Piano Solos

Animal Anthology: Land Lovers (Easy Medium.)

"'Animal Anthology: Land Lovers' is an excellent introduction for kids to a lifetime of music-making with fun animal facts and creative, tuneful songs. The creativity of each song really brings to mind the unique world of each animal, with suggestive titles and helpful texts which encourage active listening and a remarkable range of tonal possibilities." -- Hadley McCarroll, pianist, accompanist, piano teacher

An enchanting collection of 18 tunes, one for each of 18 animals that spend most or all their time on land. Facts about the animals add to the presentation and motivation to play the music. Great for children and adults alike!

The tunes help develop piano techniques and skills. An excellent source of supplemental music for students and teachers.

Animal Anthology: Water Play (Easy Medium.)

A special collection of 18 tunes about water animals. This book is a good one to play early in the development of piano techniques. Children and adults love to read the fascinating text about each animal.

"For the student and teacher seeking original and challenging music for the piano and accordion, Valarie Morris' Animal Anthology series offers witty and finely crafted tunes designed to delight the imagination while expanding the player's skills. Highly recommended."

-- Sharon Walters, teacher

Animal Anthology: Flights of Fancy (Medium Advanced.)

A collection of 9 wonderful tunes that capture and express the beauty of 9 birds. A variety of keys and styles of music. Suitable for performance and for pleasure.

Highly recommended.

Flights of Fancy: Single Sheets (Medium Advanced.)

Single sheets of the popular tunes in our Animal Anthology: Flights of Fancy collection.

Artwork on these single sheets by Marion Melin.

Piroesque (Medium.)

A fanciful dance with variations in tempo and pretty harmonies. Sometimes strays a little outside the conventional, but quickly returns to familiar sounds. Perfect for concerts or recitals ... or just plain fun.

Escapades in Walnut Creek (Medium.)

This upbeat tune features Latin rhythms and sounds. A repeated figure separates different happy escapades in this tune. Some fingerings are included to help players as they learn the music.

"Teachers really like it for their students and told me, 'Wow! This is fun to play!'" -- Al Deyton, print music buyer for Sheet Music World, Glendale, AZ

Outlines (Medium.)

This is a pretty tune that is fun to play. The title comes from the fact that many sequences of notes in the music outline various chords. This tune can be useful in theory studies and ear training. Fingerings included.

"This is one of the better chord studies I've ever seen. It's great for customers asking to work with chord patterns and a variation of chords and arpeggios." -- Al Deyton, print music buyer for Sheet Music World, Glendale, AZ

Two for One (Medium.)

This pair of duets includes "Diffusion of Radon Through Cracks in a Concrete Slab" and "Parallelogram." The first tune is a dramatic and ominous expressionist piece. The title comes from an article about the radiation (radon) that easily enters people's homes in some geographic areas. The second tune is a bouncy rhythmic piece built on parallel fifths, breaking one of the old composition taboos.

Symphony of Light and Shadows (Classical contemporary. Advanced)

This piano reduction of the orchestral work premiered on April 5, 2003, is inspired by the dance of light and shadows on pools of water, on windblown leaves, and on the earth. In this fanciful and impressionistic work, the composer uses motifs reflected in a multitude of instruments and a panoply of percussion to evoke the patterns of light and shadows.

Picture a rowboat traveling on a gentle stream surrounded by a lush countryside. Leaves occasionally drift down as the sun and breeze transform clouds, creating changes in light and shadows shimmering on the water and playing on the earth.

The sheet music for solo piano is available with or without a CD recording.

Listen to segments of this piano reduction from NPR's April 2, 2003 "Morning Edition" program.

America's Legacy (Show tune. Advanced.)

This piece was written for Sharon Harrington's play, If You Ignore It, It Will Go Away. The character singing is a patriotic policeman. The style is grandiose, reminiscent of music played by parade bands in the 30s.

Scott Joplin Collection

The Entertainer (2 versions available: Easy Medium and Medium.)

Selected in 2005 by The Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada for their Popular Selection List, our Medium level arrangement of Scott Joplin's popular composition is designed for intermediate players. Valarie Morris arranged the music to make this exciting tune as easy as possible to play while maintaining the integrity of the music. Our Easy Medium version is for players with less experience.

As stated in the Popular Selection List, "This simplified arrangement of Scott Joplin's classic rag is still sufficiently full and challenging to sound close to the original." Our Medium level arrangement is one of the Grade 5 selections in the list.

"Including the whole tune is wonderful. Teachers like it. It's fun to play and interesting to listen to." -- Al Deyton, print music buyer for Sheet Music World, Glendale, AZ

Maple Leaf Rag (2 versions available: Easy Medium and Medium.)

These two intermediate level arrangements of Scott Joplin's composition was commissioned by the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation. The arrangements include the entire tune with its original harmonies. Fingerings are marked throughout. Background information about Scott Joplin and historical information about Maple Leaf Rag is included on the first page of the sheet music.

Fig Leaf Rag (2 versions available: Easy Medium and Medium.)

Commissioned by the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation for their 2008 annual Scott Joplin Ragtime festival, these arrangements of Fig Leaf Rag are available for two levels of players. The easier version, written in 4/4 time with doubled note values (16ths replaced with 8ths), includes more fingerings.

Scott Joplin wrote Fig Leaf Rag in 1908, subtitling it A High Class Rag. In his beautiful Fig Leaf Rag, Joplin stretches out to experiment with chords. The two arrangements include the complete tune and maintain Joplin's harmonies.

Background information about Scott Joplin and historical information about Fig Leaf Rag is included on the first page of the sheet music.

Gladiolus Rag (2 versions available: Easy Medium and Medium.)

Commissioned by the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation for their 27th annual Scott Joplin Ragtime festival, these arrangements of Gladiolus Rag are available for two levels of players. The easier version, written in 4/4 time with doubled note values (16ths replaced with 8ths), includes more fingerings.

Scott Joplin wrote Gladiolus Rag in 1907, the year he moved from Chicago to New York. Its structure is similar to that of Maple Leaf Rag. The two arrangements include the complete tune and maintain Joplin's harmonies.

Fingerings are liberally marked in both arrangements. Background information about Scott Joplin and historical information about Gladiolus Rag is included on the first page of the sheet music.

Leola (2 versions available: Easy Medium and Medium.)

Commissioned by the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation for their 25th annual Scott Joplin Ragtime festival, these arrangements of Leola are available for two levels of players. The easier version, written in 4/4 time, includes more fingerings and its left hand has less movement.

Scott Joplin wrote Leola in 1905. It is one of his least well-known tunes due to its first registration in London, resulting in minimal distribution in the U.S. This is the first tune where Joplin writes a note to pianists to be sure to play ragtime music slowly, a relative term.

The arrangements include the complete tune and maintain Joplin's harmonies. Fingerings are liberally marked in both arrangements. Background information about Scott Joplin and historical information about Leola is included on the first page of the sheet music.

The Cascades (Medium.)

The Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation commissioned this intermediate arrangement for their 24th annual Scott Joplin Ragtime festival in June. The theme of this year's festival is The Cascades, commemorating the 100th year anniversary of this rag, which Joplin wrote for the 1904 World's Fair.

This arrangement includes the complete tune and maintains Joplin's harmonies. Fingerings are liberally marked. Background information about Scott Joplin and historical information about Maple Leaf Rag is included on the first page of the sheet music.

Jazz Solos by Roberta Mandel

Jazz Tunes for Friends (Jazz. Medium/Advanced.)

Explore more contemporary jazz harmonies and melodies in the second edition of tunes by jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Roberta Mandel. Play 17 tunes by Roberta Mandel! Not for the timid, Roberta's chords are sometimes called "New York" chords.

Jazz Tunes for Friends is set up in fake book form with chord symbols above the melody line. On the facing page of each tune, Roberta shares her insights about the musician for whom she composed the tune.

In years past, Roberta's trio toured across the U. S. and in Canada. At San Francisco State University, she rehearsed with Vernon Alley and Jerome Richardson. Roberta has played with the Count Basie Band and her musical connections through the years have included continuing friendships with Oscar Peterson, Roland Hanna, Tommy Flanagan, Ray Brown, members of the Count Basie Orchestra, and many other jazz musicians.

Roberta's 1982 piano transcription from Duke Ellington's Orchestra recording of Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count" has been acknowledged by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Her transcription is part of their Archives Center Collection of Music Transcriptions of Duke Ellington's and Billy Strayhorn's Compositions.

Whispering (Jazz. Medium/Advanced.)

This exciting new arrangement of "Whispering" by Roberta Mandel features Ms. Mandel's New York chords. A delightful arrangement like no other with special chords to give the contemporary jazz sound of today. Based on the original song by John and Malvin Schonberger. Includes the original lyrics.

Piano and Voice

Becoming a Butterfly: How to Raise Monarch Butterflies (Variety. Medium.)

Learn how monarch butterflies develop and transform during all its stages of life. The book features the delightful story written by Jane Morris and Pat Rahmann giving you all the information you need to raise monarch butterflies.

This educational book lends itself to vocal performance, possibly with dancers and staged presentations of children following the steps to raise monarch butterflies. Also an excellent supplemental teaching book for piano teachers.

The foreword gives some fascinating facts about monarchs along with some environmental dangers to their survival. At the back of the book is a glossary and resources for learning more about monarchs including migration, ecology, and plants that attract butterflies.

Songs of Patriots (Traditional. Medium.)

Play and sing the songs that trace America's history through the centuries! Through extensive research in America's archives, we found many songs popular in their day that somehow slipped through the cracks. And we did our best to use the oldest version of each song.

Songs of Patriots includes 30 songs, chord symbols, and various versions of lyrics, including some parodies. Historical information about each song is located at the back of each 84-page book. All arrangements plus an original by Valarie Morris.

See the list of songs in this book. Guitar/Vocal and Accordion/Vocal books also available.

Bilderjilk Straat (Classical contemporary. Advanced. With mezzo-soprano.)

Bilderdijk Straat is a theatrical piece, which welcomes a mezzo-soprano with a bent for acting and costuming. The vocalist is a character in Amsterdam coming home late at night, trying not to wake those who are sound asleep. The intervals are wide and the tonality shifts. Dynamics and moods are exaggerated in both parts.

Lullaby for Lila (Popular. Medium. Alto.)

A lilting lullaby with a catchy tune and charming words. Fun for children and adults to play and sing. Fingerings are marked to help navigate the more challenging passages.

Lila's One Year Old (Popular. Medium. Alto.)

An engaging birthday song, reminiscing about the many delightful changes in a child's first year of life. Great for piano students.

Two Years Birthday Party (Popular. Medium. Alto.)

A party song to celebrate a birthday. Three stanzas with a new Happy Birthday melody in the chorus. Chord symbols included along with notated left hand. You can substitute the birthday girl's or boy's name of your choice.

As Almost Anyone (Classical contemporary. Medium. With spoken voice.)

As Almost Anyone is set at the seaside and the beach. Props and costumes are suggested, which can include anything reminiscent of the beach, such as a beach umbrella, beach clothes, and sun hats. Let your imagination guide you. To help create the environment, you can even perform this piece with a tape accompaniment of waves crashing on the beach highlighted by the calls of seagulls.

In the way that the sounds of waves interlace with the sounds of seagulls at the beach, the words of As Almost Anyone interlace with the music, flowing sometimes before and sometimes after the notes at the vocalist's discretion.

As the piece develops, it moves from greater dissonance or atonality and wider intervals to less dissonance and a feeling of some tonality with more tertial harmonies and closer intervals. This transition to comfort parallels the story's movement.The rhythms, registers, and dymanics are literal, reflecting the meaning of the words and mood of the text.

Duet Series with Piano

What a Day! (Instructional. Easy.)

A collection of 19 duets for first to second year players. The music can be played by 2 or more of the same instrument or by any combination of instruments. A Conductor's Score/Piano Book is available.

The 15 books in the series include books for flutes, oboes, Bb clarinets, bassoons, alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, French horns, Bb trumpets, trombones, mallet percussion, percussion, violins, violas, and cellos.

Each tune is named for a different hour of the day and at the start of each tune is a word describing the mood for that time of day. This helps motivate students and makes it fun as they try to express these moods when playing the music.

What a Day! is specially designed for school music teachers and private music teachers. Great for small or large ensembles. What a Day! features:

Trio with Piano

On the Verge (Classical contemporary. Advanced. With clarinet and horn.)

On the Verge begins with classical phrases and travels to swing and back again to more classical figures. It provides improvisation opportunities for the pianist and clarinetist. The French horn part is for players who are at least intermediate. To substitute for French horn, an alternate part is available for bassoon, trombone, cello, or contrabass.

Mix and Match Collections

Be Mine: Love Songs (Medium.)

Croon a tune from yesteryear with this delightful collection of popular love songs from the early 1900s plus an original written a century later. Lyrics and chord symbols with two harmony parts and a new melody written for each tune.

Any combination of instruments can play together. Six books available: C treble clef, alto clef, bass clef, Bb book, Eb book, and F book.

Music for Holiday Seasons

Fall Novelties (Medium.)

Four novelty titles for solo piano are available as single sheets for the Fall season. Marvelous Harvest, Scarecrow Hop, Jack-O-Lantern, Gobble Gobble