While not originally associated with Christmas, “What Child Is This?” and many other holiday carols are set to this English folk melody. The beautiful, lilting tune is arranged here with a simple, single-note bass line accompaniment. Greensleeves lends itself well to teaching a new pianist about dotted quarter note rhythms and minor melodies.
A Christmas favorite arranged with jazzy flair! First- or second-year students with a solid grasp of rhythm and note reading will love learning this performance-ready rendition filled with syncopation, staccatos, and mini chromatic passages. Jingle Bell Jazz is an excellent choice for beginner students performing at a Christmas recital or for their families during the holiday season.
Deck the Halls is a popular Christmas carol even among young pianists. The familiar tune is a great tool for teaching dotted quarter note rhythms. Written in C Major position (with some RH movement), this arrangement is perfect for a beginner playing at their first Christmas recital.
“Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races” is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster. This arrangement captures the excitement of old-time horse races and teaches dotted quarter note rhythms, arpeggio fingering (RH), and LH/RH coordination while playing different articulations and rhythms. (Lyrics have been adapted slightly.)
The Cradle Song melody by William Kirkpatrick celebrates the arrival of the baby Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem. This arrangement is perfect for a beginner student’s first Christmas performance, with a single-note melody, an 8va repeat, and a few harmonies at the finish.
The catchy melody of this western American folk ballad adds levity to the sad tale of a young Clementine drowning and her lonely miner father joining her. Their story lives on, and poor Clementine is not forgotten! Each verse of this arrangement builds in complexity with added accompaniment and stronger dynamics until the final, softly echoed refrain.
This traditional English nursery rhyme dates back at least to the 1600s. Each verse suggests a new way to “fix London Bridge”, although nothing seems to work! This arrangement teaches I/V7 chords and helps beginner students recognize parallel motion versus contrary motion.
A playful-sounding French Canadian children’s song arranged in swinging sing-song style for beginner piano. The melody in this arrangement occasionally hops back and forth from right hand to left hand, just like the subject of the song (the morning lark). For non-French speakers, the lyrics speak of revenging oneself against the lark, who interrupts sleep and represents gossip, mistrust, and bad news!
This arrangement comes in two different versions: one in C Major and one transposed to G Major. The Single-User License is available in either key. The Studio License comes with both versions.
In this traditional arrangement, the heavenly hosts can be heard in joyous salute heralding the first Christmas. Perfect for a first-year student as a solo recital piece or simply to celebrate the season.
Most new pianists want to play this Beethoven piece but aren’t prepared for the difficulty of the original composition. This early intermediate level arrangement is of the entire piece – not just the main theme! – which makes it an excellent choice for a recital performance. Carefully written to match the integrity of Beethoven’s work, this arrangement allows pianists to perform Beethoven now while developing essential skills for the future mastery of Beethoven’s masterpieces.
BONUS: Because the largest harmonic interval is a Major 6th, pianists with small hands can easily play this without sacrificing musicality or altering chords.
French for “moonlight”, Clair de Lune is an example of true musical beauty. Unlike many other simplified arrangements, this version is intentionally written in the original key of D-flat Major to keep its beautiful shimmering color. It includes the initial well-known main theme (in its simple beauty, with minimal changes) as well as part of the secondary moving theme, making it an excellent choice for a recital performance piece for the early intermediate level pianist.
This crackerjack Tin Pan Alley song is all about the great American game of baseball. This beginner arrangement will get you into the spirit for the next baseball season so that you’re ready to root, root, root for the home team!
This American spiritual has been arranged in many different ways over the years. This particular arrangement maintains a march-like religious feel in keeping with one of the song’s most popular styles.
This spirited American patriotic march is a great piece for a developing pianist to master. In this arrangement, the right hand carries the energetic melody while the left hand plays in steady march style accompaniment.
Enjoy this FREE Halloween- and autumn-related image that helps new musicians identify their basic rhythms! This hand-drawn image helps with recognition of basic rhythms, including whole, half, and quarter notes and rests.
Comes as two PDF digital downloads: one with American standard terms (whole, half, quarter) and a second one using UK/International rhythm terms (semibreve, minim, crotchet).
This Product comes with a studio license that allows you as a teacher to share this copy with any number of your own students through the coming years. May not be shared with other teachers or non-students.
Get 10 Color By Note images in the Halloween Bundle!
Enjoy this FREE Halloween image that helps new musicians identify their bass clef note names! This hand-drawn image helps with recognition of the Bass Clef notes Middle C, B, A, G, and F.
Comes as two PDF digital downloads: one with American spelling (“Color”) and a second one with UK/Australian spelling (“Colour”).
This Product comes with a studio license that allows you as a teacher to share this copy with any number of your own students through the coming years. May not be shared with other teachers or non-students.
Get 10 Color By Note images in the Halloween Bundle!
Enjoy this FREE Halloween- and autumn-related image that helps new musicians identify their treble clef note names! This hand-drawn image helps with recognition of the Treble Clef notes Middle C, D, E, F, and G. These notes appear as different note values (whole, half, or quarter notes) for an added challenge.
Comes as two PDF digital downloads: one with American spelling (“Color”) and a second one with UK/Australian spelling (“Colour”).
This Product comes with a studio license that allows you as a teacher to share this copy with any number of your own students through the coming years. May not be shared with other teachers or non-students.
Get 10 Color By Note images in the Halloween Bundle!
Celebrate Halloween with 10 “Color By Note” music theory pages of Halloween- and autumn-related images to help musicians identify note names and rhythm values!
All images are hand-drawn and have been enthusiastically received by students in my own music studio and others.
UK/International Terms version available (see below).
Bundle includes:
* 5 note-name images have only one note value while the other 4 images include various note values for an added challenge.
All theory pages are in black & white / grayscale. No color ink required. (Color ink recommended for printing Answer Key.)
This Product comes with a studio license that allows you as a teacher to share these pages with any number of your own students through the coming years. May not be shared with other teachers or non-students.
One of the most well-known Christmas carols in the modern world, Jingle Bells is played at almost every Christmas piano recital anywhere. With the verse in Middle C Position and the chorus in C Major Position, this classic take on Jingle Bells is ideal for beginners learning to navigate their way around the keys.
Soft, broken chords and a sad refrain paint a picture of lonesome beauty in this 3-page piano solo. The melody passes from treble to bass with continual flowing accompaniment and develops a progressively deeper tone over the course of the piece before ultimately dying away.
This arrangement of Marche Slave introduces Serbo-Russian and minor sounds to new pianists. The bold, patriotic main theme is featured prominently with compelling dynamics and a climactic finish.
By the soft light of a moonlit night, a melancholy strain resonates through a quiet cemetery as a lonely soul caresses the black and white keys. This technical composition is filled with broken chords led primarily by the Left Hand with cross-staff slurs for a more fluid movement.
Worried that others wouldn’t take him seriously, Saint-Saëns requested this entire humorous suite be published only after his death. This arrangement of the suite’s finale gives early beginner pianists a taste of how dramatic, crazy, and fun classical music really can be.
There’s no good morning greeting quite like “Morning Mood” from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite I. This arrangement includes an uncluttered melody with soft thirds and chords in the accompaniment to ease listeners into wakefulness, just like the morning rays.