anthology (37) Beatles (38) Broadway (42) Christmas (88) Disney (86) fake book (34) finger-bangers (34) flute (42) guitar (338) jazz (85) la-guitarra (64) music (2,031) music score (43) musical theater (41) non-fiction (190) opera (42) piano (296) piano music (52) reference (99) score (31) scores (32) sheet music (636) songbook (173) theatre (39) to-read (51) ukulele (35) vintiquebooks (39) violin (81) Vocal (60) voice (57)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Hal Leonard
Birthdate: 1947
Gender: n/a
Nationality: USA
Associated Place (for map): USA

Members

Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
6
½1
19
½1
11
½1
2
1
No Rating

All Languages
English67
English (UK)1
French1
German1
Spanish1

71 reviews

waltzmn 854 reviews

The best Broadway songs ever : piano, vocal, guitar by Hal Leonard

62.5% is a passing grade right?

The title of this book is The Best Broadway Songs Ever: Piano, Vocal Guitar. Eight words. I'd agree with five: "Broadway," "Songs," "Piano," "Vocal," and "Guitar." Five-eighths is 62.5%.

The selection criteria for the songs... Definitely not "The Best." There are songs from a lot of shows, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would call these their favorites. Allow that the (unidentified) compiler might not have been able to get the rights to every possible show more show. (So, for instance, "Hello, Dolly" and "West Side Story" are not represented.) But one would assume that, if the publishers had permission for some songs from a particular musical, they could have gotten any songs they wanted from that musical. All right, let's take four musicals that are represented: "Fiddler on the Roof," "Guys and Dolls," "Oliver!" and "The Sound of Music."

From "Fiddler" we have "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset" -- the latter of course the best-known from the show. But we don't have "Tradition" or "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."

From "Guys and Dolls" we have "Luck Be a Lady" but not the "Fugue for Tinhorns" or "Guys and Dolls" or "A Bushel and a Peck" (the hit of the Broadway show) or "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat."

From "Oliver!" we have "As Long As He Needs Me" and "Where Is Love?" but not "Consider Yourself" (the most popular song of the musical) or "Oom-Pah-Pah" (the most singable) or "I'd Do Anything."

From "The Sound of Music" we have "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (in the un-singable original key of C major instead of G major or A major where any normal person would sing it) and "My Favorite Things" and "The Sound of Music" but not "Edelweiss," the only song on this entire list to be so popular that it became a traditional folk song.

Oh, and how about going back to the beginning and giving us the very first truly great Broadway song, Harrigan and Braham's "Maggie Murphy's Home"?

So: This is not the best Broadways songs. Most of the songs are well-known, and most of them are good, but this will not be the only book of Broadway songs you'll ever need.

Two other points are worth noting. First, the book contains nothing except a table of contents (actually an index by title) and the sheet music. No song notes, and there isn't even an index of tunes by the shows they appear in. I'd love to have some background on how the songs were written and their context. (For a fun example, a reprise of "I'd Do Anything" is the last musical moment of "Oliver!" It wasn't supposed to be the last song, but a complication with the original West End set -- a stage element that was part of a bridge could not be lowered in real time -- meant that the original ending had to be modified and a series of reprises substituted.)

The second point is one for guitarists only, and it's a complaint that applies to almost all Broadway songbooks: The chords given for the song are often not humanly possible. For example, the first song is "All I Ask of You," and it's pitched in the key of Db and uses among other chords Db, Dbmaj7, Gb6, Cb (yes, it's called Cb, not B), Ab/C, Bbm7, Ebm7, Ab, and I stopped reading there. Of course any sane guitarist is going to play the song in C and capo one (or not capo at all, since the song is rather high as written); that Db arrangement simply calls for more fingers on the left hand than most of us have. It's not a guitar part; it's a piano part nominally moved to guitar by someone who either doesn't know or doesn't care how to play the guitar. So, for guitarists, you can't really use the book as it stands; you're going to have to rework it into playable keys (which will often require changes beyond just transposing). For pianists and singers, this doesn't matter, but it's irksome for guitarists. So be warned.

Bottom line: This isn't a bad book, but I really don't think it lives up to its title. show less

Oct 14, 2025

benuathanasia 1,935 reviews

Movie Music of the '90s by Hal Leonard Corp.

This book is the soundtrack to my youth. I was never one for following musical trends as a youth (I didn't start listening to Brittney Spears until about ten years AFTER she hit her peak), but I always truly adored soundtracks. This books has almost all of my favorite songs from the 90s. While all of the songs are "fleshed out", none of them are excruciatingly difficult. If I were a more diligent piano student, mastering these songs would not be difficult.

Sep 5, 2012

Canadian_Down_Under 95 reviews

Classical Piano for Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback)) by Hal Leonard

There are some very nice pieces in this book but you won't find much advice here. Each piece has performance notes but they don't amount to much. Here is an example:

Johann Sebastian Bach
Air on the G String (page 10)

The "Air on the G String" by Bach is a hauntingly beautiful Piece of Music. (The title - added later by an arranger, not by Bach - refers to the string instruments in the orchestra, not to ladies' lingerie!) This music is often heard at weddings, in movies (Runaway Bride), and in show more professional figure-skating competitions.

The high, soaring melody in the right hand (played by the violins in the orchestral version) is contrasted by steady, (sic) quarter note rhythm in the left. The left hand keeps the music very grounded, while the melody in the right hand is very elegant and soulful. Playing the right hand part very smoothly helps to make the music sound expressive.

That's it. That's the performance notes for that piece. There is nothing about chord structure or best parts to tackle first or repetition which could be helpful.

The other problem is the book suggests that these pieces could be played by beginners. I beg to differ. Although these pieces have been simplified, an absolute beginner would be overwhelmed by them. I consider myself an advanced beginner and they are not easy for me. They are probably more geared towards an intermediate pianist. show less

Feb 20, 2012

bread2u 1,067 reviews

100 Years of Song: 1900-1999 by Hal Leonard

May I mark this book as read even though I haven't played every song in it? At one per day it will take me three months to get through it and I don't want it hanging around as currently-reading for that long. Thank you.

I checked this out from the city library, and quickly decided that I like it enough to buy it. The editors chose one song from each year. I like their choices.

Many popular songs are rather insipid:
- I lost my love boo-hoo
- I am infatuated with you
- I want to do something show more immoral with you
This book has many songs that are better than that.

So far I've came across one puzzle in it. The 1911 choice: Alexander's Ragtime Band contains lyrics "and if you care to hear Swanee River played in ragtime, ...". However, Swanee is the 1920 choice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Folks_at_Home helped me solve that dilemma. It tells me that (Swanee River) was composed in 1851 by Stephen Foster.

I am enjoying using this book for sight reading. show less

Jul 1, 2020 (Edited)

See More Reviews