Left-Hand Alone Repertoire for Intermediate Students

One of my early intermediate students has developed a chronic problem with tendonitis in her right hand. After months of babying it, she is still no better and will now have to wear a cast for a period of time. This means that we've been searching out and playing repertoire for the left hand alone. In case you find yourself in a similar situation, I thought I'd share some of the resources we've found.

Vagabond Clouds just happens to have been composed by a friend of mine, Judy East Wells. She is a member of our local MTA and has published several pieces with Alfred. This is a beautiful piece, long-lined and lyrical. Because it covers a wide stretch of the keyboard, you'd never guess from the sound that it was for left hand alone.

Broken Arm Blues by Carolyn Miller was one of my student's fall recital pieces, and is a surefire winner for a pre-teen or teenager. Nocturne for the Left Hand by Catherine Rollin in another beautiful, lyrical piece with great opportunities for sensitive dynamics and phrasing. Both of these links take you to sites where these are available as digital downloads, great if you need something in a hurry.

Left Hand Solos, Book 1 comes from a series by John Schaum. These are nicely-arranged classical tunes, and they're on the Federation list.

Grand One-Hand Solos for Piano, Books 3-4, by Melody Bober are just right for my student, and I'll be ordering these soon. Alfred has provided some nice videos for these which make it really helpful to choose the right level. There are now five levels in this series. Books 1 and 2 provide teacher duets, but starting with level 3, they contain student solos.

One Piano, One Hand by Paul Sheftel sounds interesting - you can listen to snippets here. I've always enjoyed teaching his pieces, so I think I'll order this one, too. Pepper has it, and has many of the other pieces I've mentioned as well.

I hope you'll find these resources helpful! I'm getting no kickback from mentioning any of these pieces, and none of the links are affiliate links. If you know of some other great pieces or books to add to my list, please share them in the comments!