11 replies to this topic

[Saxwarbler]

I'm about to start work towards grade 4 and need to get to grips with some waltz and other dance rhythms. Can anyone recommend anything useful but not too dry or expensive? Traditional or modern composers - I don't mind.

[Latin pianist]

Seiber Easy Dances Piano solo have a variety of styles. There are 2 volumes.

[Gordon Shumway]

By coincidence I bought Chopin's nocturnes in a charity shop the other day. When I was about grade 4 or 5 I played a Chopin waltz or two, probably simplified.

[Saxwarbler]

I'll look out for the Seiber.

Funnily enough, I was listening to that Chopin Nocturne on Classic FM this afternoon. I think I have some Chopin in a bundle of old sheet music I got via Freecycle a couple of years ago, so I'll check it out.

Thank you both very much for the suggestions.

[fsharpminor]

This is an easy waltz attributed to Chopin. Not usually in the main Chopin waltz books....http://imslp.eu/file...2_11_filter.pdf

[HelenVJ]

Couple of suggestions, at different levels -  

Firstly Piano Time Dance (OUP) covers a wide range - gavottes, waltzes, foxtrot, tango, samba etc. Maybe on the easy side for you, roughly grade 2-3, but could also be useful sight-reading practice?

And then a superb collection that i bought recently is entirely devoted to Waltzes - 48 of them, going chronologically from Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, 4 of Chopin's, Brahms, Grieg, Debussy,Scott Joplin, Ligeti and many more. Quite a few would be doable at your current level, and also loads of great music to work towards. The book is called Walzer, Schott Piano Classics (ED9047)

[Latin pianist]

I would have thought Piano time dance was more grade 1 to 2. I'm sure one was set for grade 1 abrsm in the 2017 to 18 syllabus and I thought it was on the easy side . I like the sound of the waltz book. Might invest! I'm going to have to stop myself from buying too much music this summer as there have been so many great suggestions on here recently!

[HelenVJ]

On the blurb at the back, it says 'around Grade 2 standard'. A few are easier, but many are quite tricky, especially rhythmically, eg Disco baroque,The Trot of Mr Fox etc. which are bordering Grade 3.  Anyway, my students enjoy them, as they can learn them quickly, and there is a wide variety of composers and styles. Also a couple of attractive duets at the end.

I would say the Walzer book is a great investment - all original piano, no arrangements.

[Norway]

Meine Strauss Walzer - 7 famous Strauss Waltzes for piano duet. Published by Schott. ED 1534. Contains Danube, Tales, Wine, Roses, Spring, Treasure, Morning Papers. Brilliant duets, every one a winner, full of lovely tunes, about grade 5-6 but depends how fast you play them.

[Clovis]

I like Manfred Schmitz's book of tangos: 'Mini-Tango' (Breitkopf & Hartel)

There are a handful of duets, but about 20 for solo. They start easy and get harder. None is longer that two pages.

[Saxwarbler]

Some great ideas, folks. Again, thank you all very much. I've written them down and will have a look at them.

I actually don't mind stuff at grade 2-ish. Always best to start out easy and I frequently go back to some grade 1-2 pieces as a warm up or for some simple sight reading.

[LoneM]

Carl Nielsen wrote an attractive little waltz, "En  lille langsom Vals", about grade 3-4 I guess. It's in his Humorous Bagatelles op.11, available free from IMSLP. The  other five pieces are fun, too.