Supersonics Piano Method Level 4

A comprehensive but flexible pathway for Early Intermediate students, covering keys, chords, styles, technique, creativity, and a much broader range of repertoire.

Take a look inside Level 4

If you want to see how Level 4 works, the walkthrough is the best place to start. I take you through the different sections of the book and explain how the keys, repertoire, chords, styles, historical music, and creative work can all be used as part of a flexible Early Intermediate programme.

Supersonics Piano Method Level 4 marks another shift in the way the method works. At this stage, students need to keep developing the core skills that will support more advanced playing, but they also benefit from having much more choice in what they play and how they get there.

Level 4 therefore works as both a complete method book and a framework for the level. It covers the first six major and minor keys, a wide range of historical and contemporary repertoire, jazz and blues, pop-style chord work, unusual scales and modes, creative activities, and increasingly sophisticated technical and musical challenges.

You can work through the book from beginning to end, but you certainly do not have to. Different students can take different routes through the material, spend longer in the areas that interest them, and use additional repertoire alongside the book without losing sight of the broader skills they need to develop.

Every piece in Level 4 is also available as an individual Mini. This gives teachers another way to use the Level 4 material. The complete book can provide the main pathway, or you can draw on individual Minis and other repertoire to build a more personalised programme around the same level of learning.

I tend to think of Level 4 as showing the breadth of material students should be encountering around this stage rather than prescribing one exact route through it. The destination matters. The path can vary considerably from one student to another.

Level 4 also incorporates the first half of Pop School Level 2, with chord-based pieces and creative work that introduce a variety of accompaniment styles and give students practical experience using harmony at the keyboard.

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Explore Level 4 online

Level 4 repertoire, backing tracks, and supporting material are available through Supersonics Plus. Because Level 4 is part of the members-only section of the method, access to the complete book and its digital resources is available to Supersonics Pro members.

Explore Level 4 in Supersonics Plus

Level 4: What’s inside

Level 4 is divided into several repertoire and skills streams rather than one tightly prescribed sequence. Together they cover the broad range of musical experiences I want students to have at Early Intermediate level.

Air Navigators: Major Keys

Students explore the first six major keys through original repertoire, with each piece giving them a practical way to become more familiar with the sound, geography, and technical demands of the key.

Cloud Dancer (C Major)
Wind Catcher (F Major)
Clear Skies (G Major)
Updraft (B♭ Major)
Constellation (D Major)
Sunbeams (A Major)

A Pirate’s Tale: Minor Keys

The corresponding minor-key sequence gives students the same opportunity to explore the first six minor keys through repertoire rather than treating key knowledge as something separate from playing music.

Mutiny on the High Seas (A Minor)
Dread Pirate Dan (D Minor)
Ahoy, Me Hearties (E Minor)
One-Armed Jack (B Minor)
Race to the Treasure (G Minor)
H.M.A.S. Defiance (C Minor)

Arrangements

Folk songs and well-known classical themes give students experience with familiar musical material in increasingly substantial arrangements.

Ah, Poor Bird
Sakura Sakura (Japanese folk song)
Simple Gifts (Shaker song)
Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)
Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns)
Funeral March (Chopin)

The Lake

This small group of contemporary pieces focuses more strongly on atmosphere, colour, shaping, and expressive control.

Reflections
Mist
Undercurrent

Out of the Ordinary

This section deliberately moves beyond ordinary major and minor sounds. Students explore modes, unusual scales, and irregular metre through repertoire that makes those sounds immediately practical.

Skeleton Rock (Hungarian scale)
Nebula (whole tone scale)
All Mixed Up (Mixolydian mode)
Let Me Tell You a Story (Dorian mode)
Kalyani (Lydian mode)
Septimus (7/8 time)

Jazzy

Blues, funk, boogie, ragtime, stride, walking bass, and other jazz-influenced styles give students a much broader rhythmic and harmonic vocabulary.

Blue Blues (blues)
Walkin’ the Dog (soul)
Funky Chicken (funk)
Froggy (12 bar blues)
Boogie On Up (boogie)
Side-Steppin (ragtime)
Downtown (walking bass)
Sunday Strides (stride bass)

Historical Sounds

Historical repertoire becomes increasingly important at this level. These pieces introduce students to music from different eras and give them experience with styles and textures that prepare them for a much wider classical repertoire.

Menuet en Rondeau (Rameau)
Burlesque (Leopold Mozart)
Vivace (Clementi)
Innocence (Burgmüller)
Soldier’s March (Schumann)
The Vagabond (Bartók)

Chords and Creative Work

Chord work continues throughout Level 4, with students using familiar harmonic patterns in a range of accompaniment styles. These pieces form the first half of Pop School Level 2 and are supported by creative exercises that encourage students to use the same ideas themselves.

Ballad 1
Slow Stride
Power Chords
Boogie Woogie 1
Rag
Waltz 1
Walking Bass
Ballad 2
Funk

Plus 5 creative exercises.

There is no requirement to complete every section of Level 4 in a fixed order. Some students may work through most of the complete book, while others might use a selection of Level 4 material alongside other Supersonics repertoire, examination pieces, or music they have chosen themselves.

The individual Level 4 Minis make this particularly easy. Every piece from the complete Level 4 book is also available individually, so teachers can select exactly the material they need while still working within the same overall learning framework.

The book can therefore be used as a useful reference point for the level: keys, chords, historical repertoire, different styles, unusual sounds, creative work, and the technical and musical skills that go with them. How those ingredients are combined can be different for every student.

What’s included in Level 4

Level 4 is deliberately broad, giving teachers enough material to use it as a complete Early Intermediate course or as the backbone of a more individual programme.

  • 148 pages of structured material
  • Designed to support approximately 1–2 years of lessons for Early Intermediate students, and suitable for all ages
  • The first six major and minor keys
  • Original repertoire, arrangements, and historical music
  • Jazz, blues, pop, modes, unusual scales, and irregular metre
  • Chord-based pieces and creative activities
  • Individual Mini versions of every piece for flexible teaching and repertoire selection

The aim is not for every student to have an identical Level 4 experience. It is to make sure they encounter a suitably broad range of music and skills while giving teachers plenty of room to respond to the individual student.

Supersonics Pro members

Level 4 is available exclusively to Supersonics Pro members.

Pro members can access and print the complete Level 4 book through Supersonics Plus, use the individual Level 4 Minis and supporting digital resources, and purchase printed copies at member pricing from the Member Bookstore.

Supersonics Pro members can print Level 4 immediately through Supersonics Plus or purchase a printed copy from the Member Bookstore.

Level 4, its individual Minis, backing tracks, and supporting digital material are available as part of the Supersonics Pro membership.