Customer Reviews

Charlie Brown's Greatest Hits

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is some information that Amazon really should put in their descriptions of the products, especially music books.

Two Versions:
There are 2 versions of the book. The BLUE book is a Piano Solo book. The YELLOW book is an Easy Piano Solo book.

Difficulty:
The BLUE book is rated about a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the most difficult. This book is for late intermediate to beginning advanced pianists.
The YELLOW book is rated a 4-5 on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the most difficult. This book is for late beginners to beginning intermediate pianists.

Keep in mind that these have been ARRANGED for piano solo, so they aren't going to sound exactly like the music from the Peanuts specials. I believe that music on the specials was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, not just a piano.

If you're like me, you just can't get enough of Vince Guaraldi's "Peanuts" music, and if you're like me, you've been searching for a while to find the "real" music, and not some watered-down children's version. I ordered this book expecting advanced jazz arangements, and while the songs in this book are better than most I have found, they are still simplified to a certain degree. However, the real arrangements are available in "The Peanuts Illustrated Songbook". "The Peanuts Illustrated Songbook" contains the full, authentic, advanced jazz arrangements of many Guaraldi "Peanuts" songs including "Linus & Lucy" (except one improved piano solo), most of the songs from "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and many others from the various other "Peanuts" specials. If you are a reasonably experienced piano player, then "Charlie Brown's Greatest Hits" is a good book, but if you are an advanced piano player with impeccable rhythym and a desire for unsimplified Guaraldi "Peanuts" songs, then "The Illustrated Peanuts Songbook" is a much better buy.

The key words on the cover of this book are "Arranged By." This is not the actual music that you hear on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and the other magical Guaraldi CD's and on the TV specials; it is "arrangements" of that music; which means simplified versions.

However, for pianists who want to take a first step towards seeking out the hippest cat who ever touched a keyboard, this collection of sheet music is a good start. I haven't yet found a better collection, and there are moments of magic in the chords. To really go further, however, you'll have to listen to the CD's, run back to the piano; listen to the CD's, run back to the piano, until you've worn a trench in your carpet between your stereo and the bench.

The "Blue Copy" of this book is quite good and should satisfy most advanced/intermediate players. The contents contain many of the standard Peanuts pieces. I was disappointed to find, however, that it does not contain "The Great Pumpkin Waltz", which was one of the main reasons I purchased the book.

This has been one of my favorite books for years! The arrangements are wonderful-- not quite what Vince was playing, but almost. And, with a little improvisation and practice, who knows? The arrangements are all in the correct key and the chords are perfect-- fresh and exciting just as Guaraldi's own playing.

Peppermint Patty, for instance, is just excellent. Upbeat, fast, jazzy-- I couldn't really imagine a better arrangement (although the original song repeats some of the sections in a different order). And, a few of the slower ones such as Love Will Come and Skating are actually beautiful!

These are not too difficult, although a few are more difficult than others. I would say this one is intermediate range. If you are a better player, though, don't despair-- it's still an interesting and playable book for an advanced player-- the better you are the better these will sound. And, with just a little practice, this music sounds phenomenal.

I've had both the EASY PIANO Peanuts book and this book for several years. I think I ordered the Easy Piano one by mistake originally. This book is the better book and not just because the arrangements are fleshed out and sound better. Although the EASY arrangements also sound surprisingly acceptable, the selection is wanting. There are only eight songs in the EASY book (the one with the yellow cover) and there are 18 songs in this book. The easy book is very easy and would be more appropriate for either children or for adults that have just very recently started playing and are true beginners.

Anyone else should try this book. If you like Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts music, you will definitely enjoy playing the selections from Charlie Brown's Greatest Hits. I go back to this music frequently and enjoy it thoroughly.

I'm more single-notes with right had and simple beat with left hand. This has cords, eighth notes, staccatos, sharps, and flats. Personally, it's not my level. I'm better with Easy Piano Music. If you're like me, choose an easier piece. If you're better than me, feel free to buy this. I have nothing wrong with the book itself.

I'll list the songs it gives:
Air Music
Baseball Theme
Blue Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown All Stars (Theme Music)
Charlie Brown Theme
Christmas Time is Here
Happiness Theme
He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown
Linus and Lucy
Love will Come
Masked Marvel Music
Oh, Good Grief!
Peppermint Patty
Red Baron
Schroeder
Skating
You're in Love, Charlie Brown

Not direct transcriptions from the recording, but not bad either. I am
a piano teacher, and while I personally like direct transcriptions from the CD, because jazz is usually a trio situation, the end result are piano arrangements that while true to the recording, cannot hold up easily as solo pieces without other instrumentalists. Rearrangements for piano solo can be cheesy and inaccurate. The most inaccurate rearrangement is Linus and Lucy, which has the critical bass line notated rhythmically incorrectly. Other than that, these arrangements are nice for study with intermediate students, especially "Christmas Time Is Here",
"Blue Charlie Brown" and "Charlie Brown Theme" with its simple bluesy riffs. I recommend buying The Vince Guaraldi Collection as a supplement
to this book, for more advanced players who want to mix and match ideas,
solo lines, and riffs. Overall, this book is a good buy for the price!

I would not recommend purchasing this item. If you are most interested in learning the most popular Guaraldi song "Linus and Lucy" you will probably be quite disappointed with this sheet music. While the music is quite easy for intermediate pianists to learn, the melody sounds quite off. The song is written in the key of C, which while this is easier to play than the original music I am sure, the music seems very unnatural. This version of "Linus and Lucy" doesn't sound right at all later in the song as well. If you are more interested in learning a variety of Peanuts songs with relative ease this book is a good purchase. Songs such as "Skating" sound much closer to the actual music and are also pretty easy to play. Overall, I think this compilation sacrifices quality for simplicity.

check out "A Charilie Brown Christmas: Piano Solo", USBN number 0634029797. I can't rate this particular item though...

Like most who love these songs, I first learned them from the Peanuts television specials. Over time I've learned the name of the composer and a built a great collection of his original work and performances. When I decided to learn keyboard this was one of the first books I bought. So far, I am very happy with the book and would recommend it for anyone who loves these songs. There are a few caveats, though.

Fortunately I have some experience with other musical instruments, so as an adult piano student I'm able to move a little faster than most beginning students. That means that I can enjoy this level of work much quicker, but some may not be able to. A true beginning student may find this work a bit daunting. An intermediate to advanced beginning student who puts in the effort will find this book very challenging and useful. In other words, while some might consider this a good "beginning" book, I think it is actually a more moderate to advanced beginner level. Because it is based on advanced skills by the composer (Vince Guaraldi) and only arranged for this level student there's really much more to the songs than initially thought. So don't get frustrated if you are like me and maybe buy this book a little before you are ready for it.

Let me illustrate how this is important with two songs. The most well-known is probably "Linus and Lucy" and everyone will identify very quickly the distinctive base line. The line is not overly complicated, but if you are not comfortable with the left hand then you will find it difficulty to keep going at times. What helped me was to take the book and combine it with a couple well done instructional videos on YouTube. As an example, the Piano Guy, the same guy from public television, has a couple pieces on YouTube that were very helpful. The hints/tricks in these videos helped me learn this piece much faster than I would have alone. Unless you have an instructor over your shoulder, the pieces in this book will need some extra effort -- which may include outside sources such as YouTube.

In contrast, the song "Oh, Good Grief!" was one that really caused me to struggle a lot. I could not find a good YouTube example with instruction, so I got frustrated pretty quickly. In fact, I'm actually setting it aside until my skills grow a bit. This song, in my opinion, requires a moderate to advanced player to really grab it and make it sound great. If you are a new or moderate beginner then this song, along with a couple others, will really challenge you and probably be too advanced.

I'm not sure I would recommend this for beginners but at the same time anyone familiar with the songs and willing to put in the effort can find a lot of enjoyment; even if they're relatively new to the instrument. I think the value is good and it is worth the purchase price.