Educational piano music book by Mx M D Jones.
Child’s Play is eight dodecaphonic piano pieces including a duet and a trio, all based on a 12-note row. Some pieces are genuinely atonal while others sound more neo-tonal. The Greedy Row Snake used to be in the AMEB’s exam syllabus for grade one and has probably been played by 10,000 students (23,000 copies were sold of their exam book which included Greedy as the last piece).
BLOG UPDATE November 2018: I now have three YouTube videos where I talk about the pieces and then play them.
Or have a listen at SoundCloud (also free):
Upside-Downs
The Greedy Row Snake
Visit the music page for Child’s Play, with more samples to view or listen to.
Reuben’s Big Day Out is dedicated to former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, whose dog, Reuben, was the subject of many questions from the opposition in federal parliament in the 1990s.
The pieces cover a range of levels from pre-initial to about grade 6 or 7, and include a trio where a novice can sit at the piano between experienced students and play a previously-learnt solo (Upside-Downs) which fits into a new piece.
Study instructions for Child’s Play
A partially completed chart is included for studying the tone row. Students can fill-in some of the missing rows using a pencil and match them to the pieces they are learning.
The 12-tone style or method was developed in the 1920s by Arnold Schoenberg. Typically, such music is freely dissonant and, unlike some of Child’s Play, deliberately atonal. The technique was developed further by many composers through the twentieth century.
Performance grouping suggestions
The eight pieces of Child’s Play were originally intended to be played as individual items in programmes with a mix of pieces chosen from the works of many composers, not as a complete set. However, they can well be grouped into small sets. Here are some suggestions.
Four Easy Pieces from Child’s Play (or Three… or Two…).
Pre-initial to about grade one or two:
Upside-Downs (played twice)
A Lazy Day
The Greedy Row Snake
Reuben’s Big Day Out
Five Pieces from Child’s Play (or Four… etc)
About grade two to grade seven:
Reuben’s Big Day Out
Homage to Webern
Homage to Schoenberg
Clouds (as a solo)
Alone in the Dark Forest (as a solo)
Clouds was conceived as a duet (one piano, two players) but a skilful pianist can play it solo. Alone in the Dark Forest, given in the book twice as a trio and a duet, can also be played solo by a pianist with a big hand span using the adjustments shown in certain bars.
Duets from Child’s Play (or Duet and Trio from Child’s Play)
Play Clouds and Alone in the Dark Forest as written, perhaps prefaced by Upside-Downs and other pieces.
To purchase my music:
HMP secure online purchase via Shopify http://www.mixmargaret.com/shopify-links-for-mdj.html
Or use the Printable Order Form (or email) if you prefer to pay using a cheque or a direct bank transaction http://www.mixmargaret.com/HMP-printable-order-form.html
Comments welcome.