From the Beginning

From the Beginning is a three-volume collection of over a hundred pieces designed to take beginners from the very first lesson to a level at least equivalent to grade two or three.

The complete three volume collection is divided into twelve stages:

The pieces in Stage 1 only use three notes: A, B, and C. Stages 2 & 3 add octave transpositions of these notes. Each of the following stages typically add a couple more notes until by Stage 12 a range of over four octaves is covered. The purpose is to give learners plenty of practice in reading music as fluently as possible, progressing step by step from a manageable starting point.

Although the main purpose of the collection is to provide repertoire, there are also notes detailing the ‘things you need to know’. The collection, therefore, also functions as a tutor.

However, the text only covers the things needed to know in order to play these particular pieces. It is not necessarily designed to be a comprehensive or complete consideration of music theory, nor of the physiology of piano technique .

In general, the music has a contemporary filmic quality with elements of pop, rock and jazz. There is also a strong flavour of Celtic traditional music throughout. Overall, the pieces are designed to encourage musical and expressive playing, as much as developing music reading skills.

Enhancing the filmic nature of some of the music, backing tracks are available to accompany some of these numbers. This is particularly the case for volume 1 from which even the first three-note melodies can sound as if they are in the middle of an orchestral film score.

The aim is to encourage accurate time-keeping, as well as making the very first steps as interesting as possible. At the other end of the collection, Volume 3 includes a miniature Piano Concerto for Beginner and Orchestra!

Volume 1 consists of the first four stages: Stage 1 opens with The Journey Begins - a set of five, eight-bar, pieces for the first lessons that only use three notes. These little pieces are then combined into a continuous forty-bar piece that can be performed with an orchestral backing track.

Adding the orchestra immerses the player in the middle of a film score - perhaps depicting a tribe of people embarking on a challenging but rewarding journey!

Volume 2 of From the Beginning continues the pattern established in Volume 1 by offering the next five stages. The hundred or so pieces that make up the three volumes of From the Beginning are not sequenced in order of difficulty. This is despite the gradual addition (stage by stage) of new notes. It should be noted that each stage starts with pieces that are easier to play than the last pieces of the previous stages. This is particularly true for stages 6 to 11. For example the first couple of pieces in stage 11 are easier than some of the pieces in stage 9. It is designed this way so that some of the pieces from all stages can be tackled sooner rather than later.

Volume 3 of From the Beginning completes the pattern established in volume 1 and continued in Volume 2. There is much less text than in the earlier books simply because most of the ‘things you need to know’ have been covered. All the pieces in this volume are at least of a difficulty equivalent to grade 1. Many are grade 2, and perhaps a small number even go beyond this towards grade 3 - although that might depend on how fast they are played. Some of the numbers could be described as ‘character pieces’. In other words, they evoke a particular style or genre and are not necessarily typical of my music as a whole. The culmination of the collection is a miniature twelve-minute, three-movement, Piano Concerto for Beginner and Orchestra. This is, of course, designed to be played along with the backing track which is available to download from fieldgatemusic.com