Reflections is the companion songbook to Michele McLaughlin’s 2005 “Best of” album by the same name. Like the album, the book has a very generous twenty songs that come from Michele’s first six recordings. Most of these pieces are fairly easy to play and most are quite short. They range in difficulty from intermediate to upper intermediate, and more advanced players will enjoy the expressive nature of the music. David Shenton of New York Music Publishing did the transcriptions, which are clear and easy to read. A few pieces have notes that go up into the nosebleed area of the leger lines, but you can always pencil in what they are if you have trouble reading and remembering them (I would have rated “Without You” a level 2 if it hadn’t been for the high legers); “The Lonely Ballerina” and “Sunday Morning” are also ‘way up there. There are very few chords and no reaches of more than an octave. This is a fun book to play, and I recommend it! It is available from michelemclaughlin.com.

Below is a list of the songs in the book, listed in the order they appear on the CD. I have included the key signatures and how many sharps and flats are in those keys, the level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5 compared to Michele’s other pieces (with 1 being the easiest and 5 the most advanced), and the number of pages.

I Love You - Key of C (no sharps or flats) - level 4 - 3 pages
The Beginning of Forever - Key of C - level 3 - 3 pages
Without You - Key of C - level 3 - 3 pages
The Greatest Gift - Key of D Minor (1 flat)/F Minor (4 flats)/Bb Minor (5 flats) - level 4 - 5 pages
Elysium - E Minor (1 sharp) - level 3 - 3 pages
Russian Music Box - C Minor (3 flats) - level 4 - 2 pages
Coming Home - C Minor/Bb Minor (5 flats) - level 4 - 4 pages
Surrender - Key of Bb (2 flats)/ Ab (4 flats) - level 3 - 3 pages
Just Because - Key of C Minor - level 4 - 2 pages
A Fresh Start - Key of D Minor / Bb (2 flats)/ Db (5 flats)/ Eb (3 flats) - level 4 - 4 pages
An Evening With Friends - Key of C - level 2 - 2 pages
Not Without Flaw - Key of Gb (6 flats) - level 4 - 2 pages
What You Mean To Me - C Minor - level 3 - 3 pages
Enraptured - Key of C/C Minor - level 4 - 5 pages
A Tale of Courage - Key of C Minor - level 3 - 4 pages
Learning To Grieve - Key of C - level 1 - 1 page
The Fairies Dance - Key of Eb (3 flats) - level 3 - 3 pages
The Lonely Ballerina - Key of A Minor (no sharps or flats) - level 4 - 3 pages
Sunday Morning - Key of G Minor ( 2 flats)/ D Minor (1 flat) - level 4 - 6 pages
Swept Away - Key of C Minor/ F (1flat)/ F Minor (4 flats)/ Bb (2 flats)/C/G Minor (2 flats) - 4 pages