I haven’t t written an article in English for a while. Every post I wrote in the past in English was with a little help because I don’t speak English properly. But that made the job more complicated. From now on I will publish the texts directly translated by me. This has advantages and disadvantages, on the one hand I don´t depend on other people help and I can speed up the process, but on the other hand I will have more errors with my English, I hope this doesn´t matter to you.
I started this summer a series of videos that I uploaded to my youtube channel with pieces recommended for their use in the Elementary and Intermediate levels. With this idea I try to give ideas about repertoire that is not so much known here in Spain. I decided to record the videos myself and I hope to have recordings of my students in the future. I´m going to upload a video every week to my Youtube channel and every month I´m going to write a post giving some information about the recorded repertoire. Here is the first post about recommended pieces of the month with five wonderful pieces.
Recommended piece of the week 1
Wiiliam Gillock: Polynesian Nocturne
I wanted to start the project with a piece of Gillock, which, as many of you know, is my favorite composer for these levels. This piece is included in a compilation book by Gillock, Recital Collection, and it contains more than 50 amazing pieces. The student can play this piece in Grade 3 and it’s perfect for working three notes chords in different positions. Almost the whole piece is based on a ostinato in the left hand while the right hand makes the melody with chords, so the student can focus on the chords and highlight the upper voice of these chords. More pieces included in the book: Sonatina, Valse Etude, Spanish Gypsies, Downtown Beat or Viennese Rondo
Recommended piece of the week 2
Martha Mier: The Black Swan
This piece is from the book Just Imagine Book 2, which contains seven pieces by Martha Mier very varied in style and character. This book can be worked in Grade 2. The Black Swan is perfect for working fifths, also for working a simple melody in legato and for practicing the sostenuto pedal. In this book you can also find pieces like: Hamster Chase or English Rose Gardens
Recommended piece of the week 3
Jennifer Linn: Escape Into the Night
If you follow my blog you probably already know who Jennifer Linn is. I really love her compositions and I’ m sure I´m going to use more Jennifer Linn pieces in this project. This particular piece is part of a book called Tales of Mistery that contains six pieces for Grades 3, 4 and 5 students.. Escape Into the Night is a hit with my students, using almost exclusively arpeggios based on four different chords creates a dynamic and attractive piece. Perfect for rote teaching. More pieces from this collection: Mirage or Message in a Bottle.
Recommended piece of the week 4
Yvonne Adair: Thumbelina
Thumbelina is a piece from a book called Sketches from Hans Andersen where each piece is dedicated to a story. The book can be used in Grades 1 and 2. It has very varied pieces in character, dynamics and sonority, using simple elements like those used in Thumbelina.
Recommended piece of the week 5
William Gillock: Dance in Ancient Style
I wanted to finish my first recommended pieces list with the same author that I started with: Gillock. This dance is included in the book Accent on Majors and Minors, which is a great collection, with 14 pieces in all major and minor keys formed from the white keys. In addition, before each piece makes a short introduction to the key where the student has to write the key signature, practice the chords that are formed on each grade of the scale and play the cadence I-IV-I-V-I. This book can be used in Grades 2 and 3.
I hope you find this project useful. Please feel free to make all the suggestions of pieces you think they should be on the list. And also feel free to correct my English so I can improve the post. Thanks for your support.
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