Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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The Joy of Graded Piano is a set of five new repertoire books from Yorktown Music Press, and heralds the return of one of the most iconic piano series.
The five books cover Grades 1-5, and aim to offer an enjoyable and well-rounded introduction to the riches of the piano repertoire.
24 Pieces for the Grade 4 Pianist
These pieces offer a broad range of music that will consolidate, challenge, and inspire developing players at this level.
For reference, the pieces shown in bold have all been set by one of the five accredited UK boards as exam syllabus pieces at this grade level.
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Praeludium in C Major
(from Das Wohltemperiertes Klavier I) - George Frideric Handel: Aria (from Suite in G Major)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio for glass harmonica
- Muzio Clementi: Allegro di molto (from Sonatina in G Major)
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelle “Lustig und Traurig”
- Felix Mendelssohn: Andante sostenuto Op.72/2
- Cécile Chaminade: Idylle
- Friedrich Burgmüller: Ballade
- Enrique Granados: The Evening Bell
- Edvard Grieg: Dance of the Elves
- Amy Beach: Canoeing
- Aram Khachaturian: A Little Song
- Florence Price: Tickling’ Toes
- Eugénie Rocherolle: Longings
- William Gillock: Holiday in Paris
- Valerie Capers: Billie’s Song
- Naoko Ikeda: White Phoenix
- Sam Wedgwood: Shark Soup
- Yann Tiersen: Comptine d’un autre été
- Gabriel Yared: Song for Rani
- Mona Rejino: Restless
- Ben Crosland: Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow
- Poppy Ackroyd: Rain
- Max Richter: Written on the Sky
Discover other grades in the series:
From core classics to contemporary favourites and recent discoveries, The Joy of Graded Piano showcases the strength and diversity of repertoire available for the world’s favourite instrument.
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: 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
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