The "Looks Easy, Sounds Hard" piano songbook is a wonderful collection of songs that allows beginners through early intermediate students to play songs that are varied, interesting, jazzy, fun, emotional and engaging... but aren't as hard as they sound! Whether children or adults, pianists find themselves LOVING to play these songs and feeling like real musical artists. Julie Hanney is a piano teacher as well as a composer, so she truly understands both the developing pianist and how to compose music that does indeed sound "harder" than it looks. Audio examples of all of the songs are on YouTube, and this can be a great asset to the learning process.
The 15 original songs are in a variety of styles including classical, cinematic, jazzy, neoclassical, relaxing/new age and more. To describe a few songs in the book: "Für Ludwig" is a classical style song where Julie imagines what "Elise" might have written back to Ludwig Van Beethoven after he penned the famous "Für Elise" for her. "Mystery Mansion" is a well-loved, slightly "creepy" and funny piece in a minor key with some surprises. "Jazz Cafe" is a unique jazz song that invites the player to imagine that THEY are performing in a jazz cafe. The song "Journey" takes the pianist on an adventure of sound, "Ancient Trees" evokes the sense of a towering forest, "Nocturne" is a sad, introspective song... and there are many more original, inventive and inspiring pieces in the songbook.
Julie has recorded all of the songs from "Looks Easy, Sounds Hard" and put them on YouTube so that students can hear what they will sound like with practice. The information about how to watch/listen to the videos is at the bottom of the first page of each song in the book. You can also find the videos on YouTube by searching for the title of the song/book and the composer's name.
Songs in the book: Misty Morning, Blue Waltz, A Fine Day for a Walk, Mystery Mansion, Journey, Jazz Cafe, Waking Dream, Ancient Trees, Für Ludwig, Relax Your Mind, Indigo Twilight, Following the Path, Tell Me a Story, Nocturne and Saturday Morning.
This songbook is also ideal for students of all ages who have taken some time away from the piano and yet still want to play beautiful and engaging music. People with previous musical training are able to jump right in and make beautiful music.
Note: This version of "Looks Easy, Sounds Hard" now contains the same updated information that is in "Looks Easy, Sounds Hard - Revised Edition." So, whether you order this version or the revised version, your songbook has easier page turns and more information about how to write your first song. :-)
For more information about composer Julie Hanney, please visit: http://www.juliehanney.com
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