Dan Coates Complete Advanced Piano Solos: Music for All Occasions

Responding to popular demand, Dan Coates has compiled a complete collection of 77 great songs for all occasions, to be played by the advanced piano player. Titles include love and wedding favorites, Broadway standards, pop and country ballads, movie and TV hits, and many more. Two selections Colors of the Wind" and "Star Wars" are included on the Royal Conservatory of Music Popular Selection List (2009 Ed.) (These arrangements were originally published in item #AF9842.)"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B00ERNU3OY
• ISBN13: 9780769292649
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Alfred Music
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.0" x 12.1"

Customer Reviews

Challenging and fun

The songs in this book are challenging yet worth it once you've learned them. The arrangements are well-written and flow smoothly when they're up-to-speed. The difficulty range is not huge, and tends to hover between intermediate and advanced. The left hand usually plays broken chords which are simple, yet effectively lay a base for the right-handed melodies. A great selection!

Beautiful But Challenging

This book contains some of the most beautiful arrangements of popular music I have ever heard. Many of the pieces were unfamiliar to me when I bought the book, and others were songs I didn't particularly like. But Coates's arrangements are so beautiful that I love almost all of these songs now. This book is honestly titled: it is for advanced players. This does not mean that it is Rachmaninoff, but most pianists will find it challenging. Determined intermediate pianists can reasonably expect to memorize, play, and enjoy many of these pieces...but it will take some serious practice. Many of the arrangements make extensive use of the keyboard's higher registers -- where many pianists have limited experience. And some songs contain multi-measure passages where 3 are played against 2. Large leaps are common (including in some arpeggiated chords), as are chords with 6 or more notes. The book is well bound (so that it lays fairly flat), and the printing is generally clear and well formatted. Most of the pieces are 3 to 5 pages long. These pieces are worth the extra effort they require, and once the skills are learned, they'll be available forever.

Beautiful compositions

Dan Coates offers the nicest piano compositions of all the composers' music I've played. His music flows across your fingertips. It does require much practice for me to get these advanced songs down, but well worth it. These compositions create beautiful music for the piano.

Professional Arrangements!

This book contains the most satisfying piano arrangements of popular music that I am aware of. This is a gem in a vast sea of mediocre sheet music. Much if not most of the sheet music available has lifeless harmonization. When performing the typical arrangement, the performer strains to imagine the beauty of the original recording but realizes the voices, instruments and percussion are all missing. With all this missing the song has no soul and hence no reason to be performed. The solos of this Dan Coates edition tower above all of the other popular edition books I own. Coates' arrangements allow the pianist to perform as a soloist. Rather than following the harmony of the original recordings like a drone, Coates' skillfully harmonizes and tailors these songs to beauty of the piano.These songs are a joy to perform. Anyone who buys this book will have opportunity to sound like a professional.

A Must-have Book for Piano Libraries

For any pianist who plays for weddings, receptions, formal dinners, or other secular functions, this book will be an invaluable asset. Dan Coates' signature easy listening-style piano arrangements will enhance the mood and atmosphere of any social gathering. Perfect for background music in a crowd, or to play for your own pleasure and satisfaction, these medium-to-difficult arrangements will make anyone sound like a professional.