Mother’s Day on staff

Mother’s Day on the staff

I wanted a Mother’s Day activity for my students in Level 1,  so I modified the my pre-reading  Mother’s Day activity.  While it may look similar to the one I posted a few days ago,  because I reused  my flowers and graphics,  I wrote a new tune especially for this activity. This time I used steps and skips and two measures of hands together playing that is often a challenge at this level.

I call these measures the “tricky bits” and we learn them first,  hands separate. Then we play measure 3 and 4 hands together, but not on the keys. We play them in  the air, on the fall board, on our arm or leg, and any other way that strikes our fancy. By the time we finally get around to playing it on the piano, it is so firmly in the student’s muscle memory that the tricky bits become the “easy bits”. If they need a little more practice hands together, we start at the bottom of the keyboard and play going up or down in all the octaves. This takes a while, but it pays off when they get home. Students are more likely to practice if they have already worked out the “tricky bits.”

Roses in the Springtime

Roses in the Springtime

A teacher asked me to re-post this springtime  song that was on my web site last year.

This song comes from a one of the piano books I wrote for my students in level 1 to work on sight reading. First I have the student circle the thirds and then look for the 4th in the LH, which is usually hard to find. It should be played legato, but I left off all the markings so the student can concentrate on reading intervals.

I always improvise a teacher accompaniment for this, in a flowing style.

For the record, you can probably tell I did not do the art for this piece. I’m not sure where I got the picture because it was several years ago.  I thought it was so pretty I couldn’t resist using it.

Kitty at the Keyboard and Puppy at the Piano

 

Puppy at the Piano and Kitty at the Keyboard  is a set  of 2 “Mini Finger Suites”  written for  elementary students by Elizabeth Gutierrez and published by the well regarded Carl Fischer music publishing company.  Elizabeth Gutierrez has shown in her other piano solos that she knows what elementary students like and how to write for them. Your students will really enjoy these pieces,  especially if they like dogs or cats.

The first thing you notice about these 2 sheet music suites is the adorable, vibrant,  color covers with student-appealing artwork by Yuru Martinez.  What young child is going to be able to resist the cute kitty playing the piano with his feet on a stool,  or the puppy playing a black grand piano on stage? I want to frame them and put them on my studio wall!  

Each mini-suite includes 4 short pieces with clever titles such as Puppy-Paw Prelude, Wagtime,   Meow-Meow Minuet, and Tabby Tango.  ”Puppy Pointers” and “Kitty Klues” at the end of each piece will help the student develop artistic playing,  which seems to be the goal in these pieces.   There is also a “Kitty Dictionary” and “Doggie Dictionary” on the inside cover of each suite explaining the musical terms used.  I love the definition of a two-note slur: “Drop into the 1st note and lift from the wrist on the 2nd note. The 2nd note should be softer than the 1st. ” This is the kind of definition that is simple and easy to understand. Is there a better way to say it?

The mini-pieces in the suites are fun to play, full of musical elements and opportunities for artistic playing.  There are slurs, staccatos, simple crossovers, dynamic contrasts, some hands together,  and, of course  two note slurs.  Some of the pieces are in middle C position, while about half of them are in different positions that are easy to read by intervals. There are a few accidentals. Each piece has a nice teacher duet that is easy to read while you watch your student play.  The melodies are very pretty and just invite artistic playing.

At the end of each suite there is a cleverly drawn  activity page that I wish I had thought of.  The “kitty” suite has  a puzzle and a fill in the blanks section. The “puppy” suite has a “Doggie Notespeller” for the student to name notes to spell  popular dog breeds.

These suites are labeled Early Elementary, most likely because they contain no eighth notes. Each publishing company has its own leveling system.  Often pieces at this level are labeled “Elementary”  by other publishers,  so be careful about giving these to early level students.   You can also use these suites to introduce new concepts,  especially if you don’t want to wait until you encounter them in a method book.  I suggest this might be a good set of music to give to a transfer student to work on while you decide exactly what level you want to place the child. At a reasonable $3.95,  parents will not complain. And if you have a student who is not quite ready to go on to the next level, try using these pieces as a review.

Carl Fischer has a long history as a music publishing company, but in the recent past it seemed like they weren’t adding to their educational piano music catalog. With these publications and the recent new editions of some of their previously published pieces, I am excited to see the new face of Carl Fischer’s teaching music. It’s not too late to add these to your spring recital.

Where Is My Soccer Ball

Every now and then, when I get busy, I post a piece from the Early Elementary book I wrote, Sunny Solos. I’m busy working on some material for my middle and high school students, so I decided this is a good time to post something from my files.

My young students like to play Where Is My Soccer Ball  because they can identify with the words! We play this after students have been introduced to ties in their method book. I teach the rhythm by rote at first. Then we  discuss the rhythm and how a tied quarter note equals one half note.  I always ask my students why didn’t I just use a half note instead of a tied quarter note. If they tell me right away that there can only be 4 beats in the measure, I know they really understand time signatures.

We Three Kings

We Three Kings was always one of my favorite Christmas carols when I was young, but when I first heard it, I didn’t like the chorus because to my little ears, it didn’t go with the verse. I loved the minor sounds in the verse and I wanted to hear that kind of sound through out the entire piece. The verse was too short, IMO. Of course I was about 5 years old, and at the time I didn’t know there were so many verses.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I have decided in the next few day to go ahead and post the rest of the music I put in a Christmas book I made several years ago for some young students. Of course I can’t post songs and music that is under copyright, so some of the pre reading and easy versions of familiar songs children love will not be here. However, if the student owns the copy, it is my understanding you may simplify it for your student. We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Silent Night

Silent Night is one of the harder carols because of the shift in position and the dotted rhythms. But a motivated student can get it.

 After the younger student has learned it and If the student has an older sibling waiting, I’ll  show the older student the chords and try a duet.  By the end of Level 2 of most method books student can play the I IV V chords in F.

I  wasted a lot of time trying to write a pre-reading version of Silent Night. Since this carol changes positions and has dotted rhythms, I couldn’t come up with anything that seemed useful for my pre-reading students. If anyone has a suggestion about how to do it, email me  your idea and I’ll write it for you. You will have to tell me in detail what key it should  be in, what hand positions, how to handle the shift in the last section to let the student know how to move, etc.  And rhythm…  How do you write pre-reading dotted quarters?  I was writing it in 6/4.  Looking at my poll, this doesn’t seem too popular with teachers. If you have a great idea, write it out, take a picture of it, and email it to me.

Meanwhile, I gave this version of Silent Night  to a very cute little guy who is a primer student, but knows all his notes. His eyes got real big when he told me he couldn’t play it because the notes had those “weird little things on it” and he maintained this was way too hard for him. Do you remember when music looked way to hard for you?

A bright spot in my lessons this week was another student who wrote a song, complete with words, at his lesson. It was short so I was able to let him watch while I took his notes and put them in Finale.  We put his copyright on it and he thought that was cool. He told me he had rhymes and poems going on in his head all the time. I said I am the same way with melodies and I have bits of paper all over the house with sketches of music and songs.

Jingle Bells

I went to my web site to print Jingle Bells for a student and  discovered I have never posted the on-the-staff version. so here it is. When I was writing this is Finale, I went back and forth on the words “in a”, and “in a one horse open sleigh”. Should I use 8th notes, should I leave out the word “in” like I do in the pre-reading version, I just couldn’t decide. Maybe that’s why I avoided posting it. You can see here that I finally decided to leave off the 8th notes, but you can write them in in you want to.

Also, I’m going to re-do the pre-reading version of Jingle Bells and put it in G like this one. It will give the students more of a workout in the left hand. I don’t really like the key of G because neither I or my students can sing that low, but I do think it’s better for the piano. Check back later if you want the new pre-reading version. I might have it posted by tomorrow.

Bless Us O Lord-Secondo

I have been testing out (with my students) the secondo  to my setting of the traditional blessing, Bless Us O Lord-prereading. I wanted it to be easy enough that a student could play it with a sibling for Thanksgiving without a whole lot of effort. Because of that, I went back and liberally added finger numbers. Those of you who have finger number phobia,  get out the *White Out*! Obviously an older student won’t need all of these finger numbers.  

So if you have 2 young students, one who is still in pre-reading notation, try out this duet if they are familiar with this blessing. Also, a parent who can play a little piano should be able to play the secondo. All my Catholic students have responded very well to this.

Here is the primo version on the staff.  I also have guitar chords in lead sheet format. If anyone is interested, email me.

Away In a Manger

Thanks for taking my poll about what to post next. Since most voted to go ahead and start Christmas material now, I’m posting Away In a Manger.  Of course some of you may want it in pre-reading form and I’ll be glad to post that if I get some requests.

Originally I had a lot of finger numbers in this piece because my student had some learning problems and the fingering made it so much more helpful. We want our students to enjoy Christmas music and not dread working on it. I took out the extra finger numbers because it is easier for a teacher to add needed ones than to white out the extra.

If you are a new teacher, don’t be scared away by the dotted quarter like I used to be if I had not introduced it formally.  Just tell them to play it like they sing it and not worry about counting. If you’re a “by the book, everything has to be counted” kind of teacher, you probably won’t be reading this anyway. This blog is more for teachers who think outside the box.  New teachers, just be creative and have them tap the rhythm on the fall board, or a drum, or jump the rhythm, while you sing with them. They will get it! And if they also dot the 2nd and 3rd measure, let them do it. Trust me, it will not ruin them to Beethoven in the future or keep them from being drum major in the band. The main thing is we want them to enjoy Christmas music because they discover they CAN do it. Besides, good little musicians are going to put in the dotted rhythm anyway. When they tell me they don’t understand it, I tell them not to worry, they will one day. Then I say or do something silly and we go on from there. You will have plenty of other pieces where you can be the rhythm police and get out the foam board rhythm pizza.

I’m going to set up a new category called Holiday Music to make it easier to find all the Thanksgiving and Christmas music I hope to post. I have a turkey worksheet to post, also.

Sneaky Sneakers

I wrote Sneaky Sneakers for a teacher on one of the piano teaching boards for her student whose story really touched my heart.  I am posting this today to share with everyone because I want to get it up before Halloween. I think it sounds like Halloween music but you can use it with older beginners, students who don’t celebrate Halloween, and you can keep working on it after Halloween. When I first wrote it there were no L.H. fifths. If your student has trouble with them, tell them to omit them. Also the teacher suggested they be played as whole note 5ths, so try that, too. If your student is stuck in C position, this piece might help.

The sneakers are clip art that I manipulated in Photoshop. The title was also done in Photoshop using layer effects. I was trying to get a blue jeans effect. If you want to use graphics in Finale, save your picture as a TIF file and you can add it directly to your Finale document.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five Little Pumpkins is a traditional song that I decided to use not only to have a fun, seasonal song, but to use it to transpose to other keys. Students can learn that the first part is just two pentascales put together to make a scale. If they haven’t learned full scales you can leave out that part. You can transpose it to other keys, starting with C and then more. It’s interesting  to do this by ear and see which students can find the black keys without help. Older students can use steps and skips. Or you can just play the song for fun and forget the theory!

For those interested in this sort of thing, this song should have 8th notes but I simplified it because the words are for young children who might not have been introduced to 8th notes yet. Also, all the repeated notes can be difficult for your youngest students, so this is more elementary than early elementary. I added a few finger numbers. Those adverse to them can white them out. Others can add more. I’m like the second pumpkin, I don’t care!

Teachers always ask, so for those of you how want to know, I wrote this in Finale and drew the pumpkins myself in Photoshop. I did it quickly, so if you find errors, please email me. My email address in on my website.

Edit: I corrected the spelling of the word “fourth”. If you printed it yesterday, you might want to fix it.

Spooky Spiders

Did I say no more Halloween pieces this year? Well, I was digging around and found Spooky Spiders and one other piece I’ll post if I can do add the art.

It’s not too late for one of my students and I hope someone else can also use it.  I plan to teach the rhythm first, and drum out the rhythm with our hands on the fall board. Then after we map out the steps and skips of the R.H., we’ll play some hands separate with me playing the other hand. By the time he goes home, he’ll be able to easily and can have fun with it. At least, that’s my goal!

For those of you who like to know, I did not draw the clip art. It’s old and from a old card program that is not on the market.

Favorite Elementary Sheet Music

A few days ago I wrote about the importance of sheet music and posted some of my favorite Early Elementary Pieces. Today I’m going to post some Elementary level pieces. Most do not have eighth notes, although some do, so keep that in mind. They may have some hands together and move around more. Remember, preview these before you buy. Your taste in music may be completely different from mine!

  Sleepy Cat (Alfred) by Mier is a piece I just couldn’t do without. I hope it never goes out of print. This is an  easy C Major position piece, very cleverly written in 3-4 meter in a slow blues style. Elementary age kids love this piece because of the jazzy feel. It has words, a cute kitty on the front and a slightly larger size of notes, so I usually use it with younger students. However, I have had 5^th graders love it, so use your judgment. There are plenty C major staccato triads, so don’t give it to young beginners.

 Gold Doubloons (Alfred) is also by Martha Mier and it is just broken chords in C minor that moves down an octave on the second page. It is a perfect piece for a first year student who wants to sound like he has been taking longer. Depending on the flair of the student, it can sound very impressive after a few months of lessons because you can almost teach it by rote. It stays in one position, but there are a few hands together measures. While it was written for the  Alfred Prep B book, it is listed as a best seller and for good reason. This is a long time favorite of mine and Martha Mier is my hero. She can do so much with so little!

Somethings Under My Bed (FJH) by Kevin Olson is the elementary piece most requested by my students when they hear another student play it. It has a playful but mysterious tune with fun words. Students love the unusual chords for this level! They tell me they “just like the way it sounds.” Although it is listed as an elementary piece, it is more late elementary. It has a lot of articulation, eighth notes, and some hands together that requires a lot of experience. To use with this with the appropriate age, a student should be at least in the middle of a Level 2 book. This is a NFMC choice piece and you can see a preview on the FJH website. I love all of Kevin Olson’s music because he is so original.

Swans in the Sunset (FJH) by Bober has a beautiful teacher duet. It is very peaceful and expressive. A surprising number of boys pick this piece, especially the more thoughtful.

At the Air Show (FJH) by Gutierrez sounds harder than it is and students like to sound impressive.

 The Baby Dinosaur (KJos) by Bastien has a very pretty cover and is good for a student who wants a sweet piece.

 Rambling Rails (FJH) by Bober is an easy fun piece.

 I have a few others that are on my student’s favorite list, but I can not do a good review because I don’t have them on hand. I’ll list them and later when I get a copy I’ll come back and edit this post.

 Masked Rider by Bober

Creepy Crocodile by Rollins

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Gutierrez

Crown Jewels by Chris Goldston

Early Elementary Sheet Music Recommendations

As a piano teacher, one thing I enjoy the most is a student getting a piece that he really loves and is excited about. I’m different from some teachers because I prefer to give a piece of sheet music for a special solo than a piece out of a book. In the child’s mind, it is so much more special if it is sheet music with a great cover.

 Occasionally a student will return their old books to me to use as loaners. No matter the age of the student, they will keep their special sheet music, even pieces they played years earlier. I think that says a lot about the importance of sheet music as a teaching resource.

 Today’s post will list a few Early Elementary Teaching Solos. These have larger notes, no eighth notes, no hands together except in a very easy way, and stay mostly in a 5-finger position.

 Here’s a warning. Over the years I’ve bought a lot of solos that were recommended to me by other teachers. Many times I have been very disappointed by a recommended piece and I wondered why in the world the teacher liked it. It would be a good idea for you to see a preview of the following pieces before you buy them. Some sites on the Internet have previews of these pieces.

 Golden Trumpet by Martha Mier     This is easy and has big notes that skip in an easy way. It becomes a favorite of young students.

 Pony Express by Nancy Faber     This is available as sheet music and I think it is also in the Primer Gold Star book. It is very well liked by students and is a great motivator.

 Sugar Cookies by Glover      An old favorite, it is very easy with big notes. Beginning students love it and all  old  *experienced*  teachers use it!

 I Thought I Saw a Dinosaur by Carol Matz      This piece has funny lyrics and  my young students, girls and boys, love it.

 Once I Caught a Fish by Nancy Faber      This is fun with great lyrics.

 Magic Pony by Mclean      The title and pretty cover catches their interest and then they love the piece.

On-the-staff Halloween Music

I remember today that although I had posted these on my website, I had never posted them on this blog, so today I’m posting Halloween, Halloween and Halloween Is Almost Here.

On Staff Version of Halloween Is Almost Here

If you read this blog and are starting to get all these Halloween sheets mixed up, well I am too. To make matters worse, I post everything twice, first on my website that this blog links back to. However, I promised to turn all the pre-reading sheets into a grand staff version, so here is Halloween Is Almost Here.

Once a Year On Halloween-On the staff

I am now ready to post all 3 of my pre-reading Halloween pieces written on the grand staff. I only have one student pre-reading right now but I have several others who are at the primer level so I really wanted to get this done. 

If the pumpkin looks familiar, it’s the pumpkin from my other piece. I took off the top and added some candy shapes. 

Notice I added some dynamics and a final A with a rest to make it a little more fun. Please think outside the box and change anything you want. Maybe a cluster at the end would be fun. I thought about the left hand holding the A while the right hand moves up and plays some ghost sounds. Once a Year On Halloween

This has been edited to fix the incorrect version the first time I posted it.

Water Lilies

One of my older beginners liked Windsong so much, she wondered if I would write another piece like it. So I wrote Water Lilies and I am happy that she did like it. If you have never written a piece for your students, try it. Students really like having a piece written just for them.

Roses in the Springtime

Roses in the Springtime is a short song I wrote to go into my book More Sunny Solos.  When I wrote it, I was thinking about my mother’s garden when I was a little girl. It was a wonderland of beautiful colors. I’ve always wanted a garden like that.