Snapchats Duets & Trios is a series of four books for those students who enjoy ensemble playing, that is, playing with either one or two other pianists; piano duets are for four hands whereas trios are for six. Written with enjoyment and fun in mind, Snapchats is a progressive or graded series. The beginners book,…
Tag: Christopher Norton
Snapchats Duets & Trios: Beginners & Book 1, 2 & 3
Snapchats Duets & Trios is published by 80 Days Publishing, a relatively new publishing house owned and founded by composer Christopher Norton and Andrew Jones. The latest addition to the Snapchats family is the new beginners book: Snapchats Duets and Trios for Beginners (see image above). This volume contains 25 duets and trios: 20 duets…
Chord Playing and Improvising 6: Christopher Norton
Today’s post continues renowned composer Christopher Norton’s series here on my blog. Christopher suggests helpful practice tips and advice for one of his pieces, which can be downloaded for free; ‘In The Spirit’ comes from the highly successful series, Connections For Piano. Connections for Piano has been very popular since its launch in 2007. It…
Lucky Charms For Piano and Harp
Lucky Charms is a collection of 21 elementary piano pieces. Published by 80 Days Publishing, the collection consists of works from preparatory (or pre-Grade 1) to approximately Grade 2 standard of the British exam board syllabus levels. Many of the pieces were previously written for Pianist Magazine, for whom I write an elementary piano piece…
Chord Playing and Improvising 5: Christopher Norton
Christopher Norton’s Connections for Piano has been very popular since its launch in 2007. It forms a major part of the new Royal Conservatory syllabus in Canada, as well as being a feature of many other syllabuses, festival programmes and competitions around the world. Here’s a recent quote from a teacher: Connections: this series is…
Chord Playing and Improvising 4: Christopher Norton
This is the fourth article in renowned composer Christopher Norton’s series for my blog. In this post, he offers tips and suggestions for practising chords and improvisation, and the article includes a free download of ‘Positively Swinging’, a piece which hails from the fourth volume of Chris’ ever-popular piano series, Connections. Connections for Piano has…
Chord Playing and Improvising 3: Christopher Norton
I welcome back world-renowned composer Christopher Norton to my blog. Chris is contributing a series of guest articles, each one offering a free download of one of his piano pieces, as well as plenty of practice tips, suggestions and advice. ‘A Gentle Touch’, an early intermediate level piece, is number three in the series and…
Chord Playing and Improvising 2: Christopher Norton
Today’s post is the second in a series of five by renowned composer Christopher Norton. In each post, he is offering a free copy of one of his piano pieces, each one hailing from his popular series, Connections. ‘Open Window’ can be found in Book 4 and, in this article, Chris imparts a few valuable…
Chord Playing and Improvising: Christopher Norton
This is the first of five articles written especially for this blog by renowned composer and educator Christopher Norton. These posts are intended to encourage classical players (and teachers) to explore jazz and pop styles. ‘Deep in Thought’ is the first piece and you can download it here for free. Chris also offers some practice…
Snapchats Duets & Trios: New recordings by Christopher Norton
Snapchats was originally a collection of short piano duets which was published a few years ago. The volume was republished and updated in 2019, with the inclusion of extra duets and piano trios. This new version has proved popular with both children and adult students and I always enjoy using them in my own sight-reading…
MicroJazz Refreshed: Christopher Norton
I’m delighted to welcome back composer Christopher Norton as my guest writer today. Chris, who has written many articles for this blog, is renowned for his excellent MicroJazz piano series. It has expanded exponentially over the years. The pieces have featured in countless examination syllabuses and in many music festival syllabuses around the world. MicroJazz…
Border Tune: Christopher Norton
My guest writer this week is composer Christopher Norton. In this post, he offers practice suggestions for his work ‘Border Tune’, which is the second piece from the volume Country Preludes Collection for piano. This piece is featured in List B of the Trinity College London Grade 7 piano exam 2021 – 2023 syllabus. Background…