Hey That's My Kind of Music! 4

Kevin Olson does a great job with his series seeking to connect with students in a special way. His fourth book in the My Kind of Music series does not disappoint. From the gracefulness of First Light to the spookiness of Ghostdance, to the somberness of Gettysburg, to the wonder of Catching Fireflies, there is certain to be several songs that connect with each student.




You will find the following titles in this book:
First Light
Big Easy Blues
On the Wings of Pegasus
Gettysburg
Ghostdance (in video above)
Toccata in Twilight
Catching Fireflies

In this intermediate book, most of the songs are three to four pages long.  They include pedaling, octave jumps, syncopated rhythms, many accidentals, three note chords, octaves in the same hand, and other challenges expected in intermediate literature.  You can look inside here.

These pieces are obviously more difficult than his early intermediate book 3.  These songs will take work, but as evident in the video above, are fun to play.

I will resist the urge to sound like a sixth grader giving an oral book report. I will not close with "I recommend this book to all of my friends."  No, I won't.  *Self pep-talk over.*  However, I will recommend this series to teachers with students who are open to playing fun pieces that they don't already know.  I have an older beginner who loves the first book.  This student keeps plugging away, but piano lessons do not come easy to her, so it's quite rewarding for her to be playing two of these songs for the recital.  She's very excited that she's playing them, and I'm very happy I can give her songs that she loves to play that are challenging yet don't frustrate the socks off her.

Kevin Olson makes an effort to choose titles/themes that every student can relate to, whether that's traveling, nature, or holidays.  Each piece has a comment from the author relating to the piece.  For instance, in Big Easy Blues he refers to how shocked he was about the devastation in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Olson was inspired by the efforts to rebuild.  His piece "celebrates the spirit of optimism that shines in the music of New Orleans."

This book is available on Sheet Music Plus for $6.50.