More Supplemental Music: Soundtracks and Jazz

 In my last post, I started a series about supplemental music. Well, actually, I mostly ranted about back-to-school supplies coming out mid-summer, and then talked about technique and note reading supplements. 

   Today I continue that series, and this post is the one that most students will probably perk their ears up at! Today we will talk about movie music (which is so much fun to teach!) and jazz. (Confession: I was going to talk about pop music too. Except I really am not into pop music, never know what's current, and have zero pop supplemental to recommend. You'll have to let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions.)

   Again, as said before, all Sheet Music Plus links are affiliate... and please don't use them if you live in Canada. Not unless you order now and are OK with receiving your books in October. 

Soundtracks: Disney and Otherwise

   It was frustrating to me to see how much music was labelled "easy" and how little of it actually was. Until a student brought a PreTime Piano Disney book to class one day. These Faber and Faber books will get students in their first year playing -- and enjoying -- the songs they already know and love! Plus, the publishers have other Disney books at other levels -- PlayTime, ShowTime, and ChordTime -- so students can grow with their music. 

   Disney music is great. But let's not forget -- they don't have a monopoly on great music for animated films. My two absolute favourite soundtracks are both from DreamWorks. The Prince of Egypt (film version -- did you know that there's a musical theatre version, too?) soundtrack book is probably more like Grade 6-8 music, so I won't go into it too much here. It's great music -- but above most of my students' playing level. 

   However, the piano music from How to Train Your Dragon -- now that's a different story. The piano arrangements are probably at a Grade 3-6 level. (This is if you are looking at music from the first two films. The piano arrangements from The Hidden World are advanced-level.) If you've never watched HTTYD, go look up the soundtrack. It's epic! The intense drama of  selections like "This Is Berk" and "Ready the Ships," the upbeat energy of "Test Flight," the pathos of "Stoick's Ship," and the tender wonder of "Romantic Flight" all have a beautiful Celtic flair that suits the storyline perfectly. (Unfortunately, the book doesn't include two of my favourites from the film, "Forbidden Friendship," and "For the Dancing and the Dreaming." But you could probably find a sheet music download for those.... somewhere.) 

   You can find music from nearly any great soundtrack out there, but for beginners, this is what I know and would recommend -- highly. 

Jazz

   These are books that I had a friend recommend to me. I've played some Christopher Norton works -- in particular, a Grade 8 study that I really loved -- so I feel pretty confident recommending these as books worth getting. Christopher Norton's Connections for Piano are graded to match RCM levels, making it an easy fit to figure out which book to get for your child. 

Other

   I touched briefly last week on Andrea and Trevor Dow's books, so I'll give you a quick run-through based on what I know. The Very Useful Piano Library is a rare resource with books at different stages of beginner levels, so even your pre-reading student can have something fun to play. Then there's The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo, geared towards your Level 2 wanna-be superhero. ClassicalPop Piano Solos are intended to give teens a fun introduction to classical music, in mashups that they can appreciate as being "cool". Finally, speaking of music with a Celtic flair, they have the three Guardians, Celtic-style collections. 

Next time....

   On my next blog post, which will probably be two weeks from now, we'll be diving into sacred and Christmas music --best for last!