Piano Solos: Instrumental Accompaniments, revised.(Sound recording review)

Piano Solos: Instrumental Accompaniments, revised, orchestrated by Phillip Keveren. Hal Leonard Corporation (www.halleonard.com, www.musicdispatch.com, (800) 637-2852), $9.95.

MIDI accompaniments can provide teachers and students with another way to learn and practice music. These files can help you teach rhythms or keep a steady rhythm, ensemble playing and will make lessons and practice enjoyable and rewarding. The Hal Leonard Corporation has revised their Piano Solos book and instrumental accompaniments, levels 1-5. Barbara Kreader, Fred Kern, Phillip Keveren, and Mona Rejino and have done an amazing job. Although the songs are great alone, adding the accompaniments makes this a valuable teaching tool.

The orchestrations are very well done; instrumentation used fits the music well. For example, you hear a banjo in "The Banjo Picker" or tap dancing in "Tap Dance." I enjoyed listening to and playing along, especially "Baroque Boogie," and could not wait to show my students, whose comments included "Cool" and "That is awesome!" It added variety and pizzazz to our lessons and motivated students. The backgrounds can be used in the studio or at home to practice with during the week. They add ...