Piano duet books for moderate players.

November 25, 2020 6:00 PM

Let's go beyond Heart and Soul or the Real Book. Please recommend piano duet books / pieces where *both parts* are moderate (2nd year piano skills). In "teacher / student" books, the "teacher" part is sometimes too hard.
posted by gregglind to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

Best answer: I don't have a book to recommend before consulting with my duet partner, but if you've got a printer you should check out the piano 4 hands category on IMSLP.

There's a lot there, but you can narrow it down by typing "easy", "child", "leicht", "facil", and other likely terms in the search box. Different composers have different ideas of what's "easy" and for some that's "moderate" or beyond. "2nd year" is not altogether clear, that can mean different things for learners aged 6 or 46!
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: At this level, you will be using adapted anthologies. There is no canonical best book. Search for "easy piano duets" and pick one with songs that the players know and like.

In the classical genre, these are often adaptations of harder pieces split into 4 hands, which retains the original musicality while making it more accessible.
posted by dum spiro spero at 5:59 PM on November 26, 2020

Two specific 4-hands piano recommendations that my partner and I enjoy (good arrangements, accessible parts, probably about the right level):

* Joplin Ragtime Classics
* Gershwin Piano Duets

If you end up trying these, send me a private message to let me know what you think, if you think of it - I'm trying to calibrate my expectations for piano skill levels.
posted by cdefgfeadgagfe at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2020

One more specific recommendation:

* Satie - Gymnopedies, Gnossiennes, and Other Works for Piano

This is a collection of Satie's piano music which includes 4-hands duets (in addition to solo piano), e.g. Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear - which is actually 7 pieces, I think, and ought to be around the right level, if you are looking for original music rather than an arrangement. (Note: you may also be able to find the duets on imslp - probably look up the French name of the pieces.)
posted by cdefgfeadgagfe at 6:20 PM on November 29, 2020