Graded Keyboard Musicianship Book 1

Anne Marsden Thomas is one of the most influential organ teachers of today, and has wide experience as a concert and church organist. She has written or edited over twenty books for organists. In 2015 she was awarded the MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours, and, in 2017, was the first woman to receive the Royal College of Organists highest decoration, the RCO Medal.Dr Frederick Stocken is a widely-commissioned and performed composer, whose recorded and broadcast music ranges from organ and choral pieces to orchestral works. His publications include not only compositions, but also musicological writing and keyboard tutors. He is Organist of St George's Metopolitan Cathedral, London, and a distinguished teacher of organ, music theory, and musicianship at all levels.

All the usual disciplines - figured bass, score-reading, transposition and harmonisation - are treated from the earliest stages as interlinked, fluency in one informing fluency in another (often taking in some early-stages organ technique along the way). Each book is organised into levels - five in the first, three in the second - and each level is divided into five lessons, with new concept summarised and analysed as they are encountered. The material offered helpfully incorporates familiar hymns and melodies, and editorial material is succinct and cogent. A number of appendices and glossaries add to the usefulness of the books. Every teacher and student of keyboard harmony will find helpful material and fresh perspectives in these thoughtful volumes, and the compilers' holistic approach to the development of these skills is invaluable.