styles covered across these levels.
Students can work primarily through Minis, combine them with selected full pieces, or use them alongside examination repertoire and other music. By this stage, the aim is not for every student to follow exactly the same route. The Minis simply give teachers more ways to cover the musical ground.
Take a look at Level 5 Minis
Keys to the Kingdom Minis
Keys to the Kingdom Minis take the same short-format idea into a separate series of imaginative repertoire for students working broadly across Supersonics Piano Method Levels 1 to 3.
Each piece uses a limited five-note set as its starting point, but the music itself is anything but limited. Different registers, articulations, rhythms, textures, modes, and tonal colours turn those small note sets into a wide variety of musical worlds.
The books can be used as side journeys alongside the main method, worked through as complete collections, or dipped into whenever a student needs something fresh.
First Realms
Wavesongs (C major)
Twilight Trails (C minor)
Tiny Worlds (modal sounds)
Middle Magic (Middle C exploration)
Book 1
Runestone Keep (C minor)
Fairy Doors (Lydian colour)
Goblin’s Gate (Hungarian minor)
Sorcerer’s Key (Phrygian dominant)
Begin the Descent (bass-clef-only exploration)
Book 3
Winter Whispers (C minor)
Land of the Middle Seas (Middle C position)
Skyward Realms (three treble-clef Cs)
Dungeon Beats (left hand moving down from C)
Treetop Adventures (right hand moving down from C)
Book 4
Four Seasons in One Day (C major/minor)
Menagerie (G major-ish)
Highland Dances (F major-ish)
A Most Curious Collection (A minor-ish)
Troubadour Tales (E minor-ish)
Metronomicon (D minor-ish)
Together, the series spans Late Beginner through Late Elementary and gives students a huge range of sounds to explore without requiring large note sets or long-form pieces.
(turn your phone sideways to view the samples)
Supersonics Pro members
Supersonics Minis are available exclusively to Supersonics Pro members.
Members can print the Mini books and individual pieces immediately through Supersonics Plus, or purchase available printed books through the Member Bookstore.
