- Level: Early Elementary
- Pages: 5 pages, 3 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Grand and epic
- Bonus and Features: mp3 performance track; Black key; Hand positions pictured
- Format: PDF instant download
- Series: Finding Beautiful Places – Set 1, Set 2
Sunset Voyage is a melodic piece that sounds like a grand adventure. It feels warm and inviting, drawing you into something exciting. This is a piece that beginning students will love sharing with friends and family, because it sounds bold and big, but is actually quite easy to play because of repeated patterns. The lowest Gb is played throughout, which makes the piece sound much more difficult. It also makes students look more advanced because they’re playing all over the piano. And who doesn’t want to sound and look like a great pianist?
What level is Sunset Voyage?
Sunset Voyage is an early elementary piece, played on mostly black keys (two white keys). Hand position is indicated on the first page, and finger numbers are included throughout. Chords are played several times in the piece, always with the same patterns. The lowest Gb is also played several times, but is always a half note so that students have time to find their way back to “home base” again. The smallest note value is the quarter note.
The damper pedal is held down throughout, and dynamics are indicated throughout the piece. This is a great piece for practicing larger intervals, like moving from finger 1 to finger 4.
Bonus recording included!
Sunset Voyage comes with a bonus mp3 recording performed by Wendy Stevens. You are permitted to send this example performance track to your students to help them learn the piece.
More About the Finding Beautiful Places Series:
Sunset Voyage is a part of the Finding Beautiful Places series that gives older students (like teens and adults) beautiful music that doesn’t make them sound like a child. This series is especially easy and helpful as hand positions are pictured, finger numbers are indicated on each note, and the hands are mostly on the black keys so finding the correct notes are easy. This series is made especially for teens and adults as is part of our Music Adults Love® and Music Teens Love® collection – beautiful, mature sounding music that doesn’t sound like it comes from a child’s method book.
The collections in this series include:
- Finding Beautiful Places 1 – EE (Early Elementary) Music on the black keys; For those with no prior piano experience
- Finding Beautiful Places 2 – EE (Early Elementary) More of the same kind of music as above. Sunset Voyage is part of this set.
- Entering Beautiful Places 1 – E (Elementary) Music for those who are transitioning to the white keys or who need to review their white key note names
- Entering Beautiful Places 2 – E (Elementary) More music for those transitioning from black to white keys.
- In Beautiful Places – E (Elementary) Music for mid elementary students containing some across the bar line syncopation, but music that is still quite achievable and beautiful at this level
- Exploring Beautiful Places – LE (Late Elementary) Music for the late elementary pianist that contains eighth notes that are easy to feel and play.
What is the Studio License?
Sunset Voyage is delivered digitally (through your email receipt) and is studio licensed. This means that you can print and use this for any student that you directly teach for your entire lifetime of teaching.
Debra Behrens –
I gave this to a 9 year old, and she is really loving it. As the teacher, I had a hard time playing it for her because of the different hand position, and I certainly read notes better than finger numbers! I’m having her start out by playing the fingering pattern (G flat scale but not the standard fingering!) and she is doing fine with it. I’m encouraging her to get this one by memory. Most of her songs are written with notes, but she’s not a fast reader, and likes just dealing with finger numbers!
The second group of Finding Beautiful places is more challenging then the first group.
Keera –
My adult students have been loving the Beautiful Places. The dramatic beginning of Sunset Voyage is a lot of fun to play and sounds very impressive. Thank you for these amazing and timeless pieces.
marian –
With a student who loves sunsets, this was a perfect choice to create a most impressive musical sound. The use of the damper pedal enhances the colorful texture. My 7 year old boy can’t stop playing it and was hooked from the very first note. Thank you for giving him beauty!
Lisa –
I started collecting the Beautiful Places pieces more intentionally this year. Even my younger students love them, and I love how working on them creates a stronger visual pattern and space for exploring technique. (for me too as I do some revamping of my own – they are so satisfying to explore!)