The Journey songbook is the companion sheet music collection to Greg Maroney’s 2010 CD release by the same name. Most of the eleven pieces have been transcribed note-for-note and a few have small changes for clarity and playability (I know this because I proofed the sheet music). The pieces appear in the book in the same order that they appear on the CD, so it is possible to achieve the same seamless flow of the album at your own piano.

Maroney is an amazing pianist, so this is not the easiest sheet music out there, but none of the music is impossibly difficult either. A few of the pieces would be playable for an upper-intermediate player, but most are more early-advanced to advanced. There is a nice range of key signatures from A minor (no sharps or flats) to F# major (six sharps) with just about everything in between. There are a few reaches of more than an octave, but pianists with smaller hands can always roll those chords or shorten them (there are not enough of these to present a problem). The transcriptions have a nice, roomy layout with very clear notes and lots of white background, making them easy to read and understand quickly. Dynamics and expression are clearly marked, and a few tricky passages have fingering. There are one-page samples of each of the pieces on Maroney’s website (gregmaroney.com), and those will give you a very clear idea of what to expect. The length of the pieces ranges from five pages to fourteen.

I have been a big fan of Greg’s music for a lot of years, and have taught many of his pieces to my advancing students. It is such a pleasure to sit for an hour or so playing his music and discovering how he plays the pieces himself. Greg’s sheet music is available from gregmaroney.com, and I recommend it very highly!