Friday, February 22, 2013

Free Easy Piano Pieces

Just a reminder:

There are some simple piano pieces at the bottom of my Downloads page for all you piano teachers out there who want interesting but easy music for your beginning students.

I wrote these originally for my students to play over the years at my recitals so they have been tested in public!

Like the rest of my music on the site, the pieces are in alphabetical order and are FREE TO DOWNLOAD. I didn't label them as to ease or difficulty, since different methods use different standards for their piano grades, but you can click on the cute covers my son, Steve, designed for me to see if you think they will work for your student. Though I have retired as a piano teacher, I thought someone else might get some use out of these pieces.




Thursday, February 21, 2013

Thank you for some kind words!


Comment or Question: Linda, I have to tell you this. Our family was asked to do quite a few things at a friends funeral. She was older and none of her family is religious. So, we did most of the funeral. We needed something fast and pretty basic, but different. I found your song online. Thank goodness. My two daughters sang your I am a Child of God arrangement and my son played it for them. I cannot describe how beautiful it was. The spirit was so strong. It was the most comforting part of that funeral. We had so many compliments on that song. One man came up with tears in his eyes and said, "that is the most beautiful arrangement I have ever heard of that song. Thank you." So, I too, thank YOU for sharing your music. It was a blessing in a time of need. We were all blessed and touched because of it. -Jodi Yates

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

A "note" about sound bites.

Just to clarify-

There are various sound bites of all the arrangements you can download and play so you can get an idea of how the arrangements should sound. Some are MP3 files created by Martin Pracher using different instrument sounds and are WONDERFUL! Although it takes hours for him to render each arrangement and is too labor intensive for him to continue this way.

Some are MP3 files created by my Personal Composer recording system. (Not as great, but serviceable.) For some reason the system occasionally speeds up in stead of slowing down when it reads a retard in the music, or it slows WAY down for the entire piece. So I usually eliminate the retardando marking when doing the recording. You just have to remember to add it back when practicing the music.

A few were recorded by me in an actual recording studio. (Clearly the best, but expensive and time consuming.) While I wish I could record every arrangement in a studio with actual people singing the parts, this is just not possible when I am offering the music free.

So now you know more about the music files than you wanted to know! Just remember that they are not meant to be used as performance sound tracks.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!


Monday, February 18, 2013

New Duet Posted

I have written an arrangement of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" for my good friend, Martin Pracher and his wife. It is a duet for middle range voices. It could also be effective if sung by choir with the men singing in unison and the women singing unison.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Same Lyrics, Different Melody

Apparently there is some confusion about the MP3 file for the SATB hymn arrangement of "O My Father." The melody is that of "In Humility, Our Savior." This is not a mistake. I felt that the melody of "In Humility" fit nicely with the tone and message of  the "O My Father" lyrics. Try it and see what you think!

COPY COPY COPY!

A few people have recently found my Ward Choir website and have contacted me to ask if they need my permission to make copies of my Ward Choir Arrangements or my Piano Pieces. The answer is....NO! you DO NOT need my special permission!  That is the whole idea of freewardchoirmusic.com.  Just COPY COPY COPY!