Kawai Piano Prices: Pathways to Artistry - Repertoire Book 1 (for Piano) [Paperback] Review

Pathways to Artistry - Repertoire Book 1 [Paperback]

In the first decade of the 2000's, Alfred's came out with these:a series of supplementary books by Catherine Rollin.There are actually nine books in the series:3 books in three categories as follows:

1.Technique:the purpose of these three books is to impart playing advice, almost like having your teacher next to you but in text form.It contains discussions of rolling the thumb under the finger, wrist rotation, forearm staccato, etc.The thing is, I don't think the attempt to replace a flesh-and-blood teacher who can comment on the way you're holding your hands is in any danger of being replaced by a book -- and certainly not this one.

2.Masterworks:This is my favorite of the 3 sets.Essentially etudes beginning at a very simple level, few of which I've seen anthologized before.They're all short, so there's nothing to scary in here.

3.Repertoire.This is the least successful of this product line, I feel.The idea here is to collect performance pieces at your level.The problem is that every single piece in all of the 3 Repertoire books is written by Catherine Rollin, which kinda takes the wind out of one's sails.It's not clear to me that a student good enough to play these pieces is going to invest 75 pages' worth of time in somebody he's never heard of.But I guess anything is better than collecting those danged Anna Magdalena minuets for the umpteenth time, so I guess I should shut my mouth.

Notice that each of the nine books are quite thin:about 25 pages each.

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Product Description:
After acquiring the basic reading skills, students are ready to begin this innovative series designed to emphasize artistry in the early stages of piano study. The series introduces basic technical skills and expands the student's knowledge of style, form and artistic ideas. The Repertoire Book provides newly composed music which reviews the techniques being taught, and bridges the gap between early levels of method books and intermediate masterwork repertoire.