Keyboard artists in the time of J.S. Bach were simultaneously performers, composers, and improvisers. By the twentieth century, however, the art of improvisation was all but lost. Today, vanishingly few classically-trained musicians can improvise with fluent, stylistic integrity. Many now question the system of training that leaves players dependent upon the printed page, and would welcome a new approach to musicianship that would enable modern performers to recapture the remarkable creative freedom of a bygone era. The Pianist's Guide to Historic Improvisation opens a pathway of musical discovery as the reader learns to improvise with confidence and joy. Useful as either a college-level textbook or a guide for independent study, the book is eminently practical. Author John Mortensen explains even the most complex ideas in a lucid, conversational tone, accompanied by hundreds of musical examples. Mortensen pairs every concept with hands-on exercises for step-by-step practice of each skill. Professional-level virtuosity is not required; players of moderate skill can manage the material. Suitable for professionals, conservatory students, and avid amateurs, The Pianist's Guide leads to mastery of improvisational techniques at the Baroque keyboard.

(Guitar Recorded Versions). Transcriptions for 14 favorites from the hard-living kings of Southern rock. Hits include: Call Me the Breeze * Free Bird * Gimme Three Steps * Saturday Night Special * Swamp Music * Sweet Home Alabama * That Smell * What's Your Name * You Got That Right * and more.

The John Rutter Christmas Piano Album brings together eight of the composer's best-loved seasonal choral pieces as piano transcriptions, made by John Rutter himself, for performance use or enjoyment at home. Designed for pianists at early intermediate level, the collection provides skilful and approachable arrangements of festive favourites such as 'Angels' Carol' and 'What sweeter music' and of the more recent 'Colours of Christmas' and 'Christ our Emmanuel'. The gentle 'Mary's Lullaby', meanwhile, features a newly written Epilogue, a homage to George Shearing and evoking the style of this celebrated jazz pianist. Clearly presented and laid out, the transcriptions also include the texts (lyrics) within the piano score, for reference or potential sing-alongs. From the composer who has become synonymous with Christmas, this versatile collection is a joyous celebration of the season. The pieces in this collection have been recorded by Wayne Marshall on Decca Records.

With a host of accessible, quality new settings, and with pieces based on all the major hymn tunes, these volumes are a must for every church organist's library.

The Suzuki MethodA(R) of Talent Education is based on Dr. Shinichi Suzuki's view that every child is born with ability, and that man is the son of his environment. According to Dr. Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child's potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the "mother-tongue" approach. Suzuki Cello School materials include: Cello Parts (Vol. 1-10) * Piano Accompaniments (Vol. 1-8) * Cassettes (Vol. 1-3, 7, & 8 performed by Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Vol. 4-6 performed by Ron Leonard) * Compact Discs (Vol. 1-3, 7, & 8 performed by Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Vol. 4-6 performed by Ron Leonard). Suzuki MethodA(R) Core Materials available for piano, violin, viola, cello, string bass, flute, harp, guitar, and recorder.

Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) stands in the company of YsaYe, Kreisler, Casals, Thibaud and Rubinstein as one of the greatest instrumentalists - and arguably the greatest viola player - of all time. Many composers, including Bax, Holst and Vaughan Williams, wrote significant works for him; he was a member of a number of prominent string quartets; and he was later to design and promote his own 'Tertis model' viola. Tertis is virtually synonymous with the increasing importance of the viola as a solo and recital instrument alongside the violin and the cello. This updated paperback edition tells how he rose from humble beginnings to become 'the father of the modern viola'. It explores in detail his long and distinguished career, persuading composers to write works for the viola, arranging existing works for the instrument, editing and performing, and teaching and coaching, notably at the Royal Academy of Music. JOHN WHITE is a prominent viola teacher and performer. He was a founder member of the Alberni String Quartet and later played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Stadler Trio and collaborated with composers Alan Bush, Lennox Berkeley and Alan Richardson in performances of their works. White was Professor of Viola at the Royal Academy of Music for over thirty years and has chaired four international viola congresses in the UK since 1978. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the viola, he was awarded the Silver Alto Clef for 2010 by the International Viola Society.

This fantastic new collection is the ultimate songbook for the ultimate beginners guitar course. Justin Sandercoes revolutionary lessons are used by hundreds of thousands of people across the world, and is probably the most-used guitar course ever!The book includes:Complete lyrics and chords to 100 songs by artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Simon & Garfunkel, Jeff Buckley, Crowded House, Mumford & Sons, Kings of Leon, Nirvana and many more.

A welcome collection of piano transcriptions made by the composer himself, featuring eight of his best-loved choral pieces spanning the last 40 years. Designed for pianists at early intermediate level, the collection provides skilful and approachable arrangements of classics such as 'The Lord bless you and keep you', 'All things bright and beautiful', and 'For the beauty of the earth', as well as recent gems like 'A flower remembered', all for performance use or enjoyment at home. Clearly presented and laid out, the transcriptions also include the texts (lyrics) within the piano score, for reference or potential sing-alongs. This is a versatile collection for the many admirers of one of today's greatest choral composers. The pieces in this collection have been recorded by Wayne Marshall on Decca Records.

Schoenberg's Op.23 for solo piano, written between 1920 and 1923, represented a move from his atonal music of the preceding twelve years to 12-note music. In this analysis of the five pieces which make up Op.23, Kathryn Bailey discusses the ways in which Schoenberg clearly explores new ideas in these pieces in the context of his old style. Op.23 marked the development of a new way of organizing pitches and establishing centres of gravity in the absence of tonality; but it was also an extension of what had gone before. While moving on from Op.23 was not a big step for Schoenberg, it represented a climacteric in the history of musical composition. It was a long time before anyone outside of Schoenberg's circle would be able to see past the revolutionary idea of composing from a single pre-determined arrangement of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale to notice that in most ways this New Music answered the same conditions and fulfilled the same expectations that music had for generations.

A single piece of repertoire is the primary focus for each chapter, with preparatory exercises providing the necessary technical work building towards the piece. Each lesson covers four main topics, which are systematically developed: practice methods, registration, fingering and pedalling, and historically-informed interpretation. The method is for keyboard players of any age who are establishing first steps at the organ with or without a teacher. It will also serve more experienced organists who want to improve their technique.

Designed to coordinate page-by-page with the Lesson Books. Contains enjoyable games and quizzes that reinforce the principles presented in the Lesson Books. Students can increase their musical understanding while they are away from the keyboard.

Maestros in America: Conductors in the 21st Century provides short biographical and critical essays of over 100 American conductors-and conductors in America-in the twenty-first century. Roderick L. Sharpe and Jeanne Koekkoek Stierman made their selections based on three categories of persons: American-born; naturalized US citizens; and foreign conductors holding a permanent appointment in the US. In addition, all individuals included had to have been active as conductors at the start of the new millennium. These criteria allowed the authors to incorporate up-and-comers as well as those more established, offering an extensive cross-section of the upper echelons of the conducting profession focused on the present, recent past, and future. Each entry is a biographical essay containing essential facts of the conductor's life and work, as well as assessment and commentary gleaned from articles, interviews, reviews, and, in some cases, personal observation. The entries conclude with the conductor's website, a list of further reading, and selected recordings. These sketches of currently or recently practicing conductors provide insight into the state of orchestral music-making in the US as it is, has been, and may become, highlighting the efforts these conductors made to ensure its survival. Complete with two appendixes and an index, this important reference will be beneficial to music students and faculty, reference librarians, orchestral administrators, and music lovers alike.

Commissioned for the 40th birthday of the organist Paul Walton, Walton's Paean is a work of great verve, with compelling rhythms, exciting harmonies, and catchy melodies propelling the celebratory music forward. Through the boisterous excitement, legato passages emerge as the piece hurtles towards the resounding finale. There is also a little joke in the occasional references to the music of Paul Walton's namesake, William.

How can the studio teacher teach a lesson so as to instill refined artistic sensibilities, ones often thought to elude language? How can the applied lesson be a form of aesthetic education? How can teaching performance be an artistic endeavor in its own right? These are some of the questions Teaching Performance attempts to answer, drawing on the author's several decades of experience as a studio teacher and music scholar. The architects of absolute music (Hanslick, Schopenhauer, and others) held that it is precisely because instrumental music lacks language and thus any overt connection to the non-musical world that it is able to expose essential elements of that world. More particularly, for these philosophers, it is the density of musical structure-the intricate interplay among purely musical elements-that allows music to capture the essences behind appearances. By analogy, the author contends that the more structurally intricate and aesthetically nuanced a pedagogical system is, the greater its ability to illuminate music and facilitate musical skills. The author terms this phenomenon relational autonomy. Eight chapters unfold a piano-pedagogical system pivoting on the principle of relational autonomy. In grounding piano pedagogy in the aesthetics of absolute music, each domain works on the other. On the one hand, Romantic aesthetics affords pedagogy a source of artistic value in its own right. On the other hand, pedagogy concretizes Romantic aesthetics, deflating its transcendental pretentions and showing the dichotomy of absolute/utilitarian to be specious.

Sun Dance is a slightly modified version of the fifth movement from the composer's Organ Dances, originally conceived for organ solo, strings, and percussion. The music is for the most part celebratory in character, its spiky rhythms driven along by the pervasive alternation of 3/8 and 4/4 metrical groupings, although the composer also has fun with 7/8 and 5/8 patterns.