Ludovico Einaudi - Islands: Essential Einaudi Paperback – August 1, 2012

I am a huge Ludovico Einaudi fan. As a piano student, I first heard Divenire, and was hooked. I have recently been playing his music as a huge playlist for hours on end during study time and just regular reading time as it is so relaxing, so I begin searching for the sheet music, being a piano student, and then I found this book, which reflects the very best of Einaudi. It has all the main songs in it, or his most popular, such as Divenire, I Giorni, The earth Prelude, Nuvole Bianche, Primavera, and Ancora. It has 19 songs in all, and If you wish to preview how they will sound, go to youtube and search Einaudi Islands and click on one of the 1hr+ videos to listen to the Playlist of all the songs included as performed by Einaudi. It is exquisite.I ordered this book, and almost canceled my order because it was on backorder and I felt I was buying the book for just two or three songs. The day I went to cancel, It said it had shipped, which was such a blessing because I cannot imagine my piano library without this book. This book seems to be written NOTE for NOTE as the true versions are. So the songs sound exactly like he plays it, not a simplified version. It is perfect for an intermediate to Advanced pianist. These are challenging songs, with the hardest seeming to have four flats. There are about five or so in key of C, which will be perfect for more intermediate players. Evenstill, while some pieces are challenging, even for me and I have 11 years of lessons under my belt, this book has made me accelerate my performance. The area in piano that I lack the most in has always been adding notes in the left hand. I would play perhaps four at the most per measure and would never play the left hand exactly like it was written. I got to the point I would play three notes and just roll em back and fourth for the measure, then move to the next three and so on instead of scaling the entire bass part of the keyboard. After playing from this book for only about four hours, I have found myself naturally beginning to scale the entire bass part of the keyboard and adding bass notes subconsciously, the only part of piano playing that I lacked. It has taught me rhythm, without me realizing it better than any lesson book ever has. I have always been envious of people who can scale the entire keyboard effortlessly, and I can say that solely because of this book, I am finally reaching the skill level I always wanted.Bottom line: If you like Einaudi and have a decent background in piano, buy it. This is not a book for beginners, but is perfect for intermediates looking for a challenge, or Advanced looking to polish their skill set, or just lovers of Einaudi. It ranges from C to 4 flats, with everything in between, but even the C ones can be a little intensive. I haven't played but half of these songs, and already can say that I mastered quite a few. Its is worth every penny because it will make you grow as a pianist faster than you ever thought possible, and help you polish those little elements that you have trouble on, whether it is like me and is left hand rhythm, or perhaps dynamics. It is perfect.

Great book if you enjoy reading pieces that are easy, but sound good. I wouldn't recommend this for people who need to memorize their pieces, because they tend to be somewhat repetitive. It's just the nature of the style. This book is just awesome if you want to sit down and be guided through a slow journey of relaxing sounds.

The piano music is beautiful and enjoyable to play. And is the exact music that the composer/pianist plays on the album. Often piano renditions can be great disappointments. For this reason, it is safer if possible to see and play and/or see and hear the sheet music before purchasing if possible. Many thanks to Mr. Einaudi for composing and making a quality book of beautiful piano music.There is one internet site perhaps others (that I don't Know of ) selling digital music that allows the listener to decide if the entire music piece and interpretation is what you like and think you can play. Quality transcriptions ( that are also affordable) are really what piano music lovers hope for.Many thanks to other music lovers for writing in and being specific about the music. As far as difficulty of the pieces,I find the pieces are not nearly as difficult as for example, a Dax Johnson piece.

First, the arrangements by Einaudi are beautiful. I would say the majority of the pieces are in the intermediate range of difficulty and can be picked up quickly be any pianist with that level of expertise. Others have complained about the binding, preferring a spiral bound but I did not find it was hard to keep the book open while playing after a couple of practice runs. The quality of the binding seems to be very good.

I am loving playing this book. I have college level playing skills, and this is easy for me to play but still so fun. Kind of a yiruma feel. Entertaining and beautiful to play but not mentally tiring. I would say about intermediate level. Just get it and enjoy playing piano for fun!

Ever since I discovered Einaudi's music from the Intouchables movie I had to hear more! I've played piano for over 20+ years and am absolutely mesmerized by his compositions. If you're a solid sight reader like me, you will really enjoy his arrangements. I highly recommend this collection and plan to purchase more Einaudi books in the near future.

Love the songs, they're beautiful. Only problem I have is the book does not lay flat. I have to stop playing after every page turn to flatten and bend the book back. It's a bit frustrating

I had never heard of Einaudi until I ran across him in a news article about the resurgence of classical music and ordered this with no other knowledge! If you're an experienced pianist (later intermediate or advanced), you will be able to more or less sight-read these given their simple structure and patterns. Although they aren't challenging, they are quite pretty and relaxing to play.