Five Finger Pieces for Piano are dedicated to my dear group of four adult composition students—Aya, Robert, Jason, and Jim. I tried to compose the simplest music I could imagine for them, not because they were simple, but because each brought an essential child's curiosity to learning music in great depth. Each piece begins with both hands in a particular "five finger" position from which they remain throughout. Aya Sela from Israel is a natural teacher herself who discovers deep ideas in simple things. Robert Spano was a master sound engineer for Paramount Studios who "for fun" build his own harpsichord among many other projects. You might detect his love for counterpoint and early music in this short piece I wrote for him. Jason is a mathematician. I try to capture his energy in a presto of incessant eighth notes. The last piece, "Jim," is my shortest composition, a mere 20 measures, refining the simplicity of the opening Aya piece even further. Jim Bishop was a pure soul—extremely sensitive, tall, slender with long hair. He played bass guitar and yearned to know everything he could about music. His help with graphics and production on my two books of AudioMaps of the Beethoven Symphonies was invaluable. Jim's life was cut tragically short in a freak winter accident when his brother lost control of a car on a highway in their hometown of Michigan and hit a tree, killing them both instantly. We all miss Jim exceedingly; the world feels so diminished without him.