A few months ago, I started a series of posts about my favorite repertoire books, the ones I use most in my piano lessons.
The book I’ve chosen for today’s post is actually a series of three books: Melodic Explorations by Giulio Pietropaolo. The first two were published in May 2024, and the third came out a few months later, in December. Each book contains eight four-hand pieces, with the “Primo” part written for the student and the “Secondo” part for the teacher (or an advanced student). The pieces are sequenced progressively, with those in Book 1 being much easier than those in Book 3.
The 24 pieces are wonderful—each one explores different styles and expressive nuances, allowing students to experiment with a wide range of textures and sonorities, from delicate and evocative melodies to more energetic and rhythmic passages. The richness of the harmonies, rhythms, melodies, and teacher accompaniments makes every piece valuable in my lessons. Some of the teacher’s accompaniments require prior practice, as they have a certain level of complexity that makes them challenging to sight-read. These pieces are perfect for student recitals.
Below, I will briefly describe each of the three books. For those interested, Melodic Explorations is available for purchase on the Piano Safari website.
Melodic Explorations 1
In this first book, the student parts are very simple, designed for elementary-level players. Most of these first eight pieces are written in a five-finger position (using the first five notes of the scale), with only occasional, easy position shifts. This makes them useful not only as repertoire pieces for elementary level students but also as sight-reading exercises for intermediate students. Generally, both hands play the same melody an octave apart. In the later pieces, the left hand starts providing accompaniment instead of doubling the melody, but the accompaniment remains very simple, often using ostinatos.
To give you an idea of how the pieces sound, I’m sharing a video from Piano Safari that features short excerpts from four pieces: Sad Story, Under the Rain, First Lesson, and Don’t Give Up. This brief selection showcases how the composer creates diverse and expressive music using simple yet effective elements (at least in the student’s part—the teacher’s part is much more complex).
Melodic Explorations 2
In the second book of the series, the student parts begin to move beyond five-finger positions. There are still many moments where both hands play the same melody (as in Step by Step), but they start to become more independent—for example, in the polyphony of the magnificent arrangement of Frère Jacques.
This book also features what might be my favorite piece (though it’s almost impossible to choose just one): Dreaming. Below, you can watch the composer and me performing this piece:
To give you a better idea of the pieces in this book and their level, I’m sharing a video from the Piano Safari website. It features excerpts from In a Phrygian Mode, Flying, A Kind of Blue, and Great Adventure, along with images of the sheet music.
Melodic Explorations 3
If the first two books were published simultaneously, the third one required a few more months before we could enjoy its pieces. According to Giulio: “Melodic Explorations 3 is perhaps my favorite volume of the trilogy. The greater technical and musical difficulty of the Primo part gave me more expressive freedom, and all the material came together very naturally in less than a month.”
Since this book is quite new, I haven’t yet had the chance to use it with my students. However, I have played through its pieces, and I’m certain they will be just as popular in my lessons as the first two volumes.
In the videos below, you can watch Giulio and me performing Pastoral and Fairy Tale.
About the composer
Since my students enjoy learning more about composers (and me too!), I asked Giulio if he could share something about himself that wasn’t necessarily related to music. Here’s what he told me:
“I really enjoy cooking—both preparing a good meal and savoring it. I see many similarities between music and cooking. The combination of different ingredients reminds me of harmony in music, where a single spice (or a different note) can completely change the overall flavor. Cooking or preparation times could correspond to rhythm—just as a good stew requires slow, long cooking (like an adagio), a quick sauté needs high heat (like a presto). And perhaps the final dish is like a beautiful melody, naturally emerging from the chosen ingredients (harmony) and the way they are treated over time (rhythm).
Another thing I love is reading. Experiencing ‘other lives’ through fictional characters and seeing the world through the eyes of great writers feels like an incredible privilege—one that is accessible to everyone and offers both intellectual and spiritual enrichment. Since I was fifteen, I’ve made a habit of reading before bed—sometimes a lot, sometimes just a little. But this routine has allowed me to discover so much literature, and by now, it’s so ingrained that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without reading at least one page of whatever book I’m currently enjoying.”
Thank you, Giulio, for sharing this with me and my readers.
How I first discovered these pieces
I wanted to share with you the story of how I first heard these pieces because I think it might be interesting for you to know. Giulio and I are friends; we met about twelve years ago when we both started teaching at the same school of music, Katarina Gurska. In fact, Giulio was one of the first people I showed the pieces from my first book, Piano Train Trips, to before it was published.
Almost two years ago, Giulio called me because he wanted to show me a project he was working on. He didn’t tell me what it was about, but he did say we needed to meet in a place with a piano. So we met with a piano between us—well, actually there were two pianos—and he started telling me about this project. We immediately started playing some of his pieces, and I liked them so much that we ended up playing all 16 pieces in a row (the pieces included in the first two books). I was so fascinated that by the end, we gave each other a hug, and I felt very grateful that he wanted to share his work with me. Months later, they were published by Piano Safari, the same publisher who also believed in my books and supported me by publishing my books. I even had the chance to play the pieces again with Giulio to record the pieces from the first two books.
From megustaelpiano, we will continue eagerly waiting for the next projects from this composer (I know there’s something in the works, but I can’t talk about it just yet…)
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