On the Lighter Side

John Kember

On the Lighter Side

Although the pieces in this collection are on the lighter side, they are by no means trivial and offer pianists of all levels something interesting and challenging. The series contains both piano solo and piano duet volumes, some with CD recordings of the pieces.

Books in this collection

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What they say

“arrangements true to the originals and compositions beautiful, stylish and delightfully pianistic” “I always send up a quick cheer when I see anything by John Kember, as his arrangements are true to the originals and his compositions beautiful, stylish and delightfully pianistic.”
Fiona Lau, 'Music Teacher', March 2010

“Kember manages an absolute authenticity of tone” “It must be very frustrating for any beginner who enjoys the style, that the classic rags by Scott Joplin or James Scott are all too difficult. Now … they can play these originals in which Kember manages an absolute authenticity of tone, even engineering a pleasing variety, despite the constraints of the style.”
'Sheet Music Review' May/June 2007. Review by Neil Sissons.

“Ragtime is syncopation gone mad” “Ragtime is syncopation gone mad”
Editor, Etude Magazine (c. 1890)

“something to enjoy in every piece” “*Rock and Soul* comprises a mixture of rock style and ballad/soul-style pieces for the intermediate player. Most of the 18 pieces include some syncopation, but share the steady pulse and straight quavers of rock styles. There is something to enjoy in every piece, but I particularly like the slower-moving ballads, with 'Sweet Sixteen' a firm favourite. Up-tempo numbers abound too, with 'Stroll On By' and 'Gospel Rock', with its pounding bass line under RH chords, two more favourites. There is good spread of difficulty and harmonic complexity, with the final piece 'One For The Road' more challenging than most, but well worth the effort. An accompanying CD provides performances of the pieces.”
'Music Teacher' November 2005. Review by Faye Cayley.

Other collections from John Kember

American Song Book (Self)
All-new arrangements of the classic hits of the 20th century by John Kember Easy Jazz Pieces (Music Sales)
Short pieces to make this popular genre available to relative beginners, and for those at primary and intermediate levels. Easy Piano Duets (Schott)
Designed to be played by teacher and pupil, or by two players of equal ability. Jazz masterclasses (Schott)
John has worked with Jiggs Whigham, internationally acclaimed trombone virtuoso, to produce this fine in-depth guide for aspiring jazz trombonists. Jazz Piano Studies (Faber)
John Kember's love of jazz and latin styles is well illustrated by the volumes in this collection, which includes material for everyone from the beginner up to more advanced players with a wealth of pieces to help develop a true jazz style. Keyboards (Schott)
The Keyboards series provides simple but interesting arrangements of well-known pieces. Original Jazz Ballads (Music Sales)
Pieces for the solo player that evoke the atmosphere and styles of popular songs from the periods when melody, lyrics and harmonies reached their peak. Play Ballads (Faber)
'The joy of ballad playing is indulgence pure and simple: performing the smoothest and most expressive of melodies'. The melodies are similar in style and are attractive, providing opportunities for developing tonal quality, phrasing and legato playing. Play Ballads offers the Grade 4-6 (intermediate) instrumentalist the inspirations of some of the greatest exponents of the form. Play Broadway (Faber)
Each volume in the Play Broadway series features 10 of the best shows from across the decades. Available for six seperate instruments, each volume includes a CD with backing tracks and piano accompaniments. Sight Reading (Schott)
Sight-reading is a vital accomplishment for any musician. This series provides a new approach and includes introductory introductory and more advanced volumes for instrumentalists (the Sight-Reading volumes) and vocalists (the Sight-Singing volumes). Starting Out (Schott)
Short, tuneful pieces to help new players of all ages gradually widen their range of notes and rhythmic patterns. Although these pieces are broadly progressnve in range of notes and rhythmic figures used, they are intended as a source of material from which the teacher can select to suit the needs of individual pupils rather than needing to work from cover to cover. String Quartet Arrangements (Schott)
John Kember provides in this series a variety of pieces from classical, romantic, baroque and modern periods in score and parts for the string quartet. The Ensemble Collection (Schott)
These original compositions, presented in a variety of styles, offer each player an equal share of the melodic interest and are aimed at students of similar playing experience and standards. The minimum teacher assistance should be required. The Jazz Piano Player (Faber)
The books in this series are based on well-known songs from the Great American Songbook by great American songwriters such as Cole Porter, George Gerwin and Harold Arlen. The purpose of these books is to help pianists to understand chords, chord symbols and voicings. Each song is shown in two forms - firstly with melody, words, chord symbols and notation; and secondly an intermediate standard solo arrangement. The Pop Piano Player (Faber)
Designed for pianist wanting to make the transition into playing pop piano, as well as those keen to develop their own style. The Simply Series (Self)
The books in this series each take a genre of music: Latin, Jazz, Swing and provide a series of original pieces by John Kember that fir perfectly into any repertoire.