Garden Capriccio

Garden Capriccio is a musical bouquet of piano solos for early intermediate students. Each piece cleverly depicts the essence of favorite garden flowers, while providing students with seven imaginative solos to challenge the fingers and tickle the ivories.

Anne Crosby's music continues to be very popular in piano studios across North America. Her pieces have instant appeal with students and teachers alike. Children enjoy the playful imagery and are encouraged by the feeling of success in learning music that sounds and looks advanced. Teachers appreciate the sprinkles of technique and theory within each piece, providing a multitude of teachable moments.

Garden Capriccio is an easy digital download, you may purchase quickly and securely using the Buy button below, which will direct you to Pianoanne's Store (powered by Nimbit). When you buy the album for $8.99 you also receive a PDF of the Garden Capriccio score as a digital booklet, which you may save and print at your convenience.



1. Marigold Fanfare is a marching tune that provides an opportunity to work on sixteenth note rhythmic patterns. Challenge your students to develop fine finger independence by observing a variety of articulation markings.

About the video: Oh Buzzy, you are so cute. This was my second stop motion animation project because I had so much fun making Periwinkle Twinkle. I thought it would be fun to make a little trumpet for Buzzy.

2. Dancing Mayflowers has a light-hearted lilt, requiring a gentle left hand waltzing pattern. The syncopated rhythm in the melody is fun to play and is a wonderful coordination challenge. Right hand arpeggio patterns on page two provide a good technical workout for students.

3. Periwinkle Twinkle is a fun favorite. A bit of a finger twister, students will need to plan excellent fingering. This groovy little solo is played with straight eighth notes and a playful bounce.

About the video: I made Buzzy out of clay and found some purple periwinkle in my garden to set the scene. This video was built with stop motion animation, so it involved a lot of still photos to make Buzzy dance. I was very excited to figure out how to make Buzzy talk and blink.

4. Russian Sage is full of teachable content including dotted eighth/sixteenth rhythms, grace notes, articulation and fancy arpeggios.

5. White Daisy moves beautifully across the full span of the keyboard. Peppered with patterns this piece is easy to learn, but requires a lovely touch and a good ear for balance.

About the video: The singing butterfly cracks me up every time! In this project I figured out how to make and use a green screen so it would (sort of) look like the butterfly was soaring through a field of daisies.

6. Johnny Jump Up is a bit crazy! Fast, rhythmic and intense this piece will get fingers flying across the keys. The left hand fifths/octaves pattern is very useful, it will challenge coordination and independence, so practice slowly.

7. Coral Bells is a wonderful black key solo. The opening sound is bold and rich, followed by sparkling bell-like passages.

I hope your students enjoy playing the pieces from Garden Capriccio.