Sweetwater Junction, Early Intermediate Duet
All Aboard for a musical adventure!
Sweetwater Junction, will take you there! Capturing the feeling of the wide open spaces of West Texas, as seen from the innocent eyes of a young girl on her first train ride. Can you hear the rhythm of the tracks in the A theme? (measures 11 - 24) Her hopeful optimism in the B theme? (measures 26 - 41) And the train pulling into the Station? (measures 38-41) Strive to capture these emotions as you play.
Susan Staples Bell has been a Piano Instructor for over 30 years. In all her compositions, she strives to educate as well as delight. Sweetwater Junction is written for Evenly Leveled Early Intermediate, where both players have a chance to share the melody. Several important Piano techniques presented are melodic phrasing & balance, syncopation, cross handed arpeggios, and tempo change. Perfect choice for recitals!
This is a Single License: One purchase - One copy. Thank you for honoring the composer’s work by not sharing.
Capture the Emotion. (Inspiration from the composer to the student as the performer.)
Mary Emma Stuckey was born in 1862. She never met her father, who was killed in the Civil War when she was only 1 month old. After the war, her family escaped the economic hardships of the South, by moving west- to Texas. Most families made the journey in covered wagon, passing freed slaves and Indians as they went.
But by1873, there was a new way to travel- by train.
“All aboard!”, the conductor yells! The train slowly pulls out of the station and soon settles into a steady rhythm. Emma sees miles and miles of nothing as she looks out the window. Well, not exactly nothing; just nothing green like she used to see in her Alabama home. Everywhere she looks, the dirt is brown with cactus and mesquite trees. The mountains in the distance are red and rough. “Clickety-clack” go the wheels as they bounce over the rail joints, and the steam whistle syncopates in between. The sun is hot- it’s reflection off the sand is so bright that it hurts her eyes. Much better to sit back and let the soft swaying of the car rock her to sleep. Going West from Abilene to Pecos, our stop is Sweetwater Junction. Perhaps this will be the place where her new life will begin.
