Wicked. A New Musical - Piano/Vocal Selections | Broadway Musical Songbook by Stephen Schwartz | Includes Defying Gravity, Popular and More

I'm very pleased with this purchase as it has everything that I was looking for.

I bought this book because a friend gave me the Wicked CD and I fell in love with the show. This book is a selection of the most popular songs from the show, in a format where a singer could perform them with only piano accompaniment. Most of the songs are pretty close to the versions that you hear on the CD, but some have been altered to make them easier to perform as solos or audition pieces. Most of the speaking and chorus parts (like in "Popular" and "One Short Day") have been removed and some of the songs have new endings. In "Dancing Through Life", the second half of the song has been cut so the entire song can be sung by only one person. Also, the part in "The Wizard and I" where Elphaba has a vision also appears in "Defying Gravity". Lastly, "For Good" is written so it can be sung as a duet or a solo.This book is good for anyone looking to sing these songs as a solo, duet or for an audition. The piano part is a simplified version of the orchestral score with the melody line usually occurring in the right hand and it is easy enough for almost any accompanist to play. However, if you are looking for an exact translation of the songs from the show, you will be disappointed. Otherwise, this is a good buy for any Wicked fan who wants to perform their favorite songs from this fantastic show!

This is a great book. I gave it to my sister who plays piano and she loves it.

I had ordered two other vocal books and got this as a bonus deal. Great for my young singers.

Five stars to this book because the songs are beautifully adapted and true to the musical. However, I bought this book so I could tinker with it on my piano, and it is way too hard for me to get anywhere! I played piano for 8 years as a kid, and am now just a rusty beginner/intermediate player. I thought I could eventually get these songs down by playing them over and over, but after flipping through everything I think the only near-manageable song is "For Good." My favorite, "No Good Deed," is completely impossible and I'll just have to listen to my CD. I would suggest this book for the highly advanced pianist. As for me, I'm going to go check out that easy piano version.Note: The songs are edited to make more sense when sung by just one or two people. This significantly changes some parts though - I was disappointed to find that the entire "we deserve each other" and "I hope you're happy" segments were deleted from "Dancing Through Life" and "Defying Gravity," respectively.

I love the Wicked music. These arrangements are nice because they have the melody in the accompaniment most of the time. There are several songs where you'd have to pick the melody out from non-stop 16th note runs. The piano line is quite difficult, not for a novice player, and even an intermediate player (like me) would need lots of practice. Be warned: there are changes from the Broadway recordings. For example: No Good Deed skips the opening chanting completely and starts with the chorus. Over all, I'm happy with the purchase and the excuse to practice more :)

Loved this as a gift!

I. Love. This. Book.Luckily, my mom is a fantastic pianist and will play these songs for me so that I can sing them. She finds some of them a little difficult to play, especially with multiple key changes, but they are beautiful arrangements. (As I am not a pianist, I can't speak to the actual difficulty of the music on a personal level.)As a singer, I love the way they are arranged, even the duet songs (For Good, As Long As You're Mine) as I can sing them by myself if I want.All of the songs that I enjoy singing are included, although I'm not sure it includes every song that is featured in the musical.Wonderful purchase!