Simplified Piano "Come Follow Me" Songs for March

The Holy Ghost (I Can Play It) (Layton Music pg 81)

When I am Baptized (I Can Play It) (Layton Music pg 90) (Sing-a-long video)

Layton Music Melody OnlyVersion: Listen to the sing-a-long video and tap the rhythm using the correct hand.

Concepts: Fermata, 4ths, alternating hands melody, upbeat

When you look at the fermata sign from a bird's eye view it looks like a music conductor with their arms stretched out (the dot is the head, the curve is the arms and body of the person). Imagine she is holding up her arms to let you know to sing that note longer fer mater (for mother) until she finally gives a cut off cue with her hand telling you to stop.

I Can Play it Version:
Concepts: Fermata, Alignment with Arcs and Swoops

1. Divide the piece into 5 practice phrases, using punctuation as a guide.
2. Play an F Major Scale.  Mark the B flats throughout the piece.
3. Prep: Watch the Hanon-Faber Swoop Gesture 1 & 2 Videos and use the same swoop  motion when the melody goes up and arc when it goes down as you play the first 2 lines of the right hand of "When I am Baptized"
4. Learn the right hand paying close attention to fingering.
5. Play the left hand paying close attention to fingering.
6. Play the left hand as you sing the melody.
7. Play hands together slowly one section at a time and then the entire piece hands together.

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man (I Can Play It) (Sing-a-long-video)

Dare to do Right  (I Can Play It) (Sing-a-long video)

I Can Play It Version Concepts: Accompanying by Reading Primary Chord Symbols

1. Listen to the Sing-a-long video and color the  primary chord symbols
 (C-Red, F-Blue, G-Yellow) written above the music.
2. If a measure doesn't have a chord written above it, add in the last chord from the previous measure.
See Teaching Chords in Color

A Child's Prayer (Layton Music pg 16 & 17)

Related Posts:
Simplified Piano "Come Follow Me" Songs for January
Simplified Piano "Come Follow Me" Songs for February

Simplified Piano "Come Follow Me" Songs for February

Playing Chords Lead Sheet Style

As I've watched my son progress each year in his Let's Play Music class, I've been surprised at how even 5 year old students can learn to play their primary chords with ease as an accompaniment to their own singing.  I encourage my students to learn chords much earlier than they are introduced in most method books and use this process to help them play songs they are familiar with "lead sheet style."  

Good Better Best Melodic Dictation for Piano Students

What is one of the simplest ways to improve melodic dictation skills for piano students?

Simplified Piano "Come Follow Me" Songs for January

What will music help you remember this year?

I Will Walk With Jesus Simplified Piano with Teaching Strategies

I Will Walk With Jesus - Simple Piano

I loved hearing the new primary song for children "I Will Walk With Jesus" and wanted to make it a bit more accessible for my children and piano students to play at home.

Go and Do David Archuleta Piano Music

I can't wait to share this new song sung by David Archuleta with my piano students!  The sheet music and mp3 versions are available for free download at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Children and Youth Page.  Although some of the octave stretches are a bit too big for small hands, the chords written above allow students to practice reading chord symbols as they sing along even if they can't play the more difficult version. 
Related Posts:
"Go and Do" Chorus Simplified Piano Sheet Music

Count Your Blessings Free Printable Sheet Music Easy Piano

Last year I posted a variety of ways I used a simplified version of "Count Your Blessings" in my music studio and today I'm sharing a new free printable that is easy enough for young beginners to play on their own.

Gethsemane Simplified Piano Music Free Printable

As part of Holy Week leading up to Easter with our family we've been reading scriptures and singing songs about the week leading up to the resurrection resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ (see Easter Come Follow Me and Mercy River Holy Week for Teens). One of my favorite Easter songs is Gethsemane by Melanie Hoffman.

Intermediate Arrangements of Gethsemane

There are many vocal and choral arrangements available for purchase on her site, as well as an illustrated Gethsemane story book including sheet music.  Another favorite early intermediate arrangement of Gethsemane that I love to play is in Marshall McDonald's book Simply Sacred 2.

While this simplified version from The Friend is suitable for some intermediate-level students I wanted something accessible for my beginning piano students to play as well.

Festival Music Samples

I'm feeling invigorated after attending my first Music Teacher's Association in my new city of Rexburg.  I'm excited to join UVMTA and learn from so many talented teachers and workshops planned this year including Jason Lyle Black!  It was nice to hear a few samples of potential festival pieces played by different teachers in our area.  It reminded me of the Piano Listening Lab Assignment I made several years ago to help my students select pieces that they enjoy to prepare for festival while also honing their listening skills.
Another excellent resource for selecting festival pieces

Trepak Baseball - A Creative Way to Teach Form and Feeling the Beat

 Today I witnessed something amazing :) My son hopped on the piano bench this morning at 7 am to spontaneously practice.  Usually getting him to practice is more like pulling teeth, or once again reminding him of our rules "Yes you can play with friends, watch football, etc.. as soon as your practice and chores are done." My secret weapon: A Trepak duet.  We've been playing it together this week and he keeps coming back to it because it is so fun to play and it sounds impressive.

I came up with this movement activity to engage my preschoolers in some fun and slipped in a little training on form.  For older students I usually have them create musical maps  to understand and remember form in their pieces, but I think ramping up the movement makes it more memorable for the younger student, as well as allowing them to practice feeling the beat of the music.
As you listen to the music imagine a baseball player taking his turn at bat, running the bases, catching some fly balls and then coming back to bat to win the game.


Sing the words and do the actions indicated in italics.

1st Time at Bat (A) (Do actions on the strong beats)
Swing Swing(Pretend you are swinging a bat to hit the ball 2x in a row)
Run (Tiptoe run around the room or tap hands on lap to the beat like your hands are running)
Swing Swing (Repeat actions)
Run
Swing Swing
Run
Swing Swing
Run

Heading to the Outfield (B) - (Do actions during words in ALL CAPS)
HEADING to the OUTfield  (Point away from body)
REACHING for a FLY Ball(Reach with imaginary mitt for the ball)
STRETCH my MITT in TO the AIR
HEADING to the OUTfield (Repeat actions)
REACHING for a FLY Ball
STRETCH my MITT in TO the AIR
I Caught One! I Caught One! (Bring hand to palm as if catching the ball)
I Caught One! I Caught One!
We get to go to bat again.(Cheering motions with arms)

2nd Time at Bat (A1)
Swing Swing
Run
Swing Swing
Run, Run, Run (faster and faster)
We Won!

Once the children have mastered the actions you could further expand their listening skills by having them count how many times they "Swing," listen for what new instruments begin to play on the later "swings" during the first time at bat, compare and contrast the 1st time at bat to the 2nd time at bat.

Part 6: Teaching Rhythm Through Song

4 Creative Ways to Improve Rhythm Through Song

1.  Add lyrics to sing to wordless songs or tricky rhythm passages

Caterpillars and Spiders= Rhythmic Success!

Recently my son was learning struggling to accurately play the eighth note rhythms in "Theme and Variation" (Piano Adventures Performance Book 2A).  I sung some impromptu lyrics to help fix the problem.
In contrast to the steady quarter note theme ("A spi-der bit my nose----- off")
the variation changes to eighth notes ("A cat-er-pill-ar bit my nose----- off")
Singing lyrics that matched the rhythm fixed the problem immediately and the quirky lyrics made the rhythm unforgettable. "A caterpillar bit my nose off, than a caterpillar bit my toe.  I think I want to make some caterpillar stew.  Would you like some stew too?"
Although I also teach numeric counting as well (4, 1+,2+,3 4, 1-2), for many students adding lyrics to match the rhythms is much more effective.   Suzuki style "Pepperoni Pizza" scales, Piano Safari "Zechariah Zebra" Technique Songs and the Piano Adventures 2A "Famous People" piece that pair rhythm with familiar words are powerful tools to aid in rhythm development.


2.  Encourage rhythm compositions introducing the sounds of rhythms before they encounter them in their music.
Layton Music Candy Bar Rhythms - Challenge students to compose a Candy Bar Melody using all of the candy bar rhythm cards.  The lyrics for me would be something like this "My favorite candy is not Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch or Reeses Peanut Butter.  Twix and Milky Way both taste great, but I like Snickers best!" I'll have to admit that my less creative compositional mind keeps on reverting to the tune of the "Old Gray Mare."

Or you could try a variation to match the interests of your students
Animals: Bear(quarter), Lion (2 eighths), Alligator (4 sixteenths)
Bugs: Bug(quarter), Bee-tle (2 eighths), Cat-er-pill-ar (4 sixteenths) (Let's Play Music)
Pies: Mince (quarter), Ap-ple (2 eighths), Hu-ckle-ber-ry (4 sixteenths), Rasp-ber-ry
Candy Bars: Twix(quarter), Snick-ers (2 eighths), Butter-finger (4 sixteenths) Layton Candy Bar Rhythm Cards
Another great resource is the Teach Piano Today "Trash to Treasure" Composition activity.

3.  Teach Rhythm Names through song.
Songs can also serve as a mnemonic device to help students remember the names of notes and rests.
Note Names - Piano Adventures Primer "Quarter Note"  It's got a head and a stem and its all colored in.
Rests - Music k8.com Give it a Rest  

4. Spice up (Boring) Scales by Singing and Playing Rhythm Variations
Instead of playing a 1 8va ascending scale with quarter notes, challenge students to play a "Twix, Snickers, Butterfinger, Twix"  or "Caterpillar, Bug, Beetle, Bug"variation.  The possibilities are endless with a little imagination.

Related Posts:
Post 1: Teaching Basic Keyboard Concepts Through Song
Post 2: Teaching Technique Through Song
Post 3: Chord Progressions and Transposition
Post 4:  Ear Training Through Song
Post 5: Theory and Tempo

Part 5 Songs for Teaching Theory and Tempo - The Value of Singing at Piano Lessons

Teaching Theory and Tempo Through Song 

Singing is a fabulous mnemonic device.  I've made up songs to help my kids memorize scriptures,  multiplication tables, the scout law and spelling words.  And sometimes I even have to sing the joy school song I learned as a child to help them remember the family rules... "We never step on furniture (repeated), when we're in the Neal House.  This is a rule in the Neal House (repeated), that helps us all to be happy."  So when my students were forgetting the meaning of the time signature or tempo terms, I created some lyrics to help.

 Theory
Time Signature: Time Signature Song Lyrics
Tonic/Dominant: FaberTonic up to dominant and leading tone to C
Decrescendo/Crescendo  Music K-8.com 
Chord Inversions: Let's Play Music Orange Roots Demo Video Tempo
Adagio/Allegro:"Adagio Play Slow" Song  or "A leg grows Quick!  Allegro's Quick! (Sung to 3 Blind Mice
Presto/Largo: Music K-8.com

What songs have you used to teach theory?

Related Posts:
Post 1: Teaching Basic Keyboard Concepts Through Song
Post 2: Teaching Technique Through Song
Post 3: Chord Progressions and Transposition
Post 4: Ear Training Through Song
Post 5: Teaching Tempo and Theory through Song
Post 6: Teaching Rhythm through Song
Post 7: Teaching Music History through Song

Part 4 Ear Training: The Value of Singing at Piano Lessons

Ear Training
 Unfortunately, ear training is one aspect of music lessons that is often neglected.  Since I started using Music Progressions as the framework for my curriculum, I've introduced ear training concepts much early then I was taught them.  Following are a few ideas of how to use singing to solidify early ear training concepts.

The Value of Singing at Piano Lessons: Part 2 Teaching Keyboard Skills through Song

Keyboard Skills Songs

Post 2:
 Some students tend to confuse the names of keyboard skills (scale, arpeggio, chord progression, etc.), but ever since I read a helpful blog post a few years ago,

The Value of Singing at Piano Lessons: Beginning Concepts (Part 1 in a Series of Posts)

 Singing is such a powerful tool to accelerate learning and reinforce musical concepts in piano lessons, and yet I don't recall any of my teachers singing at piano lessons, and I'm pretty sure they never asked me to do it.  Honestly, I used to be a little hesitant to do it myself with my students, because although I can sing on pitch and have sung in multiple choirs, I'd rather be the one hiding behind the keys than belting out a vocal solo.  But the past few years, I've stretched outside my comfort zone and asked my students to do a little stretching as well.  This series of posts will  highlight different resources and methods of using singing to accelerate learning during piano lessons.

Musical Storytime: "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "Berlioz the Bear"

After reading the delightful story of a bear with a buzzing bass ("Berlioz the  Bear" by Jan Brett) with my preschooler we decided to listen to his performance song, "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov


Boogie Style

Music of Thanksgiving and Gratitude

 It seems like the stores skip straight from Halloween to Christmas and don't place a lot of emphasis on Thanksgiving, yet I love the yearly reminder of giving thanks and want to cultivate an attitude of gratitude within my children, as it is so easy for us to forget our many blessings.  Following are a few songs that I have used in my piano studio and home approaching the Thanksgiving Season.
For Health and Strength  - a short one line round perfect for siblings to practice in duet or round form
I remember singing this song often at church as a young child.  It was probably my first exposure to singing in a round.  One evening as I was gathered in the bathroom with several of my siblings to brush our teeth, someone broke into song.  We had a memorable and jovial impromptu choir practice in front of the bathroom mirror as we practiced conducting with exaggerated motions to cue each new part and sing this song with multiple rounds.  Now when I hear this song it makes me think of the blessing it was to grow up in a home full of siblings (there were 6 of us) surrounded by love.  I am thankful for parents who took me to church regularly and filled my life with music that helps me remember the Lord.  Following are a few of my favorites.
My Heavenly Father Loves Me I love the soothing melody line in this song!
Thanks to Our Father - Haydn + Robert Louis Stevenson
Family Prayer     Sometimes we use this as an attention getter to gather our own 6 squirmy children for prayer.
 Children All Over the World  As a child I was intrigued by the challenge of learning to say thank you in many different languages when I was taught to sing this song.
Hymn of Grateful Praise and  various arrangements by Sally Deford
This year I accompanied my daughter this year as she sang her first solo in church - "Come Thou Fount".  One of my piano students who was in the congregation called me afterward and asked what the name of the song was because she loved it so much.  The level of difficulty was beyond her reach, but since she was so enthused about learning it, after she mastered the melody line, I had her identify the chords in the harmony and showed her some tricks for improvising it to her level.
All Things Bright and Beautiful - simple arrangement by Susan Paradis
This week I was asked to give a short talk (sermon) on the topic of gratitude.  It was the perfect topic for me because its something that I need to work on.  It is easy for me to be honest, to be obedient, but being grateful and optimistic is a continual challenge.  I want to be more like Job who after having most of his temporal blessings stripped from him was still able to say

·       " Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."

I I love the reminder in this short video of a simple daily exercise that can help me live in thanksgiving daily... not just as I approach Thanksgiving.

I

As I watch "My New Life," the story of Stephanie Nielsen, a young mother who survived a plane crash, it chokes me up almost everytime.  Maybe its because I'm still in the phase of life with precious little children at home to care for who have many needs and yet who are the joy and delight of my life.  The background music is beautiful and it reminds me of the amazing husband I am privileged to share this life together with.

Where is One? Teaching Finger Numbers

Sing this and use the actions for "Where is Thumbkin" to help your child learn finger #s. Finger 1 is the thumb, Finger 2 is pointer, etc. Rather than making a fist and trying to hold up just one finger, have the student tap the finger named on their lap or a tabletop like they would if playing a piano key.

"Where is One, Where is One, (Hide hands behind back)
Here I am ( pull out right hand, set hands on lap in a rounded position and tap your thumb on its side tip)
Here I am (pull out left hand, ...)
How are you today sir? (Tap right thumb)
Very well I thank you (Tap left thumb)
Run away ( Hide right hand behind back)
Run away( Hide left hand behind back)

Repeat with all fingers only play on the fingertip (not the side tip).

Adding a finger puppet or this finger toy I recently found at "Dollar Tree" just adds to the fun.

Adagio Teaching Tip

Have your students ever confused tempo terms like Adagio, Allegro, Andante etc.?  I decided that I needed to change my teaching approach when introducing terms to help make them more memorable from the start & this music makes the perfect memory aid.  The haunting melody of this "Ghost Waltz" by Edwin McLean (In FJH Federation Favorites Book 2) kept running through my mind after I played it so I added some repetitious lyrics to review "Adagio".


1.  Play the song as student tiptoes around the studio on beat downbeat of each measure.
2.  Sing some repetitious lyrics  with some extra expression on the long notes
"A daaaaaaaaaaaa  gi oooooooooooo  Play Slooooooooooooow,"
Adagio play slow
Adagio, Adagio, Adagio Play slow.( Repeat)
3.  Divide up the lyrics having the student sing "Adagio" and teacher sing "Play Slow"

For a contrast then play "Ramblin'Rails" by Melody Bober (FJH Federation Favorites Book 1) adding the lyrics "In a race your LEGs run quickly aLEGro means fast" to the first few lines.
Can you say that tongue twister 3 times fast?

Fun animated elementary music videos

Major/minor





Treble Clef (Piano Discoveries)


The Cool Bass Clef





Quarter Note Song