Suzuki piano Book 1 songs in order, and what each one teaches

Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1, starts with variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and ends with a musette. In between are folk songs and short pieces by Czerny and others. This page lists every piece in order and explains what the book builds.

The pieces in order

This is the order in the New International Edition.

No.	Piece	Composer or source
1	Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Variations	Shinichi Suzuki
2	Lightly Row	German folk song
3	The Honeybee	Bohemian folk song
4	Cuckoo	German folk song
5	Lightly Row	German folk song
6	French Children’s Song	French folk song
7	London Bridge	English folk song
8	Mary Had a Little Lamb	American nursery song
9	Go Tell Aunt Rhody	Folk song
10	Au Clair de la Lune	J. B. Lully
11	Long, Long Ago	T. H. Bayly
12	Little Playmates	F. X. Chwatal
13	Chant Arabe	Anonymous
14	Allegretto 1	C. Czerny
15	Goodbye to Winter	Folk song
16	Allegretto 2	C. Czerny
17	Christmas-Day Secrets	T. Dutton
18	Allegro	Shinichi Suzuki
19	Musette	Anonymous

The publisher’s list shows “Lightly Row” twice. Some stores count it once and list 18 titles. Ask the teacher how the two versions differ in your child’s edition.

The pianist Seizo Azuma plays the recording that goes with this edition. The publisher says the pieces are the same as in the edition before it.

What the book builds

A good sound from the first note. The book begins with the Twinkle variations. Each variation plays the same tune in a new rhythm. The child plays them with the right hand alone, then with the left hand alone. Read Suzuki Twinkle variations explained.

Tunes first, by ear. The folk songs are tunes a child can sing. The child hears them on the recording for weeks before playing them. Reading comes later. Read Suzuki piano for kids.

Both hands, a little at a time. The right hand plays the tune. The left hand adds a simple pattern under it. One store’s notes on the book describe little movement of the hand and the first three-note chords.

Real composers near the end. The last third of the book has pieces by Chwatal and Czerny, who wrote music to teach the piano. These pieces ask more of both hands.

A closer look at the pieces

Twinkle Variations. The warm-up for the whole method. A Suzuki piano teacher trainer in Europe calls the variations a musician’s tools, and tells students to play them daily all through Book 1.

Lightly Row, The Honeybee, and Cuckoo. Three short tunes that stay close under the hand.

French Children’s Song, London Bridge, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. More songs a child knows or can learn to sing in a day.

Go Tell Aunt Rhody and Long, Long Ago. Suzuki violin and cello students play these two songs too, in other keys.

Au Clair de la Lune. A French song. The book credits it to Lully.

Little Playmates. A bright piece by Franz Xaver Chwatal, a composer of teaching pieces in the 1800s.

Allegretto 1 and Allegretto 2. Two short pieces by Carl Czerny. He was a pupil of Beethoven and the teacher of Liszt, and he wrote a great many studies for piano students.

Christmas-Day Secrets. A piece by T. Dutton.

Allegro. Suzuki’s own piece. Violin and cello students know the same tune from their Book 1.

Musette. The last piece. A musette copies the sound of a small bagpipe.

How long Book 1 takes

There is no set time. A young beginner may spend a year or more in Book 1. The time goes into sound, posture, and listening, not into the number of pieces. By the end, a child plays with both hands, from memory, with a clear sense of the beat.

What a parent does

• Play the recording every day. The child learns each tune by ear first. Read Suzuki listening.
• Sit at the piano for practice. In Suzuki lessons, the parent is the home teacher. Read the Suzuki parent guide.
• Start each practice with Twinkle. Five minutes is enough.
• Review old pieces. A child on piece 12 still plays the earlier ones each week.
• Set the bench and a footstool. Small children need their feet on something solid. Read piano bench height and footstools for kids.

Suzuki piano and other paths

The Suzuki Piano School has seven books. A family can also choose a reading-based method book. Read piano method books compared for parents and Suzuki vs traditional music lessons.

Sources

Checked in November 2026.

• Sheet Music Plus. Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1, International Edition: titles. Alfred Music’s description.
• Popplers Music. Suzuki Piano School New International Edition, Volume 1: contents with composers.
• Johnson String Instrument. Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1, International Edition: contents.
• Music Junction. Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1: titles with composers.
• Musicroom. Suzuki Piano School, Volume 1: product notes.
• Macmillan, J. The importance of Twinkle variations. European Suzuki Association.