Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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The Joy of Graded Piano is a set of five deluxe repertoire collections newly published by Yorktown Music Press, and heralds the return of one of the most iconic piano series of all time.
The five books cover Grades 1-5, offering an enjoyable and well-rounded introduction to the astonishing riches and greatest composers of the piano repertoire.
“Attractively presented from cover to cover, these are among the best graded collections currently available.”
Pianist Magazine
Denes Agay’s original Joy of… piano books are one of the great achievements of music publishing. They began to appear in 1955, and he went on to produce more than 50 titles for the series, collectively selling millions of copies. These books remain popular with piano students, players, and teachers around the world to this very day, although much else has changed.
This new series of graded piano anthologies builds on that remarkable legacy with care, drawing together new titles to reflect developments in piano education and musical preferences that have occurred within the intervening decades.
It is a pleasure and a privilege to have worked with the publishers on the development of this series over the last three years:
- selecting the 120 included works
- editing them afresh, looking to the most authoritative sources, and adding new fingering where needed
- writing background notes and practice tips for each and every piece across the series
Using the UK grade exam system as a guide, I have tried to ensure each book in the series offers a wide selection of repertoire, including many of the “greatest hits” of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic piano literature, alongside brilliant newer pieces composed by women and men from all around the world, right up to the present day.
Restoring the Joy
The aim of these graded anthologies is to bring the joy of piano playing alive. Showcasing the strength and diversity of repertoire available for the world’s favourite instrument, they take players of all ages on an incredible and varied musical adventure.
They also aim to make a valuable contribution to piano education, and can be used as the core of a well-balanced musical curriculum.
Each of the five collections offers:
- appropriate levelling, including past exam favourites alongside a broad range of music which will challenge, consolidate and inspire developing players
- an easy pathway for recognising and celebrating progress, with or without the pressure of actually taking exams
- carefully curated collections that bring necessary musical balance, variety, and offer established quality
- good value for money: a comprehensive repertoire programme in each book
For those using the UK grade exam system, these anthologies facilitate the necessary musical development between one grade and the next, including some pieces which will challenge and others which consolidate, alongside some established syllabus favourites that teachers and players can confidently select as “own choice” pieces for inclusion in their performance grade.
And for those skipping or abstaining from exams, these anthologies deliver a satisfying wealth of music which I believe will inspire learners and find a cherished, permanent place in their musical lives.
Five Premium Collections
My sincere thanks go to the editorial and marketing team at Hal Leonard Europe, Yorktown’s distributors, for sharing my vision and commitment to the creation of this landmark series.
We have carefully considered how we might deliver an outstanding set of physical music books, and to that end each of the publications have:
- colourful covers which build on the continuing appeal of the series
- clear, spacious engraving with a generous music font to help learners develop good reading ability
- luxury cream paper, supporting clarity (and especially important for neurodivergent players)
- carefully researched and engaging background notes for every piece
- practice tips to support effective learning and musical performance
- considered fingering suggestions throughout, including the composer’s where available or else my own
- suggested realisations for ornamentation wherever needed
- ranging from 40 to 80 pages, the books have staple binding
For a full listing of all the pieces that appear in the series, you can click on and follow these numbered links to explore each of the five books:
The Joy of Graded Piano series will immediately take its place at the heart of all my teaching at these levels, and I hope other teachers will embrace this astonishing music with the same enthusiasm.
But don’t just take my word for it. Here is the review written by Michael McMillan for issue 138 of Pianist Magazine:
“Having written a book about how to practise music and then curating excellent collections of music by William Gillock and Naoko Ikeda for the Willis Music Company within the last three years, Andrew Eales shows no signs of slowing down. These five books contain 24 pieces each, selected and edited by Eales for Yorktown Music Press, continuing the Joy of series started by the late Denes Agay in the 1950’s.
The size of the musical text in the first four books is relatively large and more spaced out than normal, making the music appear more welcoming and less intimidating for pianists at this level. A few sentences at the beginning of each piece introduce the composer and provide performance notes, and useful editorial fingering has been added. The first half of each book features composers from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods (e.g. Bach, Clementi, Burgmüller) whilst the latter half is devoted to modern and contemporary music (e.g. Bartók, Mompou, Einaudi).
A significant amount of the music appears to have been harvested from the ABRSM’s exam syllabus but choices are judicious and there are plenty of other pieces that provide a wide variety of styles and character suitable for children, teens and adults. Attractively presented from cover to cover, these are among the best graded collections currently available.”
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