Customer Reviews for Freedom
Location: from
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
August 3, 2011
unknown
Should have rad the index of songs more closely. I didn't know several of them. They are also much more difficult tham anticipated.
6 of 16 people found this review helpful.
Anonymous
Location: from Perry, MI
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
November 27, 2007
Its so much fun!
Freedom with its moving melody is a lot of fun to play. Michael W. Smith is a good artist and its great that he has a story behind the music no tjust notes. It is pretty accurate so it is especailly fun to play along with the sound-track. It adds a whole new dimension to the sound. My dad came in video taped it because it sounded so neat. It is not a teaching tool I play it on the side of my assigned music. Its intermediate level for the notes and all, but I would lean towards the advanced side beacuse of the syncopation, rythmn and because there are alot of big leaps to different parts of the piano. I've been playing for a long time so its fun to have something to have fun and kick back on. Its a challenge over all, you certainly can't get it first time. I thouroughly enjoy and will keep for probably a very long time.
12 of 24 people found this review helpful.
Carly
Location: from TN
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
November 15, 2007
Freedom
I love this book! The songs Michael W. Smith writes are so beautiful. Everyone loves to listen to these songs, and The Giving is especially popular.
13 of 26 people found this review helpful.
Hannah
Location: from North Little Rock, AR
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate
August 9, 2007
For the Contemporary Musician...
Rarely do you get a songbook that has arranged orchestrated peices for the piano...and the music sounds full (harmony and melody all balanced together with every tone you would get with the original instruments). This book almost achieves this accomplishment, but falls short on certain songs where the piano only has a solo here and there originally. The piano solos that actually started as piano solos are beautiful. They are not extremely difficult, but have a pleasant sound and are very expressive. I would choose "The Offering", "Carol Ann", and "Thy Word" above the other pieces simply because of the quality of sound. I definitely recommend this book for any lover of contemporary piano music, Irish music, or just a lover of Michael W Smith. Just dont expect a lot from the orchestrated songs.
15 of 25 people found this review helpful.
Taylor
Location: from Baton Rouge, LA
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
May 16, 2007
Interesting Music
What can I say, it's very interesting:). The music is very nice, flowing, and fun to play. Some are a bit more hard than others, then some a little on the easier side. The Call, Thy Word, Prayer For Taylor, these are just some of the wonderful pieces. And, it all sounds great on piano. A must have:).
13 of 25 people found this review helpful.
John Arietano
Location: from Manville, NJ
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate
March 18, 2007
An Excellent Presentation
Not being much of a Pianist (I'm more of a plunker than a player) I picked up Michael Smith's "Freedom" at the suggestion of a friend. I was very pleased with the contents and the respectable results I was able to achieve without tedious hours of practice. What pleased me even more was how close the Piano scoring was to the Orchestral scoring on the CD...the way in which the critical inside parts and secondary lines that one hears on recordings were included while avoiding overly complicated written passages. Unlike many other piano books which eliminate lines or overly simplify a piece to where the only resemblence the Piano part has to the original is that of the basic melody, this book remains true to the Original and is still very playable. This is, without a doubt, a fine teaching tool both for the piano student and for anyone interested in Scoring Techniques applied to Piano transcriptions/reductions.
7 of 16 people found this review helpful.
Anonymous
Location: from keyboard
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
April 29, 2004
I love it
I love this!
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Matt Lockwood
Location: from Sunderland, UK
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
October 9, 2003
Instrumental class
A break from Smitty's established genre of contemporary rock/pop, this collection of instrumental pieces range in style from Celtic to Jewish, anthemic to serene. There are recurring themes throughout the album, yet each piece has an individuality that resists any blurring from track to track. This is beautiful music, easy to listen to, stirring and inspirational. You'd be forgiven for thinking these pieces came from the score of a film, as these pieces are a joy to play and refreshing to hear.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.