My J.S. Bach Sheet Music Collection

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about my J.S. Bach sheet music collection. My personal collection of music by J.S. Bach is compiled of different editions from a number of different music publishers; and I have built this collection up over a number of years and doing a bit of research into what music publishers have to offer in terms of music by J.S. Bach.

Henle Editions

When it comes to buying sheet music Henle is considered one of the 'top tier' music publishers. Henle pride themselves on producing extremely high quality 'Urtext' editions; and they do a lot of research to make sure that the music that you are buying from Henle is as close to the original as possible.

Partita in A Minor for Solo Flute

This edition of J.S. Bach's Partita in A Minor was produced back in 1990, and has been edited by Hans Eppstein. It features all of four movements of the Partita in A Minor; including the 'Allemande' which is an extremely well known piece of music for solo flute.

Flute Sonatas 1 - The Four Authentic Sonatas

This edition from Henle has also been edited by Hans Eppstein, and it features four of J.S Bach's flute sonatas with Continuo. The flute sonatas included in this edition are the E Minor Flute Sonata BWV 1034, B Minor Flute Sonata BWV 1030, E Major Flute Sonata BWV 1035 & the A Major Flute Sonata BWV 1032.

Flute Sonatas 2 - Three Sonatas Attributed to Bach

This editon from Henle has been edited by Hans Eppstein, and it features three flute sonatas with Continuo by J.S Bach. The three flute sonatas that are included in this edition are the C Major Flute Sonata BWV 1033, G Minor Flute Sonata BWV 1020 and the Eb Major Flute Sonata BWV 1031.

Barenreiter Editions

Barenreiter is also another publisher which prides themselves on producing 'top tier' sheet music, and is highly regarded in the world of classical music. Barenreiter also produces 'Urtext' editions of sheet music, so then the music that you are buying is close to the original as possible.

Partita in A Minor for Solo Flute

This edition from Barenreiter has been edited by Hans-Peter Schmitz, and it also includes a little bit of history of J.S Bach's Partita in A Minor. 

Overture in B Minor for Flute & Harpsichord Obbligato (Piano)

This edition of J.S Bach's 'Overture in B Minor' has been edited by Gerhard Kirchner; and this overture in made up of seven movements and they are :-

- Overture

- Rondeau

- Sarabande

- Bourree 1

- Polonaise

- Menuet

- Badinerie

Three Flute Sonatas

This edition has been edited by Alfred Durr, and it features C Major Flute Sonata BWV 1033, Eb Major Flute Sonata BWV 1031 and the G Minor Flute Sonata BMV 1020.

Four Flute Sonatas

This edition has also been edited by Alfred Durr, and it features four flute sonatas by J.S Bach. The flute sonatas that are included are E Minor Flute Sonata BWV 1034, E Major Flute Sonata BWV 1035, B Minor Flute Sonata BWV 1030, and the A Major Flute Sonata BWV 1032

Other Editions 

Six Cello Suites for Flute (Carl Fischer)

The book features all of J.S Bach's six cello suites that have been transcribed and edited for the flute by Amy Porter. This edition also includes short piece on how to get the best from these cello suites when it comes to both practicing and performing the cello suites on the flutes.

Suite in B Minor (Moyse - G. Schirmer & Hal Leonard)

This edition of J.S Bach's 'Suite in B Minor' has been edited by Louis Moyse.

Charconne (Presser)

The well known Chaconne from J.S Bach's 'Suite in D Minor' for solo violin has been transcribed for solo flute by Dennis Bouriakov and William Bennett.

Toccata & Fugue in D MInor/ Fantasia Chromatica (Alphonse Leduc)

J.S Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor' and 'Fantasia Chromatica' has been arranged for solo flute by Jean-Claude Veilhan. J.S Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor' has always been a favourite piece of music of mine from a very early age, and I was introduced to this piece when I was listening to Vanessa-Mae.

J.S Bach Flute Compilations

The Well-Tempered Flutist (Carl Fischer)

The Well-Tempered Flutist features 101 pieces by J.S Bach that have been both transcribed and edited by Robert Stallman. It features works by J.S Bach from various different works and suites that J.S Bach composed throughout his life. These works come from 'The Well Tempered Clavier', French and English Suites, Partitas for solo keyboard, as well as Sonatas for violin, cello, flute, lute and organ.

Bach for Unaccompanied Flute (Oxford Music)

This book features 17 movements by J.S Bach that have been selected and arranged as studies. These arrangements have been edited by Fritz Spiegl.

Curating a 'Core' Sheet Music Collection

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about curating a 'core' sheet music collection.

What is a 'Core' Sheet Music Collection?

A 'Core' sheet music collection is made up of pieces that are essential for your development; and also these pieces everyone should learn at least once on their instrumental journey.

Research

I would highly recommend that you do some research to find out what pieces would form part of your 'core' sheet music collection. Youtube is a good place to start, as once you start looking it should start to give you an idea of what everyone whose learning/ playing your instrument has learnt and played in the past. Also, look professional musicians  who play your instrument; and see if you notice any pieces repeating, as this should also give you an idea.

Make a List

When you do your research; make a list of any pieces that you repeatedly come across by professional musicians. This will provide you with a starting point to help you to start building your 'core' sheet music collection.

Extended Repertoire Lists from Exam Boards

I'm aware that some music exam boards offer an 'extended repertoire' lists for the practical music graded exams to give you more choice on what you like to do for your practical graded music exams. Within these 'extended repertoire' lists they contain 'core' pieces from well known composers. The more classical repertoire usually starts around Grade 3. 

* ABRSM & Trinity College both offer 'extended repertoire' lists for all grades.

Explore Different Publishers

Have a look into publishers to see if they offer the pieces of music that your interested in. You might find that quite a few publishers offer the same piece of music. This will enable you get a range of different prices, different editors; and some editions even offer a variety of different cadenzas and also information related to the piece/s that you have purchased. My personal favourite publishers are Henle and Barenreiter.

 

My 101 Sheet Music Collection

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about the 101 series of books from Hal Leonard that are in my collection.

The 101 series of books from Hal Leonard are an excellent series of books, especially if you just starting learning an instrument and are looking to add a bit of variety into your music journey. 

The arrangements are on the easy to early intermediate standard, and they are printed in a large format to make it easier for learners to read from the stave. You also have a lot of variety to choose from within this series of books from Hal Leonard.

The books that I have from the 101 Series are :-

- 101 Disney Songs

- 101 Movie Hits

- 101 Broadway Songs

- 101 Classical Themes

- 101 Most Beautiful Songs

- 101 Christmas Songs

101 Disney Songs

This is a great book for anyone whose just starting out learning a new instrument, as its filled with well known songs from Disney. Also, with this book being filled with Disney songs; it should help to make your practice more fun.

101 Movie Hits

This is great one for anyone who loves film, as its filled with songs and themes from well known films.

101 Broadway Songs

This is good one for anyone who loves musical theatre, and who would like to explore the world of well known musical numbers from well known musicals. 

101 Classical Themes

This is a great book for anyone whose interested in the world of classical music. It features of variety of classical music from a wide range of well known composers.

101 Most Beautiful Songs

This book is filled with well known songs and pieces of music that have a more relaxed feel to them.

101 Christmas Songs

This book features a wide variety of well known Christmas songs and Carols. There's also some Christmas songs within this book that I never heard of.

Taking Your Scales & Arpeggios Even Further

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about taking your scales and arpeggios even further from the basic scales and arpeggios.

I will be focusing on the flute for this post, but this can be done for any instrument. You just might have to do some research to find out what books would be best for you to enable you to take your scales and arpeggios even further.

Start Off with the Basics

Before going deeper into your scales and arpeggios; its important that you know and understand basic scales and arpeggios. Once you feel comfortable playing your basic scales and arpeggios, you can then start to incorporate additional exercises to enable you to develop further into your understanding of scales and arpeggios.

'The Flute Scale Book' by Patricia George

'The Flute Scale Book' by Patricia George has loads of different ways to work on your scales and arpeggios; and get the best out of your scales and arpeggios. The book starts off with Whole Tone scales and arpeggios, and these are your basic scales and arpeggios; and then it just progresses from there. You have a lot of variety to choose from within this book.

Moyse 'Beginning the Flute'

With Moyse 'Beginning the Flute' you get a two in one, as not only does it help you to develop your scales and arpeggios; but it also focuses on developing your tone throughout the low and middle registers on the flute. The scales and arpeggios exercises start from Exercise 7 through to Exercise 13, and these exercises work through all of the different key signatures and they take you through the low to middle range of the flute.

Reichert Seven Daily Exercises

The 'Seven Daily Exercises' from Reichert are scales and arpeggio exercises that are in every key signature. This book with help you to delve deeper into the world of scales and arpeggios, as its a completely different way of playing scales and arpeggios; and these exercises will push you. Some of these scale and arpeggio exercises can be a little tricky; but they are some easier options for you to start on.

I hope that this post will give you some inspiration for you to develop even further on your scales and arpeggios. There's loads of resources out there to help you to progress and to also give you a more in depth understanding of scales and arpeggios.

Deep Dive Studies: 100 Classical Studies for Flute

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about 100 Classical Studies for flute.

I would say that the 100 Classical Studies is aimed at anyone whose around Grade 3 and above. Compared to the 125 Easy Classical Studies, this is on the more trickier side. 

Also, this book can be found on the extended repertoire lists for Trinity College. I'm aware of this, as I learnt I study from this book to form part of my Grade 4 development; and I'm currently working on one as part of my Grade 5. I'm not too sure if it forms part of any other exam boards extended reprtoire lists, but it might be worth a look.

Some of the studies towards the back of the book are definitely on the more trickier side, and they also feature a few key signatures that are on the more advanced side.

This is really handy book to have, especially if your exam board has it has an option for their extended repertoire. 

The composers that are featured within this book are :-

- Gariboldi

- Toulou

- Andersen

- Kohler

- Demersseman

- Furstenau

- Berbiguier

- Frederick the Great

- Drouet

- Hugot

- Devienne

I had no idea who 'Frederick the Great' was, but the studies that he composed that are within this book are on the short side, but they are on the nicer side and look to be a little bit tricky.

Frederick the Great was the King of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786, and he was also a musician who played the keyboard and the flute. He also composed a number of works during his lifetime.

100 Classical Studies for flute covers a period of over 200 years, and it covers the 1700s through to the 1900s. So, you also have a different styles of studies to choose from; depending on which composers studies you choose to learn and explore.

Music Exams: What Do You Need for Your Practical Music Exams

Hi everyone,

I will be talking about what you need to help you to plan and prepare your practical music exams. This will vary depending on the exam board you are taking your music exams with.

Exam Pieces

This is usually from a graded exam pieces book that has been compiled together for all relevant grades, but another option is choosing your exam pieces from an 'extended repertoire' list which can usually be found on the exam boards website. You can choose three pieces for a face to face exam, or four pieces for a digital exam. These pieces can be either all from the core pieces of music from the graded exam book, all pieces from the 'extended repertoire' or a combination of pieces from both the core and extended repertoire. You have a quite a range of pieces to also choose from, and you can also tailor the exam pieces to your liking due to the fact that there's now a lot more variety for practical music exams.

 The four exam pieces form part of the 'Repertoire only' exam option for Trinity College. If you wanted to do the 'Technical' exam option with Trinity College, then its three pieces of music. 

Scales, Arpeggios and Exercises

You will need to learn all of your scales and arpeggios from memory for your exams, if you are doing as part of your exam. For the exercises; you can take the pieces into the exam with you.

Scales, Arpeggios and Exercises form part of the 'Technical' exam option for the Trinity College exams; and this option can be done either face to face, or digital.

Aural

Familiarising and developing your aural skills should be done with your music teacher, and this can take time for you to develop your ear. But, you can buy books to help you to improve on your aural skills. Aural forms part of the face to face exams from both ABRSM and Trinity College. Even if you don't do aural as part of your exam; it's still a very good skill within your musical journey for you to develop.

What You Need for Your Practical Music Exams

- Exam Pieces (either from your graded pieces book, from the 'extended repertoire' list; or combination from each

- Scales, Arpeggios & Exercises; or just Scales and Arpeggios for your relevant grade

- Developing your aural music skills with your teacher

Also, once you have got all of your pieces, scales and arpeggios up to standard before you take the practical exam; another thing you can do is get yourself into a routine for how you would like to play the pieces for the exam. By doing this before the exam, it will make it easier for you on the day of the exam as you will already have the routine practiced and you will be more familiar in what you are doing on the day.

Trinity College - Mosaics Books 1 & 2

Hi everyone,

In todays post I will be talking about the Mosaics books for woodwind players by Mike Mower for Trinity College.

The Mosaics books for woodwind players is made up of two books. These books are available for flute, clarinet and saxophone. The clarinet and saxophone editions are a mixture of compositions by Mike Mower and James Rae.

Book One is for beginners through to Grade 5; and Book Two is for Grades 6 - 8.

Book One features 65 solo pieces, and these pieces vary in length depending where you are in your musical journey. In this book the pieces are no longer than a page in length.

Book Two features 42 solo pieces, and this book is aimed at the more advanced player. Another addition to this book is that includes notes from the composer at the back. I'm not too sure if this is a more recent thing that they have included, because it isn't in my edition of 'Mosaics: Book One'. Most of the pieces that are within this book are a page in length, but some of the pieces go over two pages in length.

What I really like about this series of books by Mike Mower are the daft titles that he has come up with for the pieces. It gives the books some light heartedness, even some of the pieces can be on the more trickier side; especially in the second book.

I can only give my opinions based on the Mosaics books for flute, as they are the only ones that I own. I also don't play either the clarinet or saxophone, which is another reason why I don't have those editions. So, I have no idea on what the books are like with the collaborations between Mike Mower and James Rae.