Jingle Bells with Rhythm Instruments at a Group Lesson

Jingle Bells with instruments

I bought the electronic version of the new book by Philip Johnston called The Dynamic Studio: How to keep students, dazzle parents, and build the music studio everyone wants to get into. (Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate because I get questions about where to buy the things I write about. Amazon sends me a few cents if a reader buys something from clicking  the book link.) Philip Johnston writes inspiring books that get me enthused to teach in different ways. One of his main ideas is to be different; don’t always do the same thing. Maybe that was on my mind when I decided to use rhythm instruments in my group lessons.

After an unsuccessful search for an easy piano/rhythm band ensemble I could use in a group lesson without a lot of preparation, I wrote my own.  I arranged this specifically to be easy enough that they could be successful without having to practice, so please keep that in mind.

I  wrote the second piano part for an electric bass, which some students can play. This part can also be played on the piano, so I call it Piano 2 in the score. You can also use bells or any other tuned instrument, and it sounds fine to omit it.

The first group was my youngest students. They absolutely loved the instruments. But if you have ever used rhythm instruments with young children, you know what a challenge they are.  I didn’t mind that some of them could not play the written part and just played the steady beat.  I was surprised that a few of them actually followed the score. I let the little beginner on the bells shake them through the entire song rather than the way I wrote it in the score. No one in that group reads well enough for the piano part. I had to play by ear because I could not find the piano score! That seemed to amuse the young group.

The second group of 9 and 10-year-old students was absolutely the right age for this activity. Without any practice, (except for the Piano 1 part, which I gave to a 5th grader the week before) they were able to read the score and play the correct rhythm. We traded instruments and repeated it a few times. I am only sorry that I didn’t record it, because they did really well. The student playing the piano part was thrilled to be part of an ensemble.

After that, we changed directions and performed on the piano for each other using good performance skills. Everyone had learned a Christmas song or a favorite piece. That did not take too long and we went on to the next activity.

They had all been looking at the electric bass and wondering why it was there. We discussed the history of the electric bass and how it was like the double bass. I also got in some theory with the older groups, as we discussed the root of chords and how that is an easy way to play the bass. This is where taking our state theory exam really helped. I demonstrated with my meager guitar skills (Me on the electric bass, how funny was that!) and then let them all try it.

Our last activity was playing a Thanksgiving board game, with different level cards for each age group. I was relieved my students enjoyed the game because I had not tried it out with a group. Even my older students had fun and reviewed some theory at the same time. Finally, we just had enough time to pass out cookies and candy canes, and they all left happy.

Later I asked what was their favorite activity. Can you guess what it was? The rhythm instruments! So with that in mind, I am sharing my simple score with you. Feel free to change the instruments to whatever you have on hand, even homemade instruments.

Obviously you don’t need a score for this simple rhythm section, but my students found it interesting, and it helped me focus. If one of your students has a family member who can play the Piano 2 part on the electric bass or any other instrument, that would be really fun, especially for a Christmas recital! Please alert me if you find any mistakes in my score, as I don’t have an editor. Have fun and if you have a successful performance, let me know!

Silent Night Level 2

Silent Night

Each year I buy my students a Christmas book at their level or maybe just a little below their level. I want them to be able to learn them quickly, except for my older students who want to work on something longer.

One of my students had a book without Silent Night, so I made this for him. He was hesitant about the dotted quarter notes, but I told him to play like he sings it, and then it was fine. I have this little ditty that I sing, “The rhythm is the way the words go, yeah.”

Actually, I have plenty of time to teach him how to count, but for now I just want him to enjoy the seasonal music we all love.

When I made the art work, it had interesting textures that didn’t show up when I made it so tiny.  But at least it adds a little color.

I have a Primer/Level 1  version on my website, if this one is too hard.

Enjoy the season!

Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas

I don’t think too many of my students know this carol before I teach it to them. While I was doing research, I discovered it wasn’t in any of the many denominations of hymn books I have around my studio. I remember singing it in school and I always liked it.  But in today’s world, children are not exposed to Chrismas carols as I was growing up, so I like to teach them to my students.

Even though your students may not know it, they  love to hear about the good, kindly king who helped the poor man stay warm during the cold days of winter. It reminds us that not everyone is  as fortunate as most of us are.

This is a song with not very many skips, so you always find it in beginning level Christmas books. I shaded the left hand for the beginning students who have trouble knowing which hand to use. Notice that the left hand thumb is on B in my version, but the fingering  can  easily be changed.

Twelve Days of Christmas

Twelve Days of Christmas

This one took some time. It was hard for me to figure out how to write this  so that an older first year student could play it. (Young children don’t have the attention span for this version. Give them the two-verse pre-reading version I posted several years ago.) I didn’t want eighth notes, so I settled on the rhythm you can see above. When  played at a fast clip, it sounds correct.  All twelve verses are included.  It took forever to draw a partridge in a pear tree, but I managed to finally muster up something to add a little color to the page. My daughter drew the turtledoves on the last page.

I have included some finger numbers that are useful for such a long piece as this. The right hand thumb is on middle D, and the left hand thumb is on middle C.  I realize many beginning students are not comfortable with this hand position, so change it around if you need to.  However, more and more teachers are using method books that do not keep both thumbs on middle C, and finding  it is a lot more comfortable and easier to keep a rounded hand shape.

When my students play The Twelve Days of Christmas,  I  tell them to play only 6 verses, not the entire song if they plan to play it for family or friends. I’ve never listened to all 12 verses at a piano lesson, either. Let’s face it, this is a singing song, not really  piano playing music! But I’m posting it here because I could not find an easy version for a student who asked for it,  and I thought I would share it with you!

Light Up the Tree

WordPress, the host of this blog, has an interesting announcement. You can now sign up for email notices when there is a new post on my blog. Simply click on “Sign Me Up” on the right side of this page and follow the directions. I have had many teachers email me and ask if there was an easy way to receive email notification for new posts,  and now there is! This is different from the RSS subscription. By the way, I will never use your email address except to reply to a message you send me. I usually post several times a month and more often during certain times. If you get tired of the notifications you can easily unsubscribe. I subscribe to several blogs because sometimes I get busy and forget to check up on the lastest posts.

Light Up the Tree

I have made several coloring sheets for Christmas, but they only had notes around middle C. This one has the notes from bass C to treble C. I might have students color this while they wait on their siblings or use at a group lesson. One of my students didn’t know that Christmas lights could be in color since so many people use clear lights now!

Coming soon will be the same notes with a Chanukah theme. In the meantime, there is a Chanukah composing activity on my website.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas — Elementary

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

I arranged this a few years ago for a student who was in-between levels 1 and 2. We wanteds something a little more fancy than just the melody. I am posting it here to share with you. Over the summer I spruced it up a little. I added some color, put Santa on a diet,  and wrote the words to the second verse.

I have a set of jingle bells that I like to play during the introduction and coda while the student plays the song. They won’t miss the rhythm if they think “Jin-gle Bells -rest” as they play the first 3 measures. When the bass has the melody in measure 9, sometimes I’ll sing it as written, and sometimes up an octave with a funny voice. We get really silly and have lots of fun. You can also use it as a learning experience and discuss singing up and down octaves. While it’s old hat to us, it can be a new concept for our young students.

I was on vacation for a while and haven’t posted some of the things I worked on before I left. I have a few more Christmas solos that I hope to get up soon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all the teachers who have emailed me with comments and suggestions. It means a lot to me to hear from all of you!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas-Pre-reading

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Last year about this time I posted a pre-reading version of this well-known Christmas song. I had no idea that for many months it would be  the most popular download on my site! I’ve always heard that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. But since I post for educational purposes and not commercially,  I have removed the one I posted last year and replaced it with a new one, which you can see above.

In an effort to help students with learning problems, specifically visual tracking problems, and also to help very young students, I changed several things in this new version. I made the note heads bigger, which is quite easy to do in Finale, I color coded the notes. I always use a highlighter to do that anyway in the method books I use.  I added a light yellow background to help the student track which line he is on. While our older beginners without visual learning problems do not need this extra help,  we often forget what a challenge this is for most 4 and 5 year olds. I added art drawn by my talented daughter.

As a music educator with years of experience, I’m not going to get into a fight about pre-reading or the age students should start piano. Let me just say that students who start piano early with a good teacher who knows how to teach preschool children, have a much better sense of musicality than if they had started later. And while a lot of teachers despise pre-reading, when used correctly it is a great aid. Certainly we don’t want to use pre-reading when it is not necessary and we want to get to a real staff as soon as possible.  With my own students the rate varies from a week or two up to almost a year. I do not hesitate to take children with learning problems. Many of them have wonderful musicality in aspects of music besides simply learning to read. In the past many of  these children give up  thinking they could read music or become a musician because they were forced into learning just like our other students. Some of them became successful playing guitar by ear but never learned to read a note. One of the reasons I make so much of my own material is because it is designed for specific students. If one way doesn’t work, we try another.

I asked one of my adorable  students who has music reading problems if he has trouble reading a map. He admitted that he cannot read a map. I told him that I can’t either, but I get around just fine and never get lost. I have learned other ways to get around and I have a good sense of direction. Maps just look too confusing but I can tell you what is on the southwest corner of any intersection for miles around.  I can remember obscure history facts, but I don’t do well in visual memory games.   I had a terrible time learning how to read music, even though I was always several grades ahead in my reading group at school and I started first grade a year early because I was already reading books.  In piano I  could never remember which one was B or D, which one was G or F and ledger lines were torture.  I could not tell if the notes repeated. They seemed to jump around all over the page. Teachers constantly wrote that I was not working up to my potential. I have no idea why I have these odd strengths and weaknesses, but it really helps me understand the problems students have.  Fortunately I did master my music reading problems, and I did very well as a music major in college. Certainly ear training and sight singing were easy for me and music history was a breeze! I could remember who wrote everything and what year it was written.

Many piano teachers never had music reading problems, so they really don’t understand those of us who did. I tell my students  that we have to find other ways to learn to play piano because there are many ways to go about it. From the email that I get, there are many teachers who realize there is more than one way to learn to read music and the challenge is to make it enjoyable and musical.  One day we may unlock the secrets to learning. Today the challenge is not to give up OR to obsess about learning to read music, but to come up with different ideas to produce music literacy and give our students some space.

The next time you get a transfer student who can play but can’t read, don’t blame the previous teacher. She probably did the best she could; and some students take longer than others. Thank goodness we now realize that piano can be for everyone!

Musical Christmas Lights

Musical Christmas Lights

This is a bingo type game and students can win by covering three of the same color or you can play “black out”, depending on how much time you have.  There are 6 cards in the set, and you can print them all, or just one or two. The sheet probably has some things your beginning students don’t know such as the natural sign and the 16th note. In that case, for my beginning students, I’m just going to describe what the symbol looks like when I call out the name.  My idea is that if they start hearing the names of some of these symbols,  they will remember them better when they actually get to it.

I  made a sheet of 40 little ornaments with the symbols on it that you can cut out and either use as game pieces, or to draw and call out the symbol.  You can play the game with or without the little game pieces. If you do use these game pieces at a group lesson, be sure and print out enough for all the students.

Yesterday my students really enjoyed Peppermint Notes. I left off the line for Middle C. Did anyone notice? Maybe you can draw it in yourself with a red pen. The train you see in the photo is battery powered and cost $1.00. I let students play with it while they wait and for such a simple toy, they have a lot of fun.  It is what gave me the idea for a Christmas train composing sheet. My philosopy is that young children take piano for the train ride, not for the destination. That’s the opposite of how adults and a lot of teachers look at it. I just love teaching children!

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.