Easy Etudes: Fourteen Mid-Elementary Level Piano Solos - Brief Article - Book Review

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2003 by Anne L. Brady

Useful for older beginners who may need more of a challenge, Easy Etudes is a collection of fourteen piano solos. Printed in order of difficulty, the pieces range from middle-C position, middle-D position, F position and C position. Students learn to move out of position, cross over, play scale patterns and deal with accidentals, eighth notes, harmonic intervals, switching melody between hands and playing hands together. Five of the fourteen pieces have hands playing together, while nine picots alternate hands.

Clean layout in the first eleven pieces omits articulation markings, which can be confusing to beginners. Teachers should be able to easily add appropriate legato, staccato, phrasing and tempo as the overall style of each piece is evident. Performance notes might be helpful for some teachers and students. I probably would write in more dynamic and articulation marks when teaching these pieces.

Dan Gresh's compositional style is melodic and intuitive, as well as pattern oriented and logical. The solos in Easy Etudes sound good and are fire to play. Half of the pieces are longer and would be suitable For recitals.

Personally, I found the cover art cute and appealing. My twelve-year-old son, an Anime fan, remarked that there's nothing worse than bad Animae. Most teachers and students would share my opinion about the cover art. Reviewed by Anne L. Brady, Albuquerque, New Mexico.