Customer Reviews

Gershwin's Improvisations for Solo Piano

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...yourself with the style and spirit of Gershwin's own piano performances (aside from listening to the recordings), this edition is appropriate for able pianists. Very enjoyable to play, but if you're not used to the "stride" piano style used frequently in this volume, be prepared to spend some time getting comfortable with its unusual demands. Ms. Wodehouse has done a commendable job in making this edition available!

I've read some criticisms elsewhere concerning the accuracy of these Artis Wodehouse transcriptions. I'm not sure of the absolute note-for-note authenticity but the pieces sound right to my ear. These are challenging selections that are very difficult if you're trying to approach the speed of the originals. Unless you have a left-hand span of an honest tenth, you'll need to do some rolling or rearranging to get all of the richness of the stride harmonies. Still, this music is a lot of fun and much more demanding than the two page arrangements so common in other Gershwin collections because it's what he actually played!