Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Return to the Heart: Narada Easy Piano

I just got the Narada Easy Piano book in the mail today .
Has anyone played the David Lanz "Return to the Heart" arrangement in this collection?

The reason I ask is that the beginning sounds a bit odd to me, at least when I compare it to the actual harder piece (Lanz recording). If I am not wrong,the first bass notes are written an octave lower than I hear them.

Perhaps this is done to give the simplified version a richer sound? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

You probably answered your own question. If it's an easy arrangement book, you're not going to get the same version of the piece that's on the CD.

New music ....oh boy! Isn't it fun? I can't believe how much sheet music I've collected in less than a year! - How high is your "stack"?

MUCH MUCH MUCH too high, especially in light of how much of it I have actually played.

I totally understood this upon ordering the book. However, I would really like to know why this difference might exist. If they are the same notes played in each version, why would one be one octave lower? I thought that there might be an answer related to music theory that would help me understand.
The beginning of this piece is quite simple, all of the examples I have watched on youtube are the more complex version, but all have the introductory bass notes one octave higher than my music suggests.

GL - I have this Narada New Age Easy Piano Sampler also and recorded and submitted "Return to the Heart" to an ABF Recital a couple of Recitals ago...

I didn't remember this immediately but when I pulled out the book and opened it to that page the first thing I noticed about the bass staff music was my bold yellow highlighting of the treble or G clef at the very beginning of the piece, which holds thru the 1st 11 measures. This occurs again at measure 57 on the 3rd page and continues thru measure 64.

You'll probably slap yourself on the forehead for missing this (or kick yourself in a lower region) but it's so easy to miss this, especially after playing x number of pieces without this very rare modification. I'm not sure at this point whether I noticed it at first or not.

But, I think this will go a long way towards explaining the apparent difference in sound (which is actually more than just 1 octave, e.g., the 2 note chord in measure 1 is actually the D & G just above middle C, but if you play them as if the bass clef was in effect they would be the 2nd F & B below middle C).

Hope this helps - and good luck with this beautiful piece.

JF

I also worked on and recommend "Leaves on the Seine" and "Girl from Barcelona" from this collection.

Ahhh....you are awesome John, thank you so much. And yes, I feel like a real goof!!! But a happy goof as the problem is now solved and I can continue on with the piece properly. I thought the F & B (first notes in what I was reading as bass clef) sounded really ugly too, but unfortunately, even that did not prompt my noticing the treble clef sign.
Yes, I love Leaves on the Seine and Girl from Barcelona. I also love Sunshine Canyon. I couldn't manage to find recordings of a few of the pieces in the collection, but it is my intention to play them all.
Thanks again!!!!!!!!!

That makes two of us who think that... And you're welcome - glad I could help.

JF