Cool Cats

Dog Days songbook is a set of intermediate showcase solos by Jennifer Eklund that chronicles a day in the life of her rescue dogs.

Black Cat Boogie, composed by Rick Robertson, is an early-intermediate jazzy showcase solo in a Boogie-Woogie style. It is very effective in performance, and should be a hit on any recital program. It is purposefully written in G-flat major, and uses black-key pentatonic melodies.

What could be nicer than a cat nap on a lazy afternoon? This laid-back jazz piece by Chrissy Ricker is sure to be a hit with early intermediates of all ages!

Top Cat Boogie, composed by Chrissy Ricker, is a fast 1950s rock-style solo for late beginners. This piece is part of the Easy Cool Cats songbook.

Easy Cool Cats, is a collection of twelve easy showcase solos composed by Chrissy Ricker. These jazzy solos represent a variety of genres and will appeal to late beginners and early intermediates of all ages!

Oh Snap! is a fun, jazz piano solo for early intermediates that incorporates finger snaps throughout. Music written by Jennifer Eklund and part of the Dog Days songbook.

Hummingbird, composed by Rick Robertson, is a rapid-fire late-elementary piano solo. It is an excellent velocity etude or encore piece.

Street Cat Strut, composed by Chrissy Ricker, is a sassy funk-style solo for early intermediates and up. This piece is part of the Cool Cats songbook.

Oh Snap! is an easy jazz style solo that incorporates finger snapping throughout. Ideal for late beginners of all ages. Music by Jennifer Eklund and part of the Spotlight Solos Volume 1 songbook.

Enigma, composed by Chrissy Ricker, is a sassy jazz waltz for early intermediates and up. This piece is part of the Cool Cats songbook.

Boogie Blues is a fun and energetic boogie-woogie style jazz solo by Canadian composer Lisa Frederick. This light-hearted romp is ideal for early intermediates of all ages!

To feed students’ cravings for playing in minor keys, Minor Marvels features twelve showcase-style piano solos, four solos with optional teacher duet parts, and two duets. These selections are ideal for late beginners through early intermediates and will gloomily gleam at a Halloween recital or whenever a minor mood strikes!

Put a little funk underneath your fingers with this showcase solo composed by Ron Levy. Ideal for early intermediates of all ages. This piece is part of the Jazz Salad songbook.

Simply Purr-Fect, composed by Chrissy Ricker, is a joyful jazzy solo for late beginners that serves as a great introduction to swing rhythms. This piece is part of the Easy Cool Cats songbook.

Jazzy showcase solo version of When the Saints Go Marching In arranged for late beginners by Jennifer Eklund. This upbeat jazz solo includes MIDI and Mp3 backing tracks for full-time fun for all ages!

Kitty Kapers is a delightful character piece by Lisa Smith ideal for early intermediates of all ages. This solo is a musical depiction of a day-in-the-life of a furry companion full of playfulness, catnapping, and big kitty stretches. Great for working on dynamic and tempo contrasts.

Backyard Bash is a collection of solos written for beginning pianists who enjoy playing music with lyrics. With the exception of three pieces, Crazy Cat, Old Dog, and Tree Swallow, these songs describe actual events that have happened in my suburban backyard in Southwest Virginia. Crazy Cat combines the personalities of two of our family cats, Calhoun and Casper, into one. Old Dog is about our Golden Retriever, Clyde, who lived with us when we started our family and was the kindest and most gentle dog I’ve ever known. Tree Swallow is about a male tree swallow who behaved exactly as described in the lyrics, but in my father’s backyard rather than in mine. I have found that my students love playing these songs because they sound more difficult than they are, and they are fun to sing along with! I hope you enjoy these musical nature studies and learn to play them all! - Sarah O’Brien

Spotlight Solos PLUS features 10 showcase solos in varying styles and tonal centers. These solos are ideal for late beginners through early intermediates of all ages. This book contains selections for the NFMC Festivals Bulletin, 2020-2024.