Native American Songs for Piano Solo

Gail Smith

feb 2011 · Mel Bay Publications

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A truly fresh and exciting book of piano solos featuring authentic Native American melodies. The history of the American Indian is sometimes a sad drama, yet is filled with a wonder reflected in music. This book, the result of extensive research by the outstanding educator, composer and musicologist, Gail Smith, conveys music that is truly American. Easy to intermediate in difficulty. Includes access to online audio.

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Gail Smith was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on January 26. Gail's father, Carl Erick Johnson, sang tenor in the church choir. Her mother, Ethel, played the piano and had Gail start piano lessons. Smith received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Florida Atlantic University. She has taught piano students from the age of 3 to 96! Her blind student, Ivan, was seen on national TV. Giving musical lecture recitals by portraying the composer's wife has been an effective way to reach audiences with the history of music. Gail has portrayed Marian MacDowell and Anna Magdalena Bach. She gives many workshops and concerts throughout the United States as well as in Germany, Sweden and Japan. Smith's life has revolved around her family, church and music. She has been active in many organizations including being national Music Chairman of the National League of American Pen Women and is a former president of the Broward County branch. Ms. Smith is also a member of The Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, National Music Teachers Association, and Federation of Music Clubs.

Ms. Smith's works include many piano solos, choral works, a piano trio, a composition for four pianos and numerous vocal solos. She has arranged hundreds of hymns, Indian melodies, and folk tunes from many countries. Her trademark is her piano palindromes, which can be played backwards as well as forwards and sound the same. She is the author of: Complete Church Pianist, Sunday Morning Pianist, Four Centuries of Women Composers, Celebrate the Piano Series, Hymns Made Easy, Piano Chords Made Easy, Complete Book of Modulations for the Pianist, Complete Book of Exercises for the Pianist, and Complete Improvisation, Fills & Chord Progressions Book. Gail also composed the world's first reversible piano solo, which sounds the same upside down and is titled "WOW MOM". She loves researching the history of music and wishes to pass on her enthusiasm for piano study to all ages of beginning students, especially seniors.