Keyboard Accompaniment Basics Series.

Keyboard Accompaniment Basics Series

by Gayle MacAulay Dunsmoor

Quenmar Music, Inc., February 2019. www.quenmar.com; Set of 4 books $64; Prep: $13; Basics: $17 each (levels A, B, C). Beginning-Diploma.

The Keyboard Accompaniment Series by Gayle MacAulay Dunsmoor provides a useful resource for teaching an important aspect of piano playing, for which there are not many resources. The method begins at the basics of note reading and works up to accompanying melodies without notation, reading lead sheets and understanding chord progressions.

When looking through this method, I was struck by the variety of accompaniment patterns: arpeggiation and syncopation, along with the appropriate styles for each pattern. Beginning with the basics of I and V chords in the preparatory levels, it builds to seventh and ninth chords, use of most major and minor keys, and challenging key changes in the final book.

Some weaknesses of the series are more in style than substance, such as excessive use of abbreviations that are specific to this series, which may be difficult to recall. Because there is so much material to cover, pages can be a bit cluttered with reminders and symbols. Cleaning up to each page would be more mentally freeing to remember the plethora of chords and accompaniments. The method progresses quickly, so younger or less adept students may struggle to remember all of the previously learned concepts while progressing through the book.

Nonetheless, the pedagogical concepts in the book are solid, even if they move quickly. Though I personally would not use this as a core text in private lessons, it might be fantastic for an older beginner or an adult student. I could easily envision a series like this being used to teach a college or an adult keyboard skills class, even as a core text in these settings. Compared to similar texts, this fits into its own niche by focusing on creating accompaniments to written melodies as well as chord reading. In all, the Keyboard Accompaniment Series is a useful and pedagogically sound method to teach chords and accompaniment.--Reviewed by Peter Oehrtman, Cincinnati, Ohio