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I have several adult students who would like to play stuff like Yiruma's River Flows in You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhN7SG-H-3k or Yanni, etc. I have found Jeanine Yeager's Fresh Impressions published by Kjos that have that kind of sound but are appropriate for the beginner student. I'd like to expand my library with this sort of music, though, since it seems to be in high demand.

Does anyone else have suggestions for music that sounds new agey and modern for a beginner, but something that sounds mature?

Some of David Nevue's music might be simple enough..."Solitude" is his easiest, I believe. You can hear his music at his website and order sheet music from there, too: http://www.freesheetmusicguide.com/original.htm

Or check out Carol Klose or even Dennis Alexander I think has some music like that.

This website has a listing of contemporary composers and artists and is kind of interesting...you might find something here: http://freesolopiano.com/solo-pianist-site-directory.html

Good luck!

Thanks Jessica. I think that might be a bit advanced for some of my students (they are in the middle of Book 1 of Hal Leonard's Adult Method), but I do have one that would be able to play the Nevue piece. The key of the piece and the chords might present some problems.

I didn't know Alexander wrote for beginners, and I forgot about Carol Klose. I'll check those out.

That website is a great resource! Thanks for sharing that.

What about Kevin Costley? His Romantic Portraits and More Romantic Portraits are really nice, but probably about early intermediate level. Enya's cd folios have some lovely piano solos too.

You might like to Google, Hikari (kingdom Hearts), 'When the love falls', Yann Tierson, Utada Hikaru 'First love', 'Hokage's Funeral,
'To Zanarkand', 'Winter Sonata', Yiruma's 'Kiss the Rain.

Those are probably going to be too hard, Rob, if "Solitude" is too hard. Morodiene, if you scroll down the sheet music page on Nevue's web site, you'll find a listing of his pieces ranked by difficulty. (He has a panel of musicians, plus adult beginners [I'm one of them ] rank each selection on a 5-point scale.) Some other very easy pieces of his you might want to look at is "Wonderland" and "Emerald Valley," and he does a new agey arrangement of "Amazing Grace" that's very nice and easy.

Martha Mier has done some 'romantic impressions' collections that have a decided new age flair. I've got one of her early intermediate sheet music books; I don't know if she has a similar collection for beginners, but if so, that might be a place to look.

I've got some pretty easy sheet music at http://solosheets.blogspot.com

I wrote it myself and it's very easy and fun to play!

Right. These students are BEGINNERS, meaning they just started. Hands together stuff is very limited, and they don't know chords. If they like a piece, I'm sure a bit of a challenge wouldn't be too hard for them, and they have until February to get it ready for a recital. But more than one flat or sharp, working outside 5-finger positions, etc. are just too much. Simple LH accompaniments. That kind of thing.

I appreciate all the music, though, and I can certainly keep it in mind for when they are ready for that stuff!

New Age and "beginner" don't quite match up. The genre implies a certain sound that isn't really possible using only one accidental and 5-finger patterns.

That being said, take a look at some of Nancy Telfer's work. She's published by Frederick Harris and there's a collection "The Sun and the Moon" that might have some things that fit. And in general, I'd say looking at music by Canadian composers might prove fruitful - due to the RCM syllabus repertoire lists, the new music coming out of Canada these days is a lot better than what we get here in the US. Most new early-level music in the US is pretty bland except for some of the pop/jazz inspired stuff. For impressionistic music (which I think sounds more New-Agey), the Canadians are far better.

How about some of Robert Vandall's pieces - Celebrated Piano Solos Book 1 and his other books in similar series (Virtuosic Piano Solos, Jazzy Piano Solos, etc.)? The first books might be about right. He also has some duet books. His Preludes would be ideal for a new age sound, but they are intermediate and up.

Rich

I know this isn't doable for the total beginner, but it's the easiest collection of pieces that still sound like the original popular New Age recordings. Narada Easy New Age Piano Sampler I'm not sure how it's possible to have a New Age composition using 5 finger positions only and no chords since the arpeggios contribute a lot to the New Age sound, IMO.

Eweiss has a lot of fun-looking sheet music at his site. You should probably try those out first.

I have just a moment before a lesson so here is a quick list off the top of my head. You might put these into the mix as your adults progress.

Paul Sheltel:
Wrote a song called Etudes and one called Psalm and others in a book that sound new age-y. I will look up the book if you are interested. I'd say they are both late elementary - early intermediate, but repetition of patterns with movable position makes Etudes enchanting to play, and the Psalms one I believe is a fixed position of A minor.

Noona:
Also, in one of the Noona method books there is a great piece called "Circles of Infinity". It's Early Intermediate and absolutely lovely.

Sakura:
I have a free copy of a nice arranged that while not "new age" is just spectacular for sound and drifting sound it brings the imagination to the oriental instruments, the blossom of cherry trees, and unhurried motion, very calming.

Betty

I should have added "Lyric Sketches" by Walter Finlayson to the list.

It may be out of print. My last copies were very hard to get. But....this is an exceptional book for moods and nuances. Each piece is less than a page long....each is complete with some poetry or story line to it. They are so musical and perfect. This book is Intermediate and Late Intermediate. The student sound like an artist playing these pieces. Beyond imagination!

Betty

Apologies Morodiene.

I should have read the topic more carefully

Some great suggestion from others though. I shall be looking into some of them myself.

Rob

Odd, my latest post disappeared. Anyways, thanks everyone for the suggestions. If they're a bit too advanced, it might be a goal to work towards in the near future.