Attaching the tag line, “stylish arrangements” to a collection of early elementary hymn solos may seem like a bit of a stretch, but composer Wendy Stevens manages to pull it off! I recently played through each of the hymn arrangements in her new three-book collection of Easy Hymn Solos published by Hal Leonard and was […]
Resource Reviews
MuseScore – A Free Notation Software
I’ve been hearing rumblings about MuseScore for several weeks, but Joy’s review of it earlier this week prompted me to finally take a closer look. Like Joy, I was very disappointed to find that Finale decided to charge for the NotePad software that they previously offered free of charge. I had quite a few students […]
Interview with Elizabeth Wellburn
Today, I am pleased to welcome Elizabeth Wellburn, author of the children’s book Echoes from the Square, for a special interview. What prompted your interest in writing this story about Vedran Smailovic, cellist of Sarajevo? My daughter Amy is a cellist, and we had heard about Mr. Smailovic’s actions on the internet. I believed that […]
Echoes From the Square
Recently, I received an e-mail from Elizabeth Wellburn, author of the colorful and captivating book Echoes From the Square by Elizabeth Wellburn. It is the beautiful story of cellist Vedran Smailovic, retold in this heartwarming children’s book. The video below is a recording of Ms. Wellburn reading the story, accompanied by images from the book […]
Review of Modern Harmony Methodology
Michael Griffin, author of Music and Keyboard in the Classroom and developer of the helpful website Music Education World has produced another great resource for music teachers and students. His newest book, Modern Harmony Methodology, describes itself as being “of value to all students of composition and musical arrangement, and also to classically trained pianists […]
Review of Twister and 6 Steps for Teaching a New Piece
As soon as I played through this hot-off-the-press piece from Hal Leonard, I thought of several students who would love it! Twister by Wendy Stevens is fast and it sounds flashy, but the patterns make it accessible for an ambitious elementary student. The quick left hand position changes add to the excitement, but could easily […]
