Lesley Ross Posts
With love Volume 1 has been reviewed by Andrew Eales from Pianodao.com. I’ve included the content from the article below with a link to the original article.
Leave a CommentWith Love
Sheet Music Review
An independent publication which has recently come to my attention, With Love (volume 1) is a collection of nine original solo piano pieces by Lesley Ross, a pianist, teacher and composer based in the west of Scotland.
Suitable for pianists at around Grade 3 level, I can see With Love (volume 1) being a hit with students looking for light relief between more serious repertoire, and adults who enjoy relaxing music at the piano.
The publication
The sheet music book for With Love (volume 1) is nicely produced, with an eye-catching cover. Printed on white paper, slightly smaller than A4 size, the notation is clean, well spaced and presented in a well sized font, ensuring that the pieces are easy to read. I would have preferred stapled binding, but with a little bending the pages lie flat on the music rest, and the book seems to be made to last.
Minimal fingering suggestions are provided, but this is a little inconsistent, and for music at this level I think more fingering might be beneficial. Dynamic markings are also limited, and there is little articulation, but the composer’s stated goal is to allow the performer to “express themselves freely”.
The pieces themselves are appealing, romantic, and enjoyable; they will be easy for non-musicians to enjoy listening to, while refreshing and relaxing for the player.
You can decide for yourself whether Lesley’s music appeals to you – she has recorded most of them and a set containing eight of the nine pieces is available to listen to here:
Conclusion
With Love (volume 1) is a collection which essentially sells itself; if you enjoy listening to these pieces and want to have a go at playing them, there can be no greater recommendation for buying the sheet music.
With Love (volume 2) is expected soon!
I’ve recently submitted a guest article to Piano Teachers:
Sometimes as teachers, we do not realise the impact we have on our students. Seeing them succeed after years of passing our knowledge is one of the most rewarding feelings a teacher can have. How they make us improve and create things that we didn’t expect to do before. Our guest contributor, Lesley Ross, will share her views and tell us about the work she has just released.
I have been teaching Piano for over sixteen years now. I am offering lessons to students from the age of three right up to the lovely eighty somethings.
I absolutely love teaching. There’s nothing better than the joy you get watching students grow and learn – as the years pass and exams loom, the pupils become beautiful performers, making us tutors as proud as we can be.
“Nothing feels so good as to know your hard work and theirs has paid off! That’s something worth celebrating!”
I have taken many students through some or all of their graded exams and to my delight, some of them have gone on to study Music for their future careers at various Universities throughout Scotland and let me tell you, nothing feels so good as to know your hard work and theirs has paid off! That’s something worth celebrating!
As a teacher, I believe it’s essential to build our pupils up, set them great examples of what good teaching and musical understanding is. Be kind and remember how it feels to learn something new. Be the example that they need. Each pupil will require different aspects of learning or understanding from you. I teach every pupil according to their ability to understand, process and interpret the subject at hand, whether it is perfecting a Sonata, exam piece or learning the fingering for scales, they all leave their lessons on a positive note with a good understanding of what lies ahead for the following weeks of studies.
Over the years, I have had many adult learners who are keen to play enjoyable, melodic pieces which don’t offer too much complexity. I challenged myself and composed lots of music, and have now released my first Piano Solo Book Volume 1 called “With Love” which will suit most of their abilities. Taking the time to compose has been great for me, it has challenged me and brought me great pleasure. My students are keen to learn the new material and I imagine it will be wonderful teaching something that was written with them in mind.
Stay creative Teaching friends.
Lesley Ross
Pianist, composer, teacher
www.lrmusic.co.uk
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