In a couple of my recent posts about silent film recitals for piano students, I mentioned my latest publication — a set of easy pieces for young silent-film pianists. But I didn’t give it the full announcement it deserved. So, here it is! Today, I’m pleased to tell you more about this collection of pieces I composed during the second half of 2023.
I was prompted to start composing these pieces as I began planning for my students’ Silent Film Recital last summer. As I was gathering possible music for my students, I soon discovered it is easy to find incidental music for intermediate and advanced pianists but it isn’t as easy to find appropriate pieces for elementary level students. While young students can certainly use ANY music they might be currently learning for silent film accompaniment, I realized it would be convenient to have elementary-level pieces intended for this purpose at my fingertips — ideally, with pieces created specifically to suit the moods and characters called for in silent films.
Feeling utterly inspired by the Silent Film Recital project as I continued my plans, I started hearing musical ideas in my head I thought could become easy piano pieces. So, I wrote down these musical ideas. In the months that followed, I continued to revise and refine the pieces further, and add more. The ultimate result was a set of twelve pieces, which I titled: Incidental Music for Piano: 12 Extendable Pieces for the Young Silent-Film Pianist.
Each piece in this collection is titled according to the mood or character it conveys, so you can match the music to a suitable scene in the silent film you’ve chosen. Examples include: Hurry Theme, Joyful Theme, Quietude, Sentimental Waltz, Love Theme, and Dramatic Tension Music.
I classify these pieces as late elementary level. However, they may also be appropriate for early or mid-elementary students if you teach the pieces partly or entirely by rote.
For example, I taught the opening “Hurry Theme” piece as a duet for two of my beginner students — totally by rote. One student learned the bass clef part, and the other learned the treble clef. And it worked great!
Every piece in this collection is extendable — meaning sections can be repeated or not. “Music Planning” tables are provided for each piece, allowing you and your students creative freedom to structure the piece according to your artistic vision and the time allotted for a given scene.
Silent film accompanying aside, several of these pieces would also serve as nice solos — especially the Sentimental Waltz and Love Theme.
The pieces are professionally engraved, with slightly enlarged music notation and student-friendly fingerings. The pages are clean and clear, with text fonts inspired by the early 19th century silent film era.
My students loved playing from this book for our Silent Film Recital back in October. If you are planning a future Silent Film Recital for your students, I hope your students will enjoy these too!
I’ve provided access to audio recordings of all twelve pieces via a QR code within the book. If you’d like to hear excerpts of the music, check out this video below.
I’ve received the following feedback so far from a couple of other teachers:
“The compositions are very accessible, engaging, fun, and written specifically with a younger student in mind. Students and teachers will love the music!” –Heather Smith, co-founder of Silent Film Celebration
“I would highly recommend Joy Morin’s Silent Film collection. It’s definitely worth it! I had students playing some of the pieces at our silent film event a couple weeks ago, and Joy’s pieces were teacher AND student favorites!” –Valerie M.
Incidental Music for Piano is available now as a Studio-Licensed PDF or a hardcopy book.
- The Studio-Licensed PDF allows you to make one lifetime purchase with permission for unlimited printing — as long as you are using the pieces with your own students. (Use the promo code SILENTFILMLAUNCH during checkout to get 20% through the end of the month! Expires February 1, 2024.)
- If you’d like to have hardcopy books, you can order a beautiful, high-quality book through my print-on-demand printer via my new website, keysatplay.com. (Buy now for special early launch pricing going on now!)
Thanks for reading about my latest project. Especially if you are planning a Silent Film Recital, you’ll find this selection of pieces essential for your elementary students!
Related:
- How to Organize a Silent Film Recital for Your Piano Students
- Printables for Your Silent Film Recital
