Wicked - Piano/Vocal Arrangement Review

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(More customer reviews)After waiting for so long to finally get this book, I've discovered it to be well worth the wait.
Stephen Schwartz is releasing two versions of vocal selections for wicked, this version containing the melody interpolated into the piano part, and another book that is billed as a professional acompaniment without the melody necessarily built into the piano arrangement.This led many to speculate that the "with melody" version would therefore be much easier and less true to the music.Although I haven't seen the other book yet as it has yet to be released as I write this, you should definitely know that this book has not one "easy" arrangement.The arrangers have done a really excellent job of keeping the parts interesting while building in the melody.For instance, "Defying Gravity," the amazing Act-One closing number, is particularly well done, and if you can work through the key-- (it remains, as in the show, in Db) you will be VERY satisfied with the richness and fullness of the sound.
Schwartz has adapted the songs for use as solos or (where applicable) duets, removing longer instrumental breaks, trimming ensemble sections, and providing some new lyrics and endings to make the songs work really well for this new format.This in my opinion is yet another reason to purchase the book, as it gives fans of the show a way to interpret small sections of some of the songs differently.
Sometimes I do wish some cuts could have been avoided (notably I miss the wonderful "We deserve each other" theme that appears on the cast album intersecting "Dancing through Life" and the counterpoint melody "Who's that mage..." in "One Short Day"), but Schwartz is right, it would have impeded the creation of solo pieces to put those in.
The score for Wicked is definitely not to be missed, it really is a must have-- (especially while I wait patiently for the imminent release of the other version of the score!)
Overall, the music is wonderful, the arrangements remain challenging, but are extremely well edited and contain chord diagrams to help you along as well.Well done.

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Product Description:
Nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards in 2005, Wicked is an undeniable Broadway smash! A prequel to the all-American classic The Wizard of Oz, this new musical is a character study of Elphaba and Glinda, school roommates who grow up to become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch, respectively. We are very proud to offer several songbooks featuring this delightful music, including a Vocal Selections book which contains the vocal line with piano accompaniment (00313268), and a Piano/Vocal Selections book, in standard piano/vocal format with the melody in the piano part (00313267). Songbooks feature a special section of color photos from the production, a note from composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and these fantastic tunes: As Long as You're Mine * Dancing Through Life * Defying Gravity * For Good * I Couldn't Be Happier * I'm Not That Girl * No Good Deed * No One Mourns the Wicked * One Short Day * Popular * What Is This Feeling? * The Wizard and I * Wonderful.

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Titanic (Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook) Review

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(More customer reviews)The pieces in this book are each some of the best movie music available for the piano.Each piece is masterfully arranged as a piano solo.The book itself contains seven piano pieces from the "Titanic"soundtrack plus the "My Heart Will Go On" song.
The contentsare as follows: Never An Absolution * Southampton * Rose * "Take Herto Sea, Mr. Murdoch" * "Hard to Starboard" * Unable to Stay,Unwilling to Leave * Hymn to the Sea * My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from"Titanic").
My personal favorite is "Rose."It is anarrangement for the piano based on the theme song.It is one of the mostbeautiful piano pieces I have played on the piano, and it is perfect forthe beginning to intermediate player."Never an Absolution" and"Hymn to the Sea" are also very nice on the piano.I liked allthe other pieces from the soundtrack.Some of them are definitely forintermediate level players, such as "Take Her to Sea, Mr.Murdoch" and "Hard to Starboard."The "My Heart WillGo On" song is the one selection that is for piano/vocal/guitar.Itdoes not sound as well on the piano compared to the other pieces,especially "Rose."But, I'm sure its inclusion will be a plusespecially for those who like the song.I personally liked the other songswhich were specifically geared for the piano.They simply could not havebeen arranged better.I wish other movie soundtracks would release pianobooks of this caliber.I give this book my highest recommendation.

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Product Description:
This deluxe songbook features eleven pages of color photos from the movie, and the instrumental selections from the soundtrack: Hard to Starboard * Hymn to the Sea * Never an Absolution * Rose * Southampton * Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch * Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave. Also includes the piano/vocal arrangement of the hit single "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from Titanic)."

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Annie (Broadway) (Easy Piano) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very helpful book. I can't play the piano but using this I can plunk out some notes. Unfortunately, it doesn't have all the songs. The one I miss the most is "Little Girls". But overall I would recommend it!

~Emma :)

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Ten terrific songs from everyone's favorite orphan: Annie * Easy Street * I Don't Need Anything but You * It's the Hard-Knock Life * Maybe * A New Deal for Christmas * N.Y.C. * Something Was Missing * Tomorrow * You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile.

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Wicked - Vocal Selections Review

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(More customer reviews)This version of the Wicked Songbook is the one that DOES NOT have the melody interpolated throughout the piano part-- it is meant as a "vocal line with piano accompaniment" version.It is described by Stephen Schwartz in his forward to the book as being "essentially a reduction of what is played by the show orchestra, edited so that it is playable by one person with two hands and ten fingers."
The songs have been adapted so that they may be sung out of the context of the show, with longer instrumental sections, chorus parts, and other such material being trimmed out in most cases.Though this gave me pause at first, I am learning that it really serves the material in this sense, making the music perfect for performing on its own, out of the story-driven context of the show.(Some cuts include the 'We Deserve Each Other' section of "Dancing Through Life", and the 'Who's that Mage...' counterpoint in "One Short Day")
All the favorite songs appear here, from "The Wizard and I", to "Dancing Through Life" and even an excerpt from "Thank Goodness" entitled "I Couldn't Be Happier".There have even been some small additions to the songs to make them work better for solo performance-- I love the new added verse in "No One Mourns the Wicked", for example.It makes for exciting rediscoveries of these already familiar pieces.
The arrangements are challenging, yes, and except for in one case all the songs appear in their original show keys (which means, e.g., that "Defying Gravity" is in Db, "One Short Day" is in F#, etc, but are well worth the effort-- both those songs sound amazing."For Good" has been taken down a half step and appears in the book in C major).For those trying to compare this book to the P/V/G (with melody) version, I would say there is NOT a huge difference in degree of difficulty between the two books.
The wonderful result of this effort is that the arrangements are SO true to the score.It's really encouraging that Hal Leonard is starting to let composers publish more accurate and exciting versions of their work, and that what we get in the vocal selections is not some cheap simplified thing that sounds nothing like the nuanced and complex score but instead is actually rich and fantastic and interesting.
These Vocal Selections are without a doubt some of the best I've seen produced.Huge congrats to Stephen Schwartz for getting out the music in such a way that the core of the score really is still intact and ensuring that the great songs from this show will be performed for a very long time.Just Amazing.

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Product Description:
Nominated for a whopping 10 Tony Awards and grossing more than $1 million each week, Wicked is this year's Broadway smash! A prequel to the all-American classic The Wizard of Oz, this new musical is a character study of Elphaba and Glinda, school roommates who grow up to become the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch, respectively. We are very proud to offer two songbooks featuring this delightful music: a Vocal Selections book which contains the vocal line with piano accompaniment (00313268), and a Piano/Vocal Selections book, in standard piano/vocal format with the melody in the piano part (00313267). Both songbooks feature a special section of color photos from the production, a note from composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and these fantastic tunes: As Long as You're Mine * Dancing Through Life * Defying Gravity * For Good * I Couldn't Be Happier * I'm Not That Girl * No Good Deed * No One Mourns the Wicked * One Short Day * Popular * What Is This Feeling? * The Wizard and I * Wonderful.

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