PIANO GALLERY: 14 ORIGINAL PIANO PIECES INSPIRED BY GREAT WORKS OF ART
Pam Wedgwood, Faber Music
It is always exciting to receive a copy of a new Pam Wedgwood book. This is a collection of intermediate level (Grades 3 to 5) piano pieces that have been inspired by great works of art and are written in Wedgwood's inimitable contemporary style. In the introduction Wedgwood explains her interest in art and that she has always wanted to write a series of pieces like this.
The book comes with a high-quality double A4 size poster featuring all 14 of the paintings, and each piece of music responds to the mood, colour, humour, style and story behind its painting. For example, Large Wave inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai uses splashes of notes from the scales used in Japanese music, while the Renoir-inspired Young Spanish Woman with a Guitar features Spanish guitar-like characteristics. Others reflect the mood or effect of the picture, as in Whistler's Nocturne, Blue and Silver: Chelsea, where an atmosphere of calm and tranquillity is created in the music.
These pieces bring the art to life. I can see them being enjoyed by teenagers, art lovers and students, adults and children alike. It is a stunning way to link music and art, to open up discussion and to encourage the imagination to take flight.
LEARN TO SIGHT READ AND HEAR THE DIFFERENCE: A UNIQUE MULTI-MEDIA APPROACH TO SIGHT READING
Sandy Holland and Peter Noke, E-MusicMaestroPublishing
Traditional and new technologies are combined in this wonderful original approach to developing sight-reading skills. The book of 100 enjoyable Grade 1 level sight-reading pieces helps pianists make better sense of notation, enhanced with the inclusion of QR codes that allow readers to listen, look and learn through additional multimedia content. Do not panic – all you need is the book, a mobile phone or tablet and Wi-Fi. Downloading the free Norton Snap QR reader to your mobile or tablet is easy and there are full instructions in the introduction. Once the reader is installed you simply open the app and point it at the QR code at the end of each piece for instant access to performances.
Holland and Noke suggest that pupils listen to a piece first, then play it, and then listen again to compare it with how they played. It is simple but brilliant and pupils will love it – they will probably help you download the QR reader too! There are ten sets of pieces and at the end of each set there is a special test piece, just like in the exam. Two more books are in the pipeline. The other great thing about this approach is that it is supported at www.e-musicmaestro.com, where there are many great free teaching tips. What's not to like?
MORE GRADE PIANO SOLOS: FIVE BOOKS FOR GRADES 1-5
Chester Music
This is a follow-up to the very popular and useful Graded Piano Solos series and provides more enjoyable supplementary repertoire for pianists, with each book covering a wide range of styles, from classical and jazz pieces to contemporary pop. They are all beautifully and convincingly arranged by Alistair Watson, who is now on my list of arrangers to be trusted.
These books will provide between-the-grades repertoire, fun and enjoyment, and light relief from exam syllabuses. More Grade 1 Piano Solos includes ‘A Whole New World’, Aladdin; ‘Chasing Pavements’, Adele; and ‘Happy Birthday’. The Grade 2 book has ‘A Thousand Years’, Christina Perri; and the ‘Toreador's Song’, Bizet.
Grade 3 includes J.S. Bach's ‘Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring’ and ‘Nuvole Bianche’, Einaudi, while the Grade 4 and 5 books have more Adele, Coldplay, Einaudi and Chopin. I think that the books are a little harder than Chester suggests – and I would probably get the Grade 1 book for my Grade 2-3 pupils and the Grade 2 book for my Grade 3 pupils, for example – but each one is chock-full of pieces my pupils want to play.
