Free Simplified Piano Easter Arrangements

As I opened my inbox this morning to discover this powerful Easter message of inspiration from Russell M Nelson, I realized that I had missed the opportunity to send my piano students home with their favorite Easter music arrangements before spring break.😞 But they can click the links below and print from home if desired.  

Intermediate Piano Concept Tutorial Videos

I love using a flipped learning approach in piano lessons. 

During piano lab,  having students watch quick video clips about musical concepts is a great way to introduce or review concepts.

Having students preview concepts in advance allows for more repertoire focus during private lessons and accelerates learning with repetition.

Below are some great intermediate level piano video resources.

Lengthy explanations can quickly bore students and adults! I find the most effective videos are multi-sensory, brief, and use simple language. Here are several I have hand-picked after browsing hundreds of tutorials on YouTube.

Intermediate Music Theory Terms and Signs Videos

CK Tempo -  brief definitions of rit. ritard. rallentando, repeat, staccato and slur

"I Can Do All Things With Christ" Simplified Piano Lead Sheet

Introducing piano students to lead sheets and lyric sheets empowers them to play their favorite pop songs with greater ease. 

Instead of playing complicated left-hand accompaniment patterns, lead sheets allow students to ease into a piece by starting with simpler root notes in the bass and gradually working up to more sophisticated rhythms or chords if desired.

I remember the frustration as a younger pianist trying to play accompanist versions of my favorite Christian songs but being frustrated because it's hard to play 3 parts with only 2 hands! 

And without the melody line that is often omitted in the accompanist part, the song does not satisfy... unless you sing along!

I created this simplified excerpt of "I Can Do All Things With Christ" (the 2023 youth theme song from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Now my students can enjoy playing the piece while learning some basic skills for arranging and playing from a lead sheet. The original version is available for free download so students can compare the scores and spot the differences. It pairs perfectly with the Greensleeves lead sheet in Piano Adventures 3A, giving students extra practice reading a lead sheet.

I Can Do All Things With Christ

The following steps can be applied to create lead sheets from other pieces.

• Start with the melody only from a part of the song. You can play just the theme or chorus without having to arrange the whole piece.
• Double the value of the rhythms if needed to make it simpler to read (quarter notes become half notes, half notes become whole notes).
• Transpose to a different key if needed to make it easier to play. (For example to change a piece in B to C, move every note up a half step to avoid having to play a lot of sharps!)
• Add chord symbols. If not included in the original song, analyze the bass notes to figure out which chord to use. You can also play I, IV or V chords and listen to which sounds best in each measure or phrase.
• Experiment with different bass styles (root only, blocked chord, broken chord, syncopated rhythms, open intervals, etc.). 
• Lead sheets give you the flexibility to imitate the style of the original or create your version.

For example, by playing broken intervals in Forrest Gump style, the Piano Guys transformed this traditional classical piece into a more modern version.

Ode to Joy Piano Guys

And Row Your Boat is definitely different than the version you sang in preschool! 

They took the liberty of changing up the bass pattern.

Row Your Boat Piano Guys

For more practice playing from lead sheets, check out this great selection of familiar tunes in lead sheet format from Piano Song Download.

More Sacred Music Free Printables and Resources

Gethsemane Simplified Piano Lead Sheet

Our Prayer to Thee Piano Solo

I Will Walk With Jesus Simplified Piano Lead Sheet

Simply Sacred Piano Solos by Marshall McDonald

Resources for Teaching Piano Arpeggios

This month my piano students will be completing an Arpeggio Challenge to boost their skills and understanding of this fundamental pattern that comes up in music over and over. 

While prepping for our piano arpeggio-themed group lesson I discovered some new arpeggio resources and revisited some of my favorites from the past.

Piano Accompaniment Patterns for Left Hand

 Playing with a lead sheet gives you the power of choice to stylize songs however you like.

And there are so many options! Listen to a few below. Then choose some of your favorites to use as you accompany the melodies of simple folk or Christmas songs you already know.

Block Chords: Stacked up Like a Snowman

Hey Ho Nobody Home 

Block Chords with Syncopated Rhythm: Bop di Bop

Duke of York Strut (in Piano Adventures 2B Lesson Book)

Broken Chords: Oom-Pah

Jingle Bells

Alberti Bass: Bottom Top Middle Top

Alberti Bass Two Minute Tip

Broken Intervals: Chord Pieces

Piano Guys All Good (sheet music in Lullaby book)

Forrest Gump Style: Interrupting Eighths

Piano Guys Ode to Joy (sheet music in Lullaby book)

Alberti + Broken Intervals + Forrest Gump

Row Your Boat Piano Guys (sheet music in Lullaby book)

Bluesy 5-6 Swing Beetles

Don't Wanna Leave You Blues by Martha Mier (in Jazz Rags & Blues Book 1)

Bluesy Swayin' 1-5-6

Ol' Rockin' Chair Blues  (in Jazz Rags & Blues Book 1)

Going Further:

Watch the following videos if you'd like to learn more left-hand styles and see them in action.

Pianonote 3 Easy Left Hand Patterns (Broken Intervals, 1 8va Arpeggio Variations)

Tutorial with sample at the end (8:20).

100 Left-Hand Patterns Book by Gerald Simon shows so many different ways left-hand patterns can stylize your music. 

Watch the  Left-Hand Patterns Workshop by Gerald Simon to see a few in action.

Some of the products linked in my posts may be affiliate links, earning me a small commission on any products purchased via that link.

12 Days of Halloween Piano Free Printable Rhythm Dictation Activity

Listen to the 12 Days of Halloween.

12 Days of Halloween with Lyrics

12 Days of Halloween Piano Version

Print the 12 Days of Halloween Free Printable.

Can you dictate rhythm patterns below each picture? Hint: 3 Black Cats= 3 Quarter Notes

1-Owl in a Rotten Oak Tree

2-Two Trick or Treaters

3-Three Black Cats

4- Four Skeletons

5- Five Scary Spooks

6- Six Goblins Gobbling

7- Seven Pumpkins Glowing

8- Eight Monsters Shrieking

9- Nine Ghosts a Booing

10- Ten Ghouls a Groaning

11- 'leven Caskets Creaking

12 Bats a Flying

Challenge: Can you change the "12 Days of Christmas" into the "12 Days of Halloween" by transposing it to the Relative Minor key? (Music on "Making Music Fun")

1- Add a flat to the 3rd and 6th notes of the scale.  Remember to check the key signature!

2-Change the melody rhythms to match the Halloween lyrics. For example "Halloween" has more syllables than "Christmas" so change the quarter note in the first measure to an eighth note.

3-For an easier version add primary chord symbols (i, iv or V) above each measure and play as a lead sheet instead of playing the left hand as written. 

Hint: Owl in a Rotten Oak Tree= i-iv-i-V-I

Free Piano Improvisation Printable: Who Can Sail Without Wind?

If your piano lessons are focused on just reading music from the method books, improvisation can feel a bit scary. Some students are so stuck to the printed page they are scared to make mistakes.

This is similar to reading a speech from a script. But with a little guidance, exploring improvisation can be much more exciting than a speech read just like hearing a speech given from the heart can be more engaging than a recited speech from memory.