Early Intermediate Repertoire – Page 3

The Gradebusters Mixtape

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Hal Leonard’s Gradebusters series has been one of the highlights of recent years, and the publications have proven popular with learners and players of all ages.

Reviewing the series, I described the five graded books of pop song arrangements for solo piano as offering,

“A hugely inviting and immediate mix of famous songs… this is top stuff!”

Offering “25 Awesome Solos from Taylor Swift to Einaudi”, the Gradebusters Piano Mixtape is the latest addition to the series, delivering a compendium of highlights from the five graded books, with six exclusive new pieces thrown in as an added bonus.

For those who want to dip into these quality arrangements without necessarily wanting to take the deep dive offered by the whole set of books, the Piano Mixtape collection represents great value, so let’s take a quick look…

Contemporary Piano Masters

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Hal Leonard’s bumper piano book Contemporary Piano Masters first appeared in 2019, together with an ‘easy piano’ version. Offering “40 pieces from the world’s leading piano composers”, the collection soon became a best-seller.

I gave that first edition a positive review, and have subsequently used the standard version with several students, right up until a couple of years ago it disappeared from view.

Now, having updated the licensing agreements involved, a revamped second edition has appeared, again with an ‘easy piano’ counterpart. But with many similar collections now on the market, how do these new volumes fare? Let’s find out…

Ghostly Piano Tales

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

In addition to her superb Play it Again Piano series for adults returning to the piano (reviewed here ) and ground-breaking Women Composers: Graded Anthology series (reviewed here), Melanie Spanswick is a busy composer with a growing catalogue of titles to her name, including several from Schott Music.

For her latest, Spanswick delivers 24 Imaginative Piano Pieces for elementary to early intermediate players which dive headlong into the world of the macabre. Is there suddenly a chill in the air?

David Önaç • Spirituals

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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When Elena Cobb invited me to be an occasional consultant for her EVC Music publishing venture, the project she foremost had in mind was a collection of Spirituals arranged by David Önaç. Already aware of Önaç‘s brilliant work, and excited by this new concept, it was a pleasure to advise in the early stages of the project’s development.

Spirituals has now arrived, and as my early enthusiasm anticipated, I believe it to be a publication of some significance. I anticipate that piano teachers will warmly appreciate this material, and that it will prove popular with learners across the elementary and intermediate range, from Initial to Grade 5.

Rooted in universally beloved melodies, nourished by the distinctive harmonies of the Gospel tradition, and expertly crafted to suit elementary to intermediate piano players of all ages, David Önaç has delivered a gem of a collection that is sure to be treasured by pianists throughout the early years of their playing.

Here is why I think this book deserves a place on the shelves of elementary to intermediate piano players everywhere…

Simply Christmas

The Christmas Shortlist

Selected and reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

With Autumn in full flow, a flurry of new Christmas releases inevitably arrive, prospective additions to the already well-stocked Pianodao Christmas Shortlist of sheet music suitable for all ages, levels, and playing styles.

Leading the way in 2024, Simply Christmas is a collection of 24 new arrangements of traditional favourites, billed as for Easy Piano Solo and suitable for late elementary to intermediate players (around UK Grades 2-5).

What makes this collection truly stand out from the crowd is the quality of the arrangements by Christos Tsitsaros, which are exceptional. Read on to find out more…

More Ballads Without Words

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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Heather Hammond is well established as one of the most prolific and respected composers of educational piano music, and her publications for EVC Music (which include Grooves for Piano Dudes reviewed here and Ballads Without Words reviewed here) include much of her best work.

Of the latter, I wrote:

“Here is an album that will surely be a “quick win” with players at upper intermediate level who want to play music in a lighter style, but with emotive melodic content.”

It is neither a surprise that it has proved to be a popular success, not that Hammond’s latest publication is a much-anticipated sequel…

Piano Grades Are Go! 4 & 5

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Of the piano education composers who have arrived on the scene in recent years, Victoria Proudler has made a very particular and special impact, and whether talking to colleagues locally, online, or at conferences, her books are frequently mentioned as must-have collections.

The Piano Grades Are Go! series already includes collections for Initial to Grade One (reviewed here) and for Grades 2-3 (reviewed here). And I think the reason that they have made such an impression is fairly easy to explain.

While more advanced players might invest in a single-composer collection to develop their repertoire (both for performance and leisure), learners at earlier levels tend to be focused on developing their skills and understanding. They value material that is musically broad, with a clear grade/level, explicit educational structure, and helpful pedagogic content.

Unlike some composer collections, the Piano Grades Are Go! series very clearly ticks these boxes, and Proudler’s music is engaging, memorable, and stylistically on point.

Now available, Piano Grade are Go! Grades 4-5 is the third and final book in this popular series, taking the series to upper intermediate level, and inevitably expectations are sky high. So is this collection another winner? Let’s find out…

Adrian Lord • Elements

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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I have been a fan of Adrian Lord’s music since he sent me his Piano Meditations collection a couple of years ago, which I reviewed here. His follow up, Piano Postcards, impressed me still more, and has already proven popular with adult students.

Although self-published, Lord’s music books are among the most luxuriant I have ever seen, and are an aesthetic delight in every sense, right down to the packaging he personally sends them in (which students and friends of mine have also commented on, so it’s not just me!).

The latest book to arrive in the usual metallic blue padded envelope, Elements is an anthology of ten pieces, bringing together the two easiest from each of Lord’s previous books and adding in two new compositions. The aim has been to produce an easier collection, accessible and suited to intermediate players.