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A universal teaching aid, published by Ulrike Schimpf and Alexander Kowalsky at Edition Peters, promises to be "easy": five pieces that can be put together in a modular way and played in any instrumentation. The booklets for this concept are available for all band and orchestral instruments

The collection includes three well-known hits (La Bamba, Tequila and Get the Party Started by Pink) as well as a rap number composed by Kowalsky and a pure percussion piece with a choreography suggestion. All titles are characterized by strong grooves and have been broken down into individual patterns. These polyphonically notated building blocks are clearly presented for the players on a double page. There are melody parts, fills, breaks, bass patterns and improvisation aids for each song. In addition, the authors provide a one-bar body percussion pattern for each piece and a form scheme is printed at the bottom of each double page, which leaves space to enter the individual arrangement.

The enclosed CD contains an audio section with a complete demo version of each track in excellent and thrilling musical quality, a play-along version in a slower tempo and a pure accompaniment version with bass and drums. In addition, all patterns are stored individually as mp3 versions on a data section.

Hand signals are assigned to each module on the overview page. This allows the band leader to control the flow and form of the piece in rehearsal or in concert. The authors also provide four detailed playing suggestions on how the pieces can be presented.

Easy pattern impresses with its enormous versatility and openness of concept, which means that it can be adapted to almost any level and all possible instrumentations, and also with its clear presentation, the detailed and clear explanations and the excellently produced accompanying CD.

Ulrike Schimpf, Alexander Kowalsky, Easy pattern. 5 Hits for every instrumentation, EP 11377-1 to EP 11377-9, € 9.95 each, Edition Peters, Leipzig et al. 2015