Early Intermediate

The Sea Swallow. Florence Price

Anonymous — Tue, 07 May 2024 03:33:06 +0000

The Sea Swallow. Florence Price Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/06/2024 - 21:33

Kimia Peykarzadeh

Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953) was a remarkable African-American pianist, composer and educator. Florence Price's compositional output was extensive, comprising over 300 works across various genres. Among her compositions were four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo instrumental pieces. In a remarkable discovery in 2009, a significant collection of her compositions and personal papers was unearthed in her deserted summer residence, shedding new light on her life and musical legacy. For more information, please visit the Florence Price website.

The Sea Swallow was composed in 1951 by Florence Price. It spans two pages and sets a tranquil and calm character that is well-matched with the title and the repetitive arpeggiation. The hand crossovers delicately illustrate the timeless allure of the sea waves.

The piece is in C major; however, throughout the piece, a few accidentals appear to enrich the harmonic palette. It provides a good opportunity for early intermediate learners to develop skills such as: voicing, shaping and listening to longer phrases and overlapping pedaling. Additionally, non-patterned arpeggiation, constant crossovers and contrasting dynamic marks add to the challenges of the piece.

Practice strategies:

Singing and shaping the half notes at the end of each two measure.
Blocking the split arpeggios with both hands.
Highlighting the dynamic marks especially the long crescendo at the first half of the second page.
Analyzing the harmonic progression and labeling chords.

Sources

Photo: The Perseverance of Florence Price. Modexto Symphony Orchestra
Florence Price. Wikipedia.com

The Sea Swallow, by Florence Price. Kimia Peykarzadeh, piano.

Traditional

White

Rabbit Foot, by Florence Price

Anonymous — Fri, 05 May 2023 17:48:17 +0000

Rabbit Foot, by Florence Price Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/05/2023 - 11:48

Arjun Novotny-Shandas

Rabbit Foot is a playful early intermediate piece by Florence Price. In a repetitive A-B-A'form, Rabbit Foot offers opportunities for discussion about keeping repeats musically interesting through dynamics and shaping. All three sections have tricky articulations that call for a significant level of control, plus ornamentation that is a challenge to fit in the phrase. Both A sections have a combination of slurs and staccatos that require practice and care. The B section’s left-hand part appears to be a simple ostinato, but actually splits the hand with the fourth and fifth fingers playing longer quarter notes while the rest of the hand plays short eighth notes. The most challenging part of Rabbit Foot is the second half of the last section where both hands have rapid jumps while still using the same tricky articulations as before. Additionally, the quick tempo and dynamic changes in the final section create further learning opportunities.

Practice ideas:

Practice the movement of the jumps in tempo before bringing the notes themselves in tempo.
Figure out what long-short pattern works in the left-hand of the B section before adding the right-hand melody.
Use the articulations to your advantage. For example, the slurs in measure four allow you to lift your hand and place it in the best location for the next section.

Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953) is perhaps the best known African American female composer in the US. She was active in the Chicago area, and was the first African-American woman to have a composition played by a major orchestra. For a full biography and information about her works, visit the Florence Price website.

Sources

Rabbit Foot, by Florence Price. Performed by Arjun Novotny-Shandas.

Traditional

White

“Orrin and Echo,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 15:00:17 +0000

“Orrin and Echo,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 04/26/2020 - 09:00

Boheng Wang

“Orrin and Echo” is a short piece that is less than a minute. It is in the late elementary to early intermediate level. Some chords are introduced in the left hand. It uses an ABA form with repeats. For the first part of this piece, the right hand sings the melody, while the left hand accompanies with some chords. For the second part, both hands play the melody back and forth, in an echo effect, which explains the title. The identity of “Orrin,” however, is unknown. The melody sounds like an American folk tune, based on a pentatonic scale.

This piece requires phrasing skills to make the beautiful melody sing. The rhythm of the melody is fairly simple with mostly 16th notes. Therefore, phrasing with the harmony and playing with a little timing flexibility could make it sound more interesting.

Piano Potpourri is a set of piano pieces composed between 1960 and 1990. There are 15 pieces in the set. The levels of the pieces vary from elementary to late advanced. The set has a thick structure and deep emotion overall.

Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) was an African American composer, professor and civil rights activist. She taught in some historically black colleges and universities. Her musical style is described as “music with clear, classic melodies.” She studied piano and violin in her childhood. Her most powerful musical experience was hearing Hazel Harrison (African-American pianist) in a concert.

Sources:

“Orrin and Echo,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry. Performed by Elizabeth Smith.

Traditional

White

“Ties,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 14:59:10 +0000

“Ties,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 04/26/2020 - 08:59

Boheng Wang

“Ties” is a short, one-page, early intermediate piece with two beautiful melodies happening at the same time in both hands. As the name implies, this piece features frequent ties in both hands. It is a great example of the use of counterpoint in music, where getting all the right notes is not challenging, but making both melodies sing and sound independent could be challenging for beginners. All the slurs the composer provided indicate all the beautiful phrasing she wanted. Pedal could be added to add some colors and to help with the phrasing, but it is not required. The melody, like in other pieces in this collection, sounds slightly pentatonic and features an American folk flavor.

Sources:

Traditional

White

Early Intermediate

The Sea Swallow. Florence Price

Sources

Related Articles

Rabbit Foot, by Florence Price

Sources

Related Articles

“Orrin and Echo,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry

Sources:

Related Articles

“Ties,” from Piano Potpourri, by Zenobia Powell Perry

Sources:

Related Articles