These books cherry-pick from the wide and illustrious bank of revered studies known to all piano teachers and (sometimes) loved by the students who have had them prescribed. What makes these books invaluable is the fact that all the laborious spade-work of sorting the wheat from the chaff has been done by someone else (that someone being Christine Brown). The goal, as Ms Brown makes plain in her foreword, is to ally the technical and musical, not merely to sift the grittier specimens from the likes for Czerny, Heller, Burgmuller, Bartok, Dunhill, Cramer, Clementi and others. Thus the intermediate student gets to experience the best of the pedagogical material to hand, and yet I'd wager that if the title Studies were to be traded for something like 'Classic Melodies' not many youngsters would balk (or notice, frankly) because the music is so, well, musical. An imaginative, inexpensive ... album encouraging an exploration of ever-relevant teaching and learning material.
Piano Professional, Spring 2009
The selection covers many technical aspects while always displaying a wide variety of musical interest....Any teachers having to prescribe a few studies for busy schoolchildren, who now find themselves with minimal practice time, could not do better than consult these excellent collections. Great value for money!
Piano Journal, Winter 2008
Two volumes (Grades 4 to 6 and 6 to 8) with specially selected material suited to the grade level. which provide technical challenges as well as musical validity and interest. Including pieces from the likes of Czerny, Bartok and Heller, these books combine to build essential technical skills and repertoire.
MI pro Magazine, May 2008
