Robert vandall biography

Robert Vandall (1944-2017) was.
Robert D. Vandall composer / arranger.
Robert Vandall is one of this country's most prolific and popular composers of educational piano music.

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Piano Repertoire: Robert D. Vandall

I have been meaning to write down a post about the American composer Robert D. Vandall for a while. He has composed more than 400 pieces for piano, specially aimed for the first few years of piano learning. Today, 9th of February 2018 is his death anniversary, so this article will serve as a small tribute.

His pieces have a clear pedagogical side, very adaptable to the pupils’ hands with easy to understand musical elements. His pieces have a big variety of rhythms, time signatures and styles, using a big portion of the keyboard register. All his pieces are based in easy to recognize patterns. This allows to develops different activities in the class, such as improvisation based in said patterns, transposition or analysis. Also this allows his pieces to be taught either by rote or by reading.

Following, there is a list of the Vandall’s pieces books that I use the most in my lessons:

Preludes

The 24 Preludes in all major and minor keys are a clear example of his style. They are pieces developed from a single pattern, easily understandable.

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Books by Robert D. Vandall

Scenes from the South: Sheet (Recital Suite Series)
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2009 — 3 editions

Celebrated Piano Solos, Bk 3: Nine Diverse Solos for Early Intermediate Pianists (Celebrated, Bk 3)
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1995 — 3 editions

Celebrated Christmas Duets, Bk 2: 5 Christmas Favorites Arranged for Early Intermediate Pianists (Celebrated, Bk 2)
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2008 — 4 editions

Celebrated Christmas Duets, Bk 3: 5 Christmas Favorites Arranged for Early Intermediate to Intermediate Pianists (Celebrated, Bk 3)
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2008 — 2 editions

Celebrated Jazzy Solos, Book 1: 10 Solos in Jazz Styles for Late Elementary Pianists (Piano)
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2009

Contest Winners for Two, Book 4: 7 Original Piano Duets (1 Piano, 4 Hands) from the Alfred, Bel

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Last month, we presented Part 1 of our interview with Robert D. Vandall. This is Part 2. Robert Vandall is one of this country’s most prolific and popular composers of educational piano music. He and his wife, Karen, operate a thriving independent piano studio in New Philadelphia, Ohio.

What aspects of your compositional style resonate most with students?

I hear from teachers their boys really love what I write. All composers have two sides, a lyrical side and a very driving, masculine side, if you want to use that word. So I think that element of what I like to do comes through with the boys. I also hear from my lyrical pieces there are a lot of girls who like those types of pieces. I really work to make my pieces feel comfortable. I think students recognize that. Teachers have said they can teach some of my pieces very quickly, sometimes almost by rote. And the kids pick them up quickly. I write in patterns because I don’t want to introduce myriads of patterns in one little short piece. So I think the fact I think in patterns makes the learning process much easie