Twister Reviews

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Thank you to all the teachers who have written with feedback about Twister.  Your feedback is always welcome!  Here is what teachers are saying about Twister:

My student who’ll be playing your Twister piece in my spring recital came in today (after being introduced to the piece last week) totally over the top about it. She announced that this was the best piece she’s played ever!! She absolutely loves it, esp. the arpeggio at the end.

Thank you so much for a wonderful piece, and thanks to Hal Leonard for putting your talent in print!

If I may add to Cecilly’s positive report, I got BIG smiles from the two students to whom I gave “Twister” this week.

I just had to tell you how excited one of my students is about your new solo, Twister.  This particular student has a fascination for tornadoes, so when I saw the piece at Senseney, I knew he would love it.  I gave him the piece yesterday, and this morning his mother called and said he had practiced it last night after his school program, and then practiced it first thing this morning before going to school.  (He played the first 2 pages for me over the telephone!)  It is so wonderful when we find a piece of music that is such a good fit for the student!

This brand new level three piano solo presents a programmatic depiction of the twisting, circular motion of a tornado.   The young pianist is engaged into an exploration of the key of c minor utilizing accidentals only (no key signature is introduced for this level.)  I especially liked the phrase groupings that the composer wove into the opening.  These phrases are excellent passages for teaching the technique of transfer of a melodic idea between the hands as well as the rotation and lifting of the wrist to accomplish a smooth line.   The left hand travels back and forth from a C position to a middle C position.  The right hand begins in middle C position, finds the treble C position a few times, and then the finale includes a hand-over-hand arpeggio that winds the piece down to the end.  The overall feeling of this piece reminds me of a tarantella.

I would recommend it especially for a student who is not quite ready to tackle a full-fledged, hands-together tarantella, but is interested in this style.  I think this solo could also be played by a student before level three as long as they are agile in moving around the keyboard, and are ready for the tempo required.  Thank you, Wendy, for a clever addition to the piano teaching literature!

I just gave this piece to a studed today. She was all smiles and is SO excited

to learn it. She commented on the nice paper it was on…thought it was

“thicker” than the other music..lol! Please write some more pieces Wendy!

Twister is an exciting, energetic piece with easy accidentals that  put it in C minor.  Since it is ingeniously written in ¾ time,  a late elementary student can get the  feel of 6/8 before he has reached that point in his lesson book. There are no eighth notes and  it  is mostly written hands separately in five finger positions.  Since Wendy is a piano teacher herself, she knows what students like and what they are able to play at this level. Your students will impress their family and friends with the fast sounding tempo, minor sound, and the broken C minor chords.  It is so much fun to play, your student will be happy there is a repeat and a long coda on the last page.

I finally had a chance to play through it today and it’s wonderful!  I know my students will love this piece that fits so well under the hands and is FAST!!!