The Forgottens - Piano/Keyboard

Product Overview

Instrumentation: Piano/Keyboard

Format: Softcover

Composer: Jason Tonioli

"There were a stack of old manuscript books sitting on a shelf in my office, along with hundreds of pages of handwritten song sketches saved on my iPad. Over the years, I’ve filled notebook after notebook—most of it never finished or shared. Some are old Finale files. Some were just a few measures scribbled down. Ideas started… and left behind.

A few months ago, I spent hours playing through those pages, wondering if anything was worth finishing. I ended up finding more than 50 “lost” songs—along with dozens more that were only partially written. Page by page. File by file. And many of melodies and songs were better than I expected. That started a process of organizing, prioritizing, and deciding what was worth finishing.

At first, I thought it would become one book. Within a few weeks, it grew into enough music for two separate collections. Over the years, I’ve released a lot of music… but I’ve also left just as much unfinished. Maybe more. Some of these pieces stopped me as I played them—not because they were perfect, but because the emotion and feeling was still there. I could remember the melody, the feeling, or the moment they came from. So I decided to finish them. Not perfectly. Not overthinking every detail. Just finish them.

Some of these songs were written ten or even fifteen years ago. Others are more recent. A few stayed close to the original idea, while others changed quite a bit along the way. That’s what makes this collection different. It’s not one style or one season of life. It’s a mix of moments—ideas started at different times, finally brought together in one place. There’s something I’ve learned going through this process: Finishing matters.

Not because everything needs to be shared—but because unfinished ideas tend to stay with you— and sometimes resurface years later. If something was worth your time years ago, it is still likely to be worth your time today… Sometimes, going back and finishing something you started long ago brings more clarity than starting something new. And with more experience, you can often make that idea even better than when you first started it.
That’s what this project has been for me. A chance to go back, clean things up, reflect, and see past growth and finally bring these songs to life." - Jason Tonioli

Song list: