Recital Showstoppers by Melody Bober
It’s an exceptional honor to share this blog post by Mallory Byers.
We met at NCKP and came up with the idea of exchanging blog posts. I wrote one for the Alfred Music blog (read it here) and she wrote one featuring one of my favorite Alfred composers: Melody Bober.
Mallory works for the piano music department at Alfred and so she has eyes and hands on ALL the music being published. I thought it would be a treat to get her opinion on a few of her favorite pieces. Since there were so many, we decided she would limit her selection of showstoppers to those composed by Melody Bober--one of my all time favorite composers for teaching pieces.
Melody Bober’s music is featured on everyone one of my recitals. It’s because she knows how to compose music that feels and sounds good to pianists of all ages and levels and pedagogically sound.
Since it’s nice to hear the music that Mallory discusses in the article, Alfred was kind enough to give me a license to share videos of me playing at least part of each piece!.
A big thank you to Mallory, Alfred Music and of course, Melody Bober for this opportunity!
Piano recitals are the perennial stressors for many piano teachers. We feel like we need to offer them, we know that they’re a great way for our students to gain performance experience, but it can also be really difficult to make them interesting.
A parade of in-progress pianists playing student-level pieces has the potential to be extraordinarily dull for our students, their families, and for us! If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to make your recitals more engaging. I’ve tried themes, photo booths, and fancy programs, but when it all comes down to it, there is one thing that really makes the biggest difference: the music.
Exciting pieces that students love to play are fun to watch!
Finding the perfect pieces to make your young students sound impressive can sometimes be a challenge, but year after year in my studio, there is one composer whose pieces never fail to please students and audiences alike: Melody Bober.
Melody Bober has a talent for making even the most simple pieces sound full and exciting. Being a teacher herself, she knows what kinds of pieces appeal most to students, and that’s what she writes.
What follows are some of my favorite Melody Bober pieces that I’m sure will stop the show at your next recital!
The Old Typewriter
Early Elementary
From Solo Xtreme, Book 1
If you’ve ever attended one of Melody Bober’s workshops or showcases, you’ll know how she loves to bring in other instruments (slide whistles, wood blocks, tambourines, etc.) to add more fun to her performances. This piece takes this concept and turns it into a really fun solo performance. At various intervals throughout the piece, the student rings a counter call bell to simulate the sound of a typewriter bell. You can imagine how adorable this is when performed by an enthusiastic early elementary student!
Water Slide
Early Elementary
From Melody Bober’s Favorite Solos, Book 1.
Also available as a single sheet solo.
You don’t even need to play or hear this piece to tell that it’s a winner. It has all of the elements that students love: fast eighth notes, funky accidentals, hand crossing, and glissandos! It’s extremely pattern based, so this is a good one to teach by rote to hesitant readers. At the end, a dramatic pause followed by a huge crescendo and sfzorsando at the end will definitely bring your audience to their feet.
Night Whispers
Elementary
From Solo Xtreme, Book 2
This one is for your deep students who long to play flowy, minor music with the damper pedal. It has one of those opening riffs that students will play immediately whenever they come across a piano.
There’s an optional teacher duet part that helps to round out the harmonies, but it really does sound lovely and full even as a solo. There are some big chords in the middle section (split between the hands to accommodate smaller people), and it utilizes all registers of the piano.
Whirlwind
Early Intermediate
From Melody Bober’s Favorite Solos, Book 2
Also available as a single sheet solo
I could probably devote an entire blog post to my all-time favorite teaching pieces called “Whirlwind,” but this one is definitely one of the best in my opinion. The patterns fit really nicely under the hands, making it easy to get up to tempo. Of course, it’s in a minor key, which students love. And it builds and builds to a dramatic ending of big chords and hand-over-hand arpeggios.
This showstopper also doubles as a really useful teaching piece with lots of fun technical elements: finger crossings, arpeggios, a scale passage, and even some legato thirds!
Gentle Rain
Late Elementary
From Solo Xtreme, Book 3
It may be a little strange to include a piece called “Gentle Rain” in an article about showstoppers, but I just had to include this one. I have yet to find a student who doesn’t love playing this piece. It’s glittery and full of rich, interesting harmonies, but the patterns are easy to learn, and it sits really nicely under the hands.
Mountain Grandeur
Early Intermediate
From Solo Xtreme, Book 4
This is Melody Bober at her finest. This piece is extremely accessible, but it sounds grand. It has big chords, register leaps, hand-over-hand passages, and a truly majestic ending. A grandioso introduction and ending sandwich a brisk middle section of passage work. This piece is really fun to play, and a great opportunity to explore choreography with your young performers.
Rhapsody Brillante
Late Intermediate
From Melody Bober’s Favorite Solos, Book 3
Also available as a single sheet solo
Definitely the most demanding of the pieces on this list, this piece is a great finale for an older student. It has dramatic chords, and expressive melody, fast passage work, big leaps and hand crossings, and an exciting ending. It’s really fun to play, and an excellent piece to practice rubato and artistic interpretation.
I hope you find these recommendations useful for programming your own recital of showstoppers. I’ve really only grazed the surface of all of the amazing pieces that Melody Bober has written over her career, and I hope you’ll spend some time exploring her whole catalog and coming up with your own list of favorites. I know you’ll have a lot of fun teaching these pieces, and your students are sure to be proud of the standing ovations they inspire at your next recital.
-Mallory Byers
Mallory Byers teaches piano at Mallory's Music Studio, is the Product Marketing Manager, Piano at Alfred Music, Studied at University of Southern California, went to Valhalla High School AND went to Cherry Creek High School—just down the road from where I (Leila) live in Denver.