Through the amiable genre of the sonatina, generations of piano pupils have slowly and cautiously approached its "big sister", the sonata. With the aid of our three-volume selection of sonatinas from two centuries, intermediate piano pupils large and small can undertake an excursion through the development of piano music from the early 18th to the end of the 19th century. This first volume contains 26 easy to moderately difficult sonatinas from the time of the High Baroque and pre-classical periods by composers including C.P.E. and J.C.F. Bach, Handel, Georg Benda, Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Soler. Since the term "sonatina" had quite diverse meanings at this time, the volume offers works of varied character. The simple pieces at the beginning provide a way in; then the sonatinas follow in chronological order. A table shows the most important embellishments and their correct execution according to the rules of the time. A large body of literature for piano lessons!