Book Review: Sea Fever by Jerald Simon

This past week I had the immense pleasure of winning a copy of Jerald Simon's book of piano solos entitled Sea Fever. This is the first time that I've ever won a piano book, and so it was like Christmas in May when it arrived packaged at my doorstep.

I found Sea Fever to be immediately attractive because of its binding. Unlike most piano books, it is spiral bound, so the pages will always stay open. No bending back the covers of this book! I sat right down, opened the book to the middle and started playing. The pieces hover around an intermediate/advanced level, but the composer is careful to include pre-teaching pages that break down the pieces.

The pieces are absolutely beautiful. Each piece is inspired by a phrase in the poem Sea Fever by John Masefield; the songs include The Lonely Sea, Gray Dawn Breaking (my personal favourite), and A Star to Steer Her By. I spent a good two days happily playing all the pieces in the book; after playing several in succession, you physically get the feeling of being at sea - Jerald Simon does a great job of creating the movement of waves in his pieces.

You can listen to pieces from Sea Fever at the Music Motivation website.

I have been thoroughly enjoying this book, and would happily recommend it to other pianists!