Jane Bastien

Jane Smisor Bastien together with her husband. James Bastien wrote the best-selling method book, Bastien Piano Methods, which was enjoyed by millions of students and teachers worldwide. The series of books, all published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, are now translated into more than 16 languages. Inspired by Robert Pace's "Multi-Key" pedagogical approach and her own ideas culled from years of teaching, Jane and James created the much loved and accessible "Gradual Multi-Key Approach". Evolving through several generations of methodology, their writing culminated with the release of the Bastien Piano Basics, the world's first ever 4-color piano method, which has been a best-seller since it's release in 1985. Together the couple published over 400 publications and Jane continued the work with her two daughters, Lisa and Lori, after James developed an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Bastien passed away in December 2005 and Jane continued to be a force in music education, providing seminars and presentation, until her passing in 2018.