The Evolution - Solo Piano, Op. 11 is the companion sheet music book for Tim Neumark’s 2025 album by the same name. All twelve piano solos are included, transcribed by John Zechiel and proof-read by me. All twelve pieces in the collection are composed in minor keys and reflect on several moments in Tim’s life where he wishes he had made a different choice or experienced things differently. Many of the pieces are sad and some express anger, but the emotional content of the music can make it very interesting to play. It can also make the music great for teaching students to learn to express themselves in a variety of colorful ways.

The sheet music itself is very well-spaced and easy to read. Most of the timing is very straight-forward - another plus for students learning to play the music! Playing and expression instructions are mostly in English (rather than in Italian); pedaling is marked, and so is phrasing. Tempo changes are clearly marked with metronome settings and there are no reaches of more than an octave. I spent quite a bit of time with this music over the couple of years when Tim was composing it and have always found the music very enjoyable to play since it is so expressive and emotional.

The sheet music for Evolution is available on Tim’s website as printed songbooks, and can be downloaded as the full book or individual pieces. Highly recommended to pianists of all ages, but especially for teens and older.

The titles of the pieces, the keys they are in and the number of pages are:

Runner - Key of A minor (0 sharps or flats), C minor (3 flats), D minor (1 flat) - 4 pages
Traveler - Key of B minor (2 sharps) - 6 pages
Younger - Key of G minor (2 flats) - 4 pages
Flour - Key of D minor (1 flat) - 7 pages
Greener - Key of C minor (3 flats) - 7 pages
Vulture - Key of Eb minor (6 flats) - 3 pages
Darker - Key of D minor (1 flat) - 5 pages
Beggar - Key of C# minor (4 sharps) - 5 pages
Renter - Key of C# minor (4 sharps) - 5 pages
Loaner - Key of C# minor (4 sharps) - 3 pages
Writer - Key of E minor (1 sharp) - 7 pages
Speaker - Key of G# minor (5 sharps) - 3 pages