Ever wondered how to create better accompaniments for the melodies in your favorite fake books?

This "teach yourself" book introduces you to chord building, various rhythmic styles, and much more, so that you play the songs you like just the way you want them. Keyboard players with a basic understanding of notation and sight-reading will be on their way to more fun with fake books.

The relaxed tone of the text and selection of fun songs keep How to Play from a Fake Book entertaining throughout - perfect for amateur musicians, or as a supplement for keyboard teachers and their students.

Improvising Fugue: A Method for Keyboard Artists is a guide for those who aspire to the highest levels of fluency as inventors of spontaneous music at the piano, fortepiano, harpsichord, organ, or digital keyboard. Written for professional performers, conservatory students, and devoted amateurs, this book leads the reader along the arduous journey from score dependency to improvisational freedom. Improvising Fugue begins with a comprehensive course in 18th century Italian partimento, the system of musicianship training that simultaneously strengthens improvisation, counterpoint, harmony, keyboard skills, and audiation. The reader then encounters fugue improvisation in a gradual, methodical, and rigorous manner. Every concept is accompanied by extensive and clear explanation, examples from music literature, and practical exercises. The book covers every aspect of fugue improvisation in depth, including subjects, countersubjects, tonal and real answers, episodes, presentations, pedal points, and stretti. Author John J. Mortensen draws on experience as a concert improviser on the international stage; the book's pragmatic, real-world instruction comes from a seasoned performer who knows firsthand exactly what is required to improvise fugues in the presence of a live audience.

Ever think to yourself, "I wish I hadn't stopped playing the piano!"? If so, then this is the perfect book to help you dive back into the fun world of creating music! It allows you to play the songs you know and love, from pop tunes to folk songs to familiar classical music. 44 songs include: Amazing Grace * Eine Kleine Nachtmusik * Forrest Gump - Main Title (Feather Theme) * I Walk the Line * Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring * Let It Be * The Music of the Night * Stand by Me * Sweet Home Alabama * Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star * and many more!

Gripping narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic story of a remarkable young Texan pianist, Van Cliburn, who played his way through the wall of fear built by the Cold War, won the hearts of the American and Russian people, and eased tensions between two superpowers on the brink of nuclear war. In 1958, an unheralded twenty-three-year-old piano prodigy from Texas named Van Cliburn traveled to Moscow to compete in the First International Tchaikovsky Competition. The Soviets had no intention of bestowing their coveted prize on an unknown American; a Russian pianist had already been chosen to win. Yet when the gangly Texan with the shy grin took the stage and began to play, he instantly captivated an entire nation. The Soviet people were charmed by Van Cliburn's extraordinary talent, passion, and fresh-faced innocence, but it was his palpable love for the music that earned their devotion; for many, he played more like a Russian than their own musicians. As enraptured crowds mobbed Cliburn's performances, pressure mounted to award him the competition prize. "Is he the best?" Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev demanded of the judges. "In that case ...give him the prize!" Adored by millions in the USSR, Cliburn returned to a thunderous hero's welcome in the USA and became, for a time, an ambassador of hope for two dangerously hostile superpowers. In this thrilling, impeccably researched account, Nigel Cliff recreates the drama and tension of the Cold War era, and brings into focus the gifted musician and deeply compelling figure whose music would temporarily bridge the divide between two dangerously hostile powers.

This volume brings together two early collections by Grieg to form an attractive first book of characterful piano pieces. The 'Lyric Pieces', published when the composer was 24, are amongst the easiest pieces Grieg wrote for the piano, and represent a conscious attempt to provide accessible and tuneful music for beginners.

The 21 pieces in this collection represent some of the best miniature masterworks in piano literature. These pieces were carefully selected not only for their overall quality and musicality, but because they advance very logically from the five-finger position pieces that preceded them in Pathways to Artistry: Masterworks, Book 1. For maximum benefit, students should work through the skills that are comprehensively presented in Pathways to Artistry: Technique, Book 2. Titles: Alpine Dance (Heinrich Wohlfahrt) * BourA(c)e (Felix Le Couppey) * The Cuckoo (Eduard HorAk) * English Gigue (Samuel Arnold) * Etude in A Minor (Ludvig Schytte) * Hopak (Alexander Goedicke) * The Kingas Fanfare (William Duncombe) * Little Scherzo (Ludvig Schytte) * A Lovely Day (Daniel Gottlob TA1/4rk) * Melodic Etude, Op. 108, No. 12 (Ludvig Schytte) * Minuet in F Major, K. 2 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) * Playful Dances (Jacob Schmitt) * A Pleasant Morning (Jean Louis Streabbog) * Quadrille (Franz Joseph Haydn) * Rain (Nicolai Lyubarski) * Royal Trumpet March (Jeremiah Clarke) * The Shepherdas Song (Nicolai Lyubarski) * Sonatina in C Major (William Duncombe) * Song from For Children (BA(c)la BartA3k) * Song without Words (Louis KAhler) * Trio (Anton Diabelli).

Improve your sight-reading! Piano Grade 8 (Advanced) is part of the best-selling series by Paul Harris, guaranteed to improve your sight-reading! This workbook helps the player overcome problems by building up a complete picture of each piece, through rhythmic and melodic exercises related to specific technical issues, then by studying prepared pieces with associated questions, and finally by 'going solo' with a series of meticulously graded sight-reading pieces. This edition now includes supporting audio available online for students to check their performances against. The Improve your sight-reading! series will help you improve your reading ability, and with numerous practice tests included, will ensure sight-reading success in graded exams.

Discussing the solo piano music of Joseph Haydn, the leading composer of the Classical period, this complete survey includes a graded list of all of these works as well as detailed and constructive suggestions for study and performance. A lengthy introduction discusses the life, times, and the essential style of his piano writing. A reference book for pianists of any level, this volume is illustrated with numerous musical examples.

Piano For Fun is ideal as recital repertoire or just for fun as these 36 pieces are gently progressive and carefully tailored for Elementary Level players. A perfect introduction to a jazzy style of playing, the pieces in this compilation are taken from Pam Wedgwood's Up-Grade! Series, and features her imaginative jazz repertoire such as Cool Calypso, Lazy Days and Spider In The Bath.

A new and wide-ranging collection of essays by leading international scholars, exploring the concept and practices of virtuosity in Franz Liszt and his contemporaries. In the annals of music history, few figures have dominated the discussion of virtuosity as much as Franz Liszt. A flamboyant performer whose hair-raising technical feats at the piano created a sense of awe-inspiring excitement andan icon whose star power radiated far beyond the realm of music, Liszt was, along with his early model, Paganini, among the first major performer-composers to define himself principally by virtuosity. Featuring new essays by an international group of preeminent scholars, Liszt and Virtuosity offers a reevaluation of the concept and practices of virtuosity as shaped and defined in Liszt's multifaceted oeuvre, as well as a reconsiderationof Liszt's relation to other major and lesser-known musical figures, including Czerny, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, and Marie Jaëll. Set in the context of larger trends within the fields of music history, musicanalysis, intellectual history, and performance studies, these capacious explorations demonstrate that Liszt's uniqueness and significance resided in his ability to transform virtuosity into a revolutionary musical force, pushingthe piano aesthetic to the limits of sound and poetic meaning.

for solo organ. This superb volume contains twelve varied pieces arranged for organ by celebrated recitalist Thomas Trotter. A selection of orchestral, piano, and vocal originals, including works by Delibes, Gounod, Grieg, Eric Coates, and Madeleine Dring, has been transcribed with a finely honed sense of idiom so as to be manageable on most organs. All the pieces are short and suitable for use as recital encores, but they would also be effective as programmed items in recitals of lighter works, and in some cases as church voluntaries.

The Advanced Pianist Book 1 from the PianoTrainer series is for students who are beyond the intermediate stages and want to develop an advanced technique and musicality. Exploring piano technique through a variety of elements, these books include exercises, 'quick study' sight-reading, repertoire and 'concert pianist' hints and tips. The series not only develops students' technique, reading, theory and musicianship, but also provides an invaluable insight into the world of classical music, here focusing both on historical context and key composers for the piano. Book 1 is suitable for students at grade 6 plus.

(Piano Collection). Includes three complete studies in one inexpensive volume for use in lessons.

The Graded Piano Player: Grade 1-2 is the first book in this series filled with popular repertoire of classic tunes and songs from Disney, TV and film, jazz, pop and musical theatre for pianists at Grades 1-2. Each piece has been rigorously researched, edited and fingered by top educationalists and meticulously arranged to progress in line with the ABRSM and Trinity graded piano examinations. Ideal for anyone seeking well-crafted arrangements of tunes they love - for leisure, exams and to use as fun and technical repertoire between grades. **ABRSM selected piece (Piano 2019-2020): Close every door

(Faber Piano Adventures ). An ideal introduction to the easiest keyboard sonatinas. Contents include: Sonatina in C 1st mvt (Gurlitt) * Sonatina in C (Duncombe) * Sonatina Op. 57 No. 1 (Biehl) * Sonatina in D (Saliutrinskaya) * Sonatina in C (Biehl) * Sonatina Op. 792, No. 8 (Czerny) * Sonatina in G (Attwood).

The perfect companion to Piano & Keyboard Chords, Advanced Piano Chords is a handy resource for those who feel they are ready to take the next step. The simple and clean layout provides 15 chords per key, with positions for left and right hand, covering majors, minors, 9ths, augmented 5ths, diminished 9ths, 11ths, 13ths and add 9ths. Ideal for playing genres such as jazz and musical theatre, this no-nonsense, easy-to-carry, spiral-bound book will fit into a gig bag, flight case or handbag with the minimum of fuss and will help musicians become more accomplished pianists.

The great Wicked songs arranged as piano duets! The book also comes with a CD that features separate tracks for the Primo and Secondo parts - perfect for practice and performance! 8 selections from the hit musical, including: Dancing Through Life * Defying Gravity * For Good * I Couldn't Be Happier * I'm Not That Girl * Popular * What Is This Feeling? * The Wizard and I.

Mindfulness: the piano collection comprise beautiful piano pieces that provide a unique way for pianists to reach a state of mindfulness by sharpening their musical focus towards their internal and external experiences within the present moment. With the help of Einaudi, Debussy, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, and Satie, as well as music themed images to colour in, this aid to simple meditation is the perfect musical remedy in an increasingly frantic and pressurised world.