Need More Christmas Music

This whole new piano thing is leading to a lot of new music.  As a teacher, I try to keep a good variety on hand for when a student needs some variation in the schedule.  As a musician, I love to have music that sounds great and I am pretty much sit down and sight read.  So yesterday it was back to the music store.

First up is Popular Christmas Hits by Dan Coates published by Alfred.

This book includes songs from Bethlehem Morning, Frosty the Snowman, and Growup Christmas List.  It is very diverse.  My favorite surprise is that it offers interesting key changes.  When was the last time you saw 6 flats in a popular book?

For full disclosure on the next selection, I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan.  I can’t wait until the Hobbit comes out next week.  So when I saw The Lord of the Rings:  The Motion Picture Trilogy by Howard Shore for Piano and Voice, I knew it was for me.

Some of these songs are familiar right off the bat and others I had to search my memory for the correct scene.  This book has interesting arrangements that are fairly close to the sound from the score.

I would recommend either one of these books to one my students of an advanced level.

New Christmas Books

As a piano teacher, I spend a lot of time playing music that isn’t mine.  It’s rare that I get to play the piano for pure enjoyment of the music and it not be a project of some variety.  Well, it’s that time of year again.  It’s time for Christmas music!  I love piano Christmas music.  If you saw my music library you would probably think I’m a little crazy.  So when I was at Music and Arts 2 weeks ago and saw new Christmas piano books, that was it.  I had to have some new books.

First up is Simply Christmas by Jerry Ray. Now you have to understand.  Christmas with Style by Jerry Ray is just about my favorite Christmas book to play from.  The arrangements are great and not overly difficult.  So when I was Simply Christmas it was meant to be. I was not disappointed.  This is a great book.

The second book I picked up was O Come, Let Us Adore Him by the publisher Lillenas.  Lillenas published my favorite hymn arrange book so I thought this was a pretty sure bet.  This book was obviously made for church pianists.  It includes transitions between every song.  The arrangements are pretty and very playable.

So there you go, I am already playing and teaching Christmas piano music.  The recital is only a month away. I should go practice.