Robert Schumann wrote this piece as a birthday present for his oldest daughter Marie.
Label the form in your music of The Merry Farmer by Robert Schumann as you listen to the performance video.
Following are sample videos of pieces from Marshall McDonald's Simply Sacred Series or you can view my Simple Sacred Playlist which includes a few other arrangments I created of favorite Sacred Songs.
I love the calm simplicity of the Christmas music in Simply Sacred arranged by Marshall McDonald!
Here are a couple of videos of me sightreading the music so students can choose from their favorites. Planning to add more soon!
Infant Holy aka Stars Were Gleaming
II like to pair the Do You Hear What I Hear? activity with some mini m&ms and beat boards so students can use tactile objects to represent subdivisions of the rhythm patterns.
Elementary: Quarter Half and Whole Notes
Late Elementary: Quarter Half, Whole and Eighth Notes
Early Intermediate: Quarter, Half, Whole, dotted Quarter and Eighth Notes
Intermediate: 6/8 Time Signature: Eighths, Dotted Eighths, Quarters, Dotted Quarters
This classic Christmas piece is a student favorite! The repetitive rhythm can stick in your mind for hours but also makes a great springboard of ideas for improvising.
Elementary: Follow Directions on Carol of the Bells Improv Sheet by Chrissy Ricker
Late Elementary: Guess the Theme and Variation Card used as you listen to musical excerpts played by the teacher
Intermediate: Create Your Own Variation Using at least 3 Theme and Variation Cards. You can learn more details about some possibilities like Carol of the Scales, Lullaby of the Bells or Carol of the Pirates on my earlier post about Composing and Improvising: Free Resources for December.
The free printable Christmas Jumbles and Christmas Name that Tune Sightreading pages by Chrissy Ricker also make great audiation practice as well. Can you name or unscramble the tune measures by looking at the notes and hear the music in your head without playing it?
Split Second is a fun game I picked up from the thrift store and repurposed for music lessons. Students race to write their answers on their paddles and earn points for correct answers and speed using samples from this YouTube Name that Christmas Tune collection of carols.
Sight-reading has never been something I feel is my musical superpower so I am always eager to find more tips on developing this skill.
Today I was so excited to watch a piano webinar hosted by the Curious Piano Teachers featuring Paul Harris to learn some new ideas regarding this topic. I also hoped to pick up some practical tips to help my piano students sight-read with fluency and confidence too.
December is such a perfect month to inspire imaginative creating and composing!
.png "Free Piano Composing and Improvising Ideas for December")
Piano students are eager to play their favorite Christmas songs and this provides a perfect springboard for ideas as they arrange, improvise or even compose music that creates the magical feelings of snowfall or Christmas wishes and giving. Which one will be your favorite?
Selecting the right level of intermediate piano music for students that they are excited to play can be challenging. Jane Magrath's Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature is a great resource, but I like having a list of repertoire that is more student-friendly for browsing.
I was delighted to discover the new 2024 Youth theme song for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now on the Sacred Music app. The vocal solo/piano sheet music is in a different key than the music on the app, but I love how it includes chord symbols so my piano students can play the melody over varying levels of left-hand accompaniments.
This post includes plans for my Halloween piano group lesson for late elementary piano students.
Review Treble Spaces with Treble FACE Video. Move your hands up in the air on an "imaginary staff" as you chant F A C E.
.png)
Selecting the right level of intermediate piano music for students that they are excited to play can be challenging. Jane Magrath's Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature is a great resource, but I like having a list of repertoire that is more student-friendly for browsing.
Selecting the right level of intermediate piano music for students that they are excited to play can be challenging. Jane Magrath's Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature is a great resource, but I like having a list of repertoire that is more student-friendly for browsing.
Selecting the right level of intermediate piano music for students that they are excited to play can be challenging. Jane Magrath's Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature is a great resource, but I like having a list of repertoire that is more student-friendly for browsing.
Choose one of the improvisation activities below to learn to create spooky-sounding music that is perfect for Halloween!
Create your own melodies on the black keys exploring some of the options below.
This post includes activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson #30.
This post contains activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson #29.
Watch the videos about time signatures if needed to help you complete the theory pages.
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 27.
I love planning creative activities like composition and improv to use with my piano students in music lessons. Although I had no formal training in music composition, I have discovered many valuable resources that I've used with my students over the years to help keep their creative juices flowing.
I'm excited to serve as the Assistant Composition Festival Chair for the Upper Valley Music Teacher's Association and plan to share a post about themed resources every month that music teachers can use with their students. While most activities are designed for pianists, I'll also include some resources that can be used for string players or other instrumentalists.
Beginning to compose can be a bit intimidating for many students (and teachers😉) so I like to start with bite-size motifs using a game approach to take the pressure off. This Scale Degrees Gameboard Free Printable) can be used as a quick lesson starter when paired with any of the seasonal rhythm pattern cards from the Free Improvisation printables on the Teach Piano Today blog. For example the TPT Back to School Improv includes rhythm pattern cards like "leaky lunchbox," "make new friends," "running for the bus," etc.
To play, first choose a major or minor scale. The teacher and student (or 2 students) sit at the piano (or other instrument), take turns rolling a die, and move their marker around the game board (removable sticky flags) as they improvise short musical melody ideas on their instrument using notes from the chosen scale. To ramp up the difficulty more advanced students could also add chords for harmony.
For each spot they land on, they create a musical motif starting with the scale degree note and matching the rhythm. For example, if a player lands on dominant using the C major scale they create a musical idea that starts with G (dominant) as they say the phrase from the rhythm pattern card they chose.
This game cleverly introduces the intermediate concept of scale degree names, while allowing the teacher to model rhythms and musical ideas and let the student try them out in a no fear of failure approach. The winner is the first one to reach the end of the board. For a twist you could choose a "magic degree" and let players roll again if they land on that scale degree.
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 26.
Watch the PianoAnne Circle of 5ths Video to learn more about sharp key signatures.
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 25.
Click Teoria.com Cadences to listen to the samples of different types of cadences.
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 24 Carnival of the Animals.
Listen to the Classics for Kids podcast about Saint Saens or watch the Short Biography
about his life.
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 24.
Watch the Piano Anne Video About Relative Keys.
Watch the Winter Song Video to hear the difference between 4/4 and 6/8 Time Signatures.
Pronto 2 Medley of Scottish and Irish Tunes
Discovering Piano Mysterious Traveler
Discovering Piano From Foreign Lands and People
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 23.
Watch the 6/8 Time Signature Explanation Video.
Then practice clapping 6/8 Rhythm patterns along with this video.
Listen to the Classics for Kids podcast About Tchaikovsky or watch the Short Bio Video about his life.
Click each video below to hear music composed by Romantic composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Dance of Little Swans Line Rider
This post includes piano lab activities that correlate with Let's Play Music Bridge Lesson 22.
Listen to this version of Camptown Races.
Listen to the Classics for Kids Podcast About Brahms as you do the online Brahms Coloring page.
Listen to the music samples below composed by Brahms.
