Belwin Master Solos, Volume 1 (Clarinet): Piano Acc. Book

This accompaniment book gives you carefully crafted piano parts that sit in the background where they belong. The selections span four centuries of music, so your clarinetist builds familiarity with period style, ornamentation, and harmonic language without getting bogged down in transcriptions that feel academic or detached.

Moving through these seven pieces is like opening a musical anthology. You encounter the intimate warmth of Schumann's Lieder, the ornamental grace of Baroque dance and aria, the structured clarity of Classical forms, and the fresh directness of traditional melodies. Each solo is complete on its own, yet together they create a journey across musical time.

Clarinet students working at the intermediate level who need substantial solo repertoire with reliable accompaniment support. This book also serves piano accompanists in studio settings or school music programs who want to explore the literature beyond method-book duets.

• Balance the accompaniment texture so the clarinet remains the clear voice; these pieces succeed when the piano supports rather than competes.
• Attend to the stylistic shifts between pieces. The Handel excerpt calls for different articulation and phrasing than the Schumann songs, and your playing should reflect that.
• Work through the original compositions first if your student feels uncertain about Renaissance or Baroque conventions; they often provide clearer harmonic footing.

Build a spring solo recital around these selections, grouping them by period or mood to create thematic flow. The variety also makes this ideal for casual performance contexts (assemblies, family nights, informal concerts) where you want to showcase different sides of the same student's musicianship.

• Reading and performing across multiple key signatures (major and minor tonalities)
• Interpreting stylistic conventions from Renaissance through Classical periods
• Balancing sustained, lyrical passages with more rhythmically active sections
• Collaborating with a piano partner and listening to harmonic context
• Controlling dynamic range and articulation within piece-specific musical styles