My Lyrical Notebook and My Quirky Notebook – A Review

Just a few months ago I received two collections of compositions for piano by Angeline Bell,  a Malaysian  piano teacher based in UK who started composing during the  pandemic.

These beautiful compositions are recently published in two books, printed in a high quality cream paper by editions Musica Ferrum.

You can purchase them in digital form or in hard copy  here .

About the collections

The two collections are  My Lyrical Notebook and My Quirky Notebook. From the moment I took them in my hands I loved the cover art,  the quality of  paper and generally the elegant design of both books.

Each collection has 20 pieces composed for intermediate/late intermediate levels. Some pieces can be performed by students of grade 3 but I would suggest most pieces to students of  grades 4 and up.

Every piece has a  title that totally inspires. Also in  the first pages of each book there are some performance notes.

The title and these few words help teachers and students with their performance by bringing to the surface emotions and impressions that fit perfectly to each piece's character.

Angeline Bel's  music is so pleasant to the ear. They are 40 pieces you would love to play, teach or just listen to.

Since Angeline is a piano teacher herself, she composed beautiful pieces that help students improve various technical skills. Some fingering and pedal indications are in the pieces to help as well.

My Lyrical Notebook

As the title reveals, the compositions in this book are in a romantic mood and it is personally my favorite collection.

I could hardly choose my favorite pieces from this collection since they are all wonderful and each one of them requires different technical and musical skills but I could pick out some of the easy ones and some of the more advanced that I enjoy teaching most.

Balestrand is a peaceful piece that can also be played as a duet for beginners. The duet part can be downloaded from the  Musica Ferrum website here.

The Coral Reef and Tivoli Gardens are two pieces that are  also perfect for your students of about grade 3.

Each title inspires and stimulates the imagination. Ask your students to draw something that suits with the music and the title. This will help them with their performance and it’s going to give a special note to the lesson.

There are many beautiful pieces in just a bit higher level than the ones mentioned above. Butterfiles, Lullaby, Jane and Tempest are on top of my teaching and performing list.

The titles are so inspiring and the performance notes from Angeline Bell help students get in to the mood of the piece and perform it with all their passion.

My Quirky Notebook

This collection is all my teenager students’ favorite!

From the title of this collection you can tell that the pieces are fun, energetic and playful.

I enjoy playing and teaching from this collection because of the variety of styles that's included in it.

Tango, bossa nova, foxtrot, salsa, a bit of jazz, pentatonic scales, chromatic scales and lots of other elements make this book very popular among teenagers who love to try new rhythms and styles.

The energy  in this collection is so amazing  that even the  students who  are always difficult to choose among new pieces to learn, they will definitely find their own favorite piece from it.

From the easiest pieces in My Quirky Notebook, I love Tintangel and Pyramid dance.

I also love Toucan Tango and from the more advanced I love the Bossa Nova Baby, Airport Blues and  Tomato Salsa.

Watch Toucan Tango performed by a student of mine.

You can listen to  all Angeline’s compositions beautifully performed by Nikolas Sideris on Spotify by clicking here

You may also find these wonderful melodies on her YouTube channel here.

Angeline Bell did a lovely work, all these pieces are a great addition to my  students’ repertoire  and they give that extra sparkle to the piano lessons.

Thank you for the beautiful work, Angeline!

Looking forward to more from you!

There is a new collection By Angeline coming out soon and it’s called My Garden Notebook. You may listen to the music here. The book will be published soon and I 'm awaiting it!