How great would it be if you could explore a whole range of pieces and styles whilst keeping them all within the most simple of key signatures?
Well, the answer is here: In Easy Keys is a series that includes no more than one sharp or one flat in the key signature. That’s right, every piece in the this series is either in C Major, G Major or F major (or their relative minors). Sure, there’s some accidentals along the way, but never have these popular pieces looked more playable than they do in this series.
Designed for a Grade 1-2 level, these pieces can also provide some great sight reading challenges for students,
Christmas Songs in Easy Keys
Christmas is just around the corner, so why not start here? Christmas Songs in Easy Keys contains a really interesting and eclectic collection of songs from the Christmas canon. Standards include Santa Claus is coming to Town, Here Comes Santa Claus and We Need a Little Christmas. But more interestingly is the additions of All I Want for Christmas, Blue Christmas, Pretty Paper and A Marshmallow World. This extends the appeal of the book beyond the younger generation and wonderfully into those with a more mature taste in Christmas tunes. There are some great party pieces in here for any early-intermediate pianist who wants to flex the fingers in front of the family
The Beatles Songs in Easy Keys
Do You Want to Know a Secret? That’s not a question, that’s just perhaps the most obscure song in this book. There are of course the classics (Eleanor Rigby, Love Me Do, Let It Be) but there are also some very cool deep cuts in here (Good Day Sunshine, I’ll Follow the Sun, Good Night). This book has simplified some of the trickier songs (Strawberry Fields) in a way that still makes them playable for an early intermediate player – but not so simple they’re unrecognisable. Fantastic balance of handling melody and providing some musical interlude bars where possible.
Pop Songs in Easy Keys
It’s amazing how songs like All Star and Wonderwall feel like they will just last forever. This is the thickest book in the collection – amassing to 128 pages. I was suspecting that’s due to the inclusion of Bohemian Rhapsody – however that has been condensed into a nice 4 page reduction with a cute interpretation of the guitar solo linking the opening verse to the very end of the song. This book is very clever in that it has chosen songs that continue to be used over and over again in the cultural zeitgeist: Billie Jean, Dancing Queen, Eye of the Tiger, Shake It Off, Sweet Child O’ Mine… it implies that this book will remain relevant for a long time as there are kids today who are obsessed with All Star and the Macarena (they were smart enough to leave out the really weird verses).
