Description
Graded Keyboard Musicianship provides graded and integrated exercises for developing five core skills at the keyboard: figured bass, score-reading, transposition, harmonization, and improvisation. Organized into two books, it develops these skills from an elementary level, providing support for practical and theoretical music exams, and for teaching harmony. Book 1 assumes keyboard ability of Grade 1 ABRSM standard and covers up to Grade 5, while Book 2 covers Grades 6 to 8. The bite-size approach, catering for pianists and organists, uses practical worksheets of exercises alongside supplementary text.
About the Author
Anne Marsden Thomas is one of the most influential organ teachers of today, and has wide experience as a concert and church organist. She has written or edited over twenty books for organists. In 2015 she was awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours, and, in 2017, was the first woman to receive the Royal College of Organists highest decoration, the RCO Medal. Dr Frederick Stocken is a widely-commissioned and performed composer, whose recorded and broadcast music ranges from organ and choral pieces to orchestral works. His publications include not only compositions, but also musicological writing and keyboard tutors. He is Organist of St George's Metopolitan Cathedral, London, and a distinguished teacher of organ, music theory, and musicianship at all levels.
Reviews
All the usual disciplines - figured bass, score-reading, transposition and harmonisation - are treated from the earliest stages as interlinked, fluency in one informing fluency in another (often taking in some early-stages organ technique along the way). Each book is organised into levels - five in the first, three in the second - and each level is divided into five lessons, with new concept summarised and analysed as they are encountered. The material offered helpfully incorporates familiar hymns and melodies, and editorial material is succinct and cogent. A number of appendices and glossaries add to the usefulness of the books. Every teacher and student of keyboard harmony will find helpful material and fresh perspectives in these thoughtful volumes, and the compilers' holistic approach to the development of these skills is invaluable. * Stephen Farr, Choir & Organ, November 2017 *
There have been many keyboard musicianship tutors over the years, and here now is one for the 21st century. The areas covered are not new - the core skills of figured bass, score-reading, harmonizing, transposing and improvising remain as ever. But the language used, the examples chosen and above all the structure of each book are imaginatively rethought. The eight levels, corresponding to ABRSM grades and therefore ranging from pre-grade 1 to pre-diploma, have five lessons in each, and each lesson includes the five skills - presented in an integrated way. So, as each key is introduced, the transposing and harmonizing examples utilize these, leading at the end of each lesson to improvising exercises derived from the preceding tasks. The structure makes the books suitable for private as well as directed study, and either used alongside conventional organ or piano lessons, or as an intensive keyboard musicianship course. * Stephen Patterson, rsmc.com *
This is an excellent two-volume curriculum that you can do alone or with a teacher. Logicvally organized, short lessons gently move from beginner to intermediate level, which is where most keyboard skills books start. The authors have kept the examples short, without omitting any steps. I highly recommend these new volumes for anyone seeking help in boosting their command of these keyboard basics. * Christopher Cook, The American Organist, October 2018 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193411944
Author Anne Marsden Thomas
Format Paperback
Page Count 48
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 187g
Dimensions(mm) 308mm * 233mm * 7mm
About the Author
Anne Marsden Thomas is one of the most influential organ teachers of today, and has wide experience as a concert and church organist. She has written or edited over twenty books for organists. In 2015 she was awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours, and, in 2017, was the first woman to receive the Royal College of Organists highest decoration, the RCO Medal. Dr Frederick Stocken is a widely-commissioned and performed composer, whose recorded and broadcast music ranges from organ and choral pieces to orchestral works. His publications include not only compositions, but also musicological writing and keyboard tutors. He is Organist of St George's Metopolitan Cathedral, London, and a distinguished teacher of organ, music theory, and musicianship at all levels.
Reviews
All the usual disciplines - figured bass, score-reading, transposition and harmonisation - are treated from the earliest stages as interlinked, fluency in one informing fluency in another (often taking in some early-stages organ technique along the way). Each book is organised into levels - five in the first, three in the second - and each level is divided into five lessons, with new concept summarised and analysed as they are encountered. The material offered helpfully incorporates familiar hymns and melodies, and editorial material is succinct and cogent. A number of appendices and glossaries add to the usefulness of the books. Every teacher and student of keyboard harmony will find helpful material and fresh perspectives in these thoughtful volumes, and the compilers' holistic approach to the development of these skills is invaluable. * Stephen Farr, Choir & Organ, November 2017 *
There have been many keyboard musicianship tutors over the years, and here now is one for the 21st century. The areas covered are not new - the core skills of figured bass, score-reading, harmonizing, transposing and improvising remain as ever. But the language used, the examples chosen and above all the structure of each book are imaginatively rethought. The eight levels, corresponding to ABRSM grades and therefore ranging from pre-grade 1 to pre-diploma, have five lessons in each, and each lesson includes the five skills - presented in an integrated way. So, as each key is introduced, the transposing and harmonizing examples utilize these, leading at the end of each lesson to improvising exercises derived from the preceding tasks. The structure makes the books suitable for private as well as directed study, and either used alongside conventional organ or piano lessons, or as an intensive keyboard musicianship course. * Stephen Patterson, rsmc.com *
This is an excellent two-volume curriculum that you can do alone or with a teacher. Logicvally organized, short lessons gently move from beginner to intermediate level, which is where most keyboard skills books start. The authors have kept the examples short, without omitting any steps. I highly recommend these new volumes for anyone seeking help in boosting their command of these keyboard basics. * Christopher Cook, The American Organist, October 2018 *
Book Information
ISBN 9780193411944
Author Anne Marsden Thomas
Format Paperback
Page Count 48
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 187g
Dimensions(mm) 308mm * 233mm * 7mm
