As Disney approaches its centenary, our contributor BP has rounded up the most iconic Disney arrangements. In this blog, you’ll find the top scores recognised by users online as the best arrangements for voice, piano, and guitar. A link is included for each score mentioned, simply click on the title or book cover to see more. Read along and find the right arrangement to celebrate Disney100 with Musicroom!
Best in New Editions
The Special 100th Anniversary Edition: Disney 100 Songs
It comes as no surprise that Disney has come up with a special 100th collective hardcover edition. Beginning with a foreword by composer and Disney legend, Alan Menken, and a preface by Walt Disney Records Supervising Producer and Music Historian, Randy Thornton, and featuring colourful art throughout, Disney 100 Songs will take you on a century-long musical journey through 60 feature films, theme park attractions, and television shows. Each song is presented with melody, lyrics, and chords so everyone will be able to sing and play these beloved favourites. The Disney 100 Songs anniversary edition is currently available for pre-order.
For longtime lovers of Disney:Adult Piano Adventures – Disney Book 1
Faber Piano Adventures’ Adult Piano Adventures Disney Book 1 offers a bounty of beloved classic and current Disney hits for beginning adult learners. This book includes 29 favourites from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Coco, Frozen, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, and so many more. The easy, tuneful arrangements span the skillset of the Adult Piano Adventures Course Book 1 or can function as an ideal review for those in Book 2. Optional teacher duets provide rich harmony and rhythmic support. With focus on the keys of C and G major and I, IV, and V7 chords, the adult learner can enjoy a treasury of Disney’s most famous songs.
For Disney+ addicts: The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid’s souvenir songbook features eight beloved songs from the 2023 film with music from Alan Menken and new lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Starring Halle Bailey in the titular role, the remake of the classic Disney tale featured four new songs written by Menken and Miranda and the score is dedicated to the late Howard Ashman, the original lyricist. The film’s soundtrack has now been arranged in two versions: for easy piano; and piano, voice, and guitar with the melody in the piano and chord symbols, guitar chord frames, and full lyrics. The book also includes eight pages of full-colour scenes from the movie.
Best for Little Ones
Disney Duets for Kids
This collection of well-known classic and contemporary Disney songs is arranged as vocal duets for children singers. Disney Duets for Kids comes with printed piano accompaniments and online recorded accompaniments for download or streaming. Harmonies are kept easy, and children can take turns singing or sing together in unison!
John Thompson: First Disney Favourites
This collection is the perfect introduction for beginner pianists to ten timeless Disney Favourites. Suitable for students working through John Thompson’s Easiest Piano Course Parts One to Three, it also works well as sight reading practice for more advanced pupils. Lyrics are included throughout, and fingering indications tell the student when to change position. This collection is particularly useful for keeping beginners interested in playing and practicing, along with motivating them as they learn their favourite melodies.
Best in Piano Arrangements
Really Easy Piano: 40 Disney Songs
The Really Easy Piano series is hugely popular with piano teachers, their students and independent learners alike. All displayed with visually easy-to-read notation and transposed to easy key signatures, the series includes repertoire drawn from Classical, Pop, Rock, Folk, Chart Hits, Films & Shows and TV music. The 40 Disney Songs edition is a great starter compilation for beginners, with great classics to inspire and enrich all generations.
Disney Goes Classical
This accompanying folio matches the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2020 album, featuring the likes of Renée Fleming and Matteo Bocelli. Presenting fifteen songs in classical versions, the book is suitable for studio and self-learning environments for UK grades 5-6. In a Pianodao review, Disney Goes Classical is described as follows: ‘Players will certainly benefit from working with a teacher who is stylistically attuned to the music; with no shortage of questions about pace, rhythmic emphasis, fingering, articulation, voicing and pedaling to address, these arrangements can be as pedagogically stimulating and nourishing as they are musically entertaining.’
First 50 Disney Songs
This collection from the First 50 series has been a hit with young and returning piano students. Users online report that the large font for the notes and chords are what makes this book a bestseller. Online users described First 50 Disney Songs as a good stepping stone for returning students to refine skills to get up to intermediate level, while self-learners say the arrangements are better than free scores found online. Parents and teachers say it’s a good book for getting students to practice independently after a break.
Best in Guitar Arrangements
40 Most-Streamed Disney Songs
For those wanting a guitar book to get them playing the songs they love then look no further than 40 Most-Streamed Disney Songs. The Easy Guitar series allows even novice guitarists to play their favourite songs, with the books including notes and tab to help to make learning easy and get you sounding great even faster! This edition features 40 of the most streamed Disney songs from a range of films, both timeless classics and new favourites, including Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, and more. So, no matter what your favourite Disney film might be, there’s something for you in this collection.