Description
From OPENING DOORS, the in-progress collection of late-elementary piano pieces in keys of 2+ sharp/flat key signatures, this is Prelude in Improvisatory Style in E-flat minor - the only elementary-level piano piece in Eb minor of which I (the composer) am aware.
Notes on the composition:
"Preluding" has long been a common practice in church and other musical settings: a performer may improvise (or choose from the literature) a piece that will introduce the rest of the concert or church service. In the past, these were usually improvised, and I aimed to capture the spirit of an improvised Baroque-style prelude in this piece. You may notice that there are no dynamic markings. This is because most keyboard instruments commonly used in the Baroque era did not give the performer the ability to control dynamics in the same way as on modern pianos. As the performer and "improviser," however, you may add your own!
Notes on the collection:
The in-progress collection OPENING DOORS features mid-to-late beginner piano solos representing all key signatures with two or more sharps/flats (including enharmonics)--keys rarely seen in today's pedagogical piano literature for the early grades. This collection grew out of the high praise for my early intermediate collection of unusual-key solos, entitled VENTURING BEYOND and published in 2014, which led to some requests from teachers and adult students to write a similar collection a couple levels easier than most of Venturing Beyond's pieces.
These pieces, written in Baroque, Classical and Romantic styles, not only help acquaint students with the idea of reading "within keys," but they also introduce common musical genres of the Western Classical canon. These short, expressive compositions--each no more than two pages in a medium-sized font and requiring no more than a major sixth reach--are also ideal for adult students or college group piano students who desire to play musically satisfying repertoire that is within their technical grasp, but still suitable for public and private performance. Many of the pieces are cast in binary forms with repeats, which allows students to increase the length and substance of a piece for performance without requiring them to learn more musical material.
This volume also refrains from invoking programmatic titles or content that might suggest that it is geared toward the school-age student; thus, it is ideal for student pianists of all ages, from 5 to 105!
The given fingerings should be considered optional, given that ideal fingering choices vary widely among different hand sizes and are best decided upon by consultation with a knowledgeable teacher.