Fundamental Music Instruction Piano
Welcome to the Fundamental Music Instruction First Songs for Band a beginner s starter kit The goal of this booklet (and the Supplement Book) is to help the very beginning student explore the first sounds, begin a study of basic rhythmic playing, learn to play in a smooth, pleasing fashion and master several notes appropriate for this level of study To make the most progress possible, a student must find a quiet place to practice and get in the habit of truly listening to the sounds being produced Learning to critique one s sound is the best tool for building a lasting mastery of musicianship on every level The music in this book is sequential from initial sounds to songs that are appropriate for the first performance It is designed to go along ith the Supplementary Workbook so students should ork through both books together many concepts are repeated from book to book to help reinforce important aspects of musical development Ed Kelly, Fundamental Music Instruction Administrator
Classroom Classroom Piano Piano -Due to its versatility, portability, and the fact that it can be used to play almost any type of music, the Piano/Keyboard is one of the most popular instruments to learn ho to play Whether you're interested in folk, country, rock, jazz, or any number of other musical styles, learning ho to play the Piano/Keyboard can give you the ability to play and perform your favorite songs, or even rite some of your on But just like any instrument (or anything orth learning for that matter), learning to play the Keyboard can take a good deal of patience, perseverance, and good oldfashioned practice For those ho stick ith it, though, learning ho to play the piano can be an extremely rearding experience and can provide endless hours of personal enjoyment AAsuccessful program at the begginning level should able tobedoable theto folloing: successfulexiting studentthis exiting this program at the begginning levelbeshould do the folloing: 1 Identify and/or define basic terms related to Piano and music notation 2 Sit ith proper playing position as described in the Supplementary Workbook 3 Play C position using the right hand 44 Play in several hand positions using the left hand: C position Middle C position G position and D position Begin by using 1 note per each hand Use harmony parts caled 2nds thirds and chords Strive for rhythmic independence beteen hands (combine notes of diffent speeds) Read and understand Chromatic notes (sharps and flats) that move notes to black keys Playith ithefficient, efficient,accurate accuratetempo tempocontol contol(evenly (evenlytimed timedbeat beat notes) notes) 55 Play Playith ithconsistent, consistent,robust robusttone toneatatapropriate apropriatevolumes volumes(dynamics) (Dynamics) 66 Play Changebeteen beteenhand handpositions positionsininmid midsong song 77 Change 8 Connect musical phrases I a smooth style (legato) 8 Connect musical phrases I a smooth style (legato) 9 Perform level-appropriate repertoire accurately 9 Perform level-appropriate repertoire accurately 10 Sight-readith ithaccurate accuraterhythm, rhythm,pitches, pitches,and anddynamics dynamics 10Sight-read 11 Exhibit proper, efficient practice techniques 11Exhibit proper, efficient practice techniques Things Thingsto toremember Remember: 1 Keep your fingernails short by trimming them regularly This ill allo your fingers to hold don the notes easier and produce a better sound 2 There is a good deal of coordination required to play to hands together be patient and diligent and progress ill be made 3 Take some time in beteen lessons to make sure that you've mastered each part Practice each lesson for a fe minutes before moving on to the next
Finding Keys A P Piano/keyboard uses 7 letters to identify notes - these are set up in patterns and ith a little practice you ill be able t simply press a key and identify it ithout thinking In class e ill normally use a keyboard and although the letters on a piano are A B C D E F and G a keyboard starts it s musical alphabet on C (C D E F G A B C ) To find all the C notes on the Piano notice the pattern of black keys There is a group of 2 then 3 then 2 then 3 and so on All of the C notes are to the left of each group of 2 black keys Practice locating them on your keyboard D is in the middle of each group of 2 black keys E is to the right of the2 black key groups F is to the left of each 3 black key group G is in beteen the 1 st 2 black keys in each group of 3 Remember there is no H in the musical alphabet so the next key to the right of G is A! B is found to the right of each 3 black key group
Hand Positions: The FIRST SONGS FOR BAND book uses only 1 hand position for the Right Hand put your thumb on C (the 3 rd C rom the left on most keyboards on a full size piano it is located just to the left of center on the keys) each finger ill press its on key moving up the alphabet: Thumb is C, pointer is D, middle is E, ring finger is F, and pinky is G (see pictures) The Left Hand ill use 4 separate hand positions in the course of this book:
The Grand Staff There are to staffs that combine together to form the grand staff These staff markings help you find exactly hich key on the piano is played for each line and space on these staves Note that the letters keep going up the musical alphabet for every space to line or line to space You'll notice that middle C appears in to different places on the grand staff Actually, the line that the middle C appears on is the same line In order make to the grand staff easier to read, the line beteen the to staves ere removed and the to staves ere spaced further apart Keeping time in music: When playing music, you have to kno ho to keep time Music is divided into separate chunks of time called "measures" Measures are separated from each other by a vertical line called a "bar line"
First Songs for Band Preliminary Songs 4 4 ª ª ª ª
Rain Rain Inch Worm ª ª
Vitamin D
Left Hand Notes Right Hand Notes RH Inch Worm 2 D/2 E/3 F/2 G/1 LH D/2 F/2 C/1 E/3 Articulation Simply put - this refers to the ay you press the keys to begin each note We ill start ith an articulation style called "Legato" - this means Smooth and Connected To achieve this you ill need to begin pressing the next key at the same time this first key is coming up A good ay to visualize this is to picture the motion of a See Sa, as one side of the see sa is rising in the air - the other side is loering to the ground - not one side goes up then the other comes don If you practice this style of pressing the key there ill be no gap beteen sounds - one sound ill end exactly at the same time the next one begins - Legato
It Takes 3
Hot Cross Buns
Apache Warrior
French Song ª ª Christmas Chimes Ó Ó
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Don by the Station
Gotcha Cha Cha
Hot Cross Buns ª ª Apache Warrior ª ª Mary Had a Little Lamb
March
Indian Song 1/2 Scale ª ª
Rockin' Ó Ó Ó Ó b Ó Ó b Ó
Whose on First
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers Polka b b b b
(Peter Piper Con't) b b b b
Ladders
Looney Tunes b b b b
Circular Motion
Indian Song ª ª Rockin' Ó Ó Ó Ó b Ó Ó b Ó ª ª Whose on First
Oats Peas and Beans ª ª Rain Rain
Joyful Joyful j j
(Joyful Con't) j
Jingle Bells 1 2 #
Dreydle Dreydle
Old English Song
Small World
Seetly Sings the Donkey
Good King Wenceslas b b b ª 5/8 Scale ª 4 3 4 3 Cuckoo 4 3 4 3
(Cuckoo Con't) 4 4
Rain Rain 4 4 Joyful Joyful j j
(Joyful Con't) j Good King Wenceslas b b b