Reflections 2000-2005, The Best of Michele McLaughlin

Michele McLaughlin

2005 / Michele McLaughlin

20 songs

Reflections Songbook is the companion songbook to Michele McLaughlin’s 2005 “Best of” album by the same name. Like the album, the book has a very generous twenty songs that come from Michele’s first six recordings. Most of these pieces are fairly easy to play and most are quite short. They range in difficulty from intermediate to upper intermediate, and more advanced players will enjoy the expressive nature of the music. David Shenton of New York Music Publishing did the transcriptions, which are clear and easy to read. A few pieces have notes that go up into the nosebleed area of the leger lines, but you can always pencil in what they are if you have trouble reading and remembering them (I would have rated “Without You” a level 2 if it hadn’t been for the high legers); “The Lonely Ballerina” and “Sunday Morning” are also ‘way up there. There are very few chords and no reaches of more than an octave. This is a fun book to play, and I recommend it! It is available from http://www.michelemclaughlin.com

Below is a list of the songs in the book, listed in the order they appear on the CD. I have included the key signatures and how many sharps and flats are in those keys, the level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5 compared to Michele’s other pieces (with 1 being the easiest and 5 the most advanced), and the number of pages.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

I Love You - Key of C (no sharps or flats) - level 4 - 3 pages

The Beginning of Forever - Key of C - level 3 - 3 pages

Without You - Key of C - level 3 - 3 pages

The Greatest Gift - Key of D Minor (1 flat)/F Minor (4 flats)/

     Bb Minor (5 flats) - level 4 - 5 pages

Elysium - E Minor (1 sharp) - level 3 - 3 pages

Russian Music Box - C Minor (3 flats) - level 4 - 2 pages

Coming Home - C Minor/Bb Minor (5 flats) - level 4 - 4 pages

Surrender - Key of Bb (2 flats)/ Ab (4 flats) - level 3 - 3 pages

Just Because - Key of C Minor - level 4 - 2 pages

A Fresh Start - Key of D Minor / Bb (2 flats)/ Db (5 flats)/

     Eb (3 flats) - level 4 - 4 pages

An Evening With Friends - Key of C - level 2 - 2 pages

Not Without Flaw - Key of Gb (6 flats) - level 4 - 2 pages

What You Mean To Me - C Minor - level 3 - 3 pages

Enraptured - Key of C/C Minor - level 4 - 5 pages

A Tale of Courage - Key of C Minor - level 3 - 4 pages

Learning To Grieve - Key of C - level 1 - 1 page

The Fairies Dance - Key of Eb (3 flats) - level 3 - 3 pages

The Lonely Ballerina - Key of A Minor (no sharps or flats) - level 4 -

     3 pages

Sunday Morning - Key of G Minor ( 2 flats)/ D Minor (1 flat) -

     level 4 - 6 pages

Swept Away - Key of C Minor/ F (1flat)/ F Minor (4 flats)/

     Bb (2 flats)/C/G Minor (2 flats) - 4 pages

Kathy Parsons

MainlyPiano.com

12/21/10