Tag: MATB Book 1

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Jingle Bells

Introduction

This is a song about doing something fun with your friends. A lot of people think it’s a Christmas song, but it really isn’t!  Believe it or not, it’s really just a winter song.

In the song, the main character has a fun time riding in a one horse open sleigh in the wintertime. It is actually a pretty funny song because after the first verse, (that’s the part that goes, “dashing through the snow…”) something funny happens to the sleigh in each verse afterward.

Here are the lyrics with an explanation.

Lyrics

The Words

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go, laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring, making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing, a sleighing song tonight!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago, I thought I’d take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot
He crashed into a drifted bank and there we got upsot.

A day or two ago, the story I must tell
I went out on the snow, and on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by in a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed at me as there I there lay, but quickly drove away.

The Explanation

Dashing is going fast and a one-horse open sleigh is a sleigh that has no top and is pulled by one horse, like the photo above. The bells are on the horse, a bobtail.  Making spirits bright means making everyone happy.

I think Miss Fanny Bright was his girlfriend, (yuck) and they went for a ride together.  Lean and lank means skinny and weak; not good things for a horse to be.  A drifted bank is a pile of snow blown by the wind. The horse crashed into a pile of snow and the sleigh flipped over.  “Upsot” is a poetic way of using the work “upset,” which is a play on words.  They flipped the sleigh and got angry, or upset.  Get it?  Hee hee.

This verse is simple.  He walks out on the snow and slips and falls on his back, (or backside) and some guy drove by in a one horse open sleigh and laughed and him and drove away.  Ouch!  How embarrasing!

Listen

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

For Enjoyment

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William Tell

Introduction

A statue of William Tell and his son Carl.

The legend of William Tell is the story of a heroic man who fights back against a bully. A legend is a story about someone who the storyteller thinks lived in a story about their life that teaches a lesson. It usually involves them being a hero in some way. Legends are folktales, so they do have different versions and change here and there, but the lesson usually doesn’t, and that’s the point.

A composer named Gioachino Rossini wrote an opera based on the legend of William Tell. The piece we are playing today is the end part of the overture. The overture is the music that plays before the story begins kind of like in a movie when you see the actors names at the beginning before the story really begins. The overture is the music that plays during that part. Operas have an overture and this is one of them. 

The legend of William Tell is a good story and you can watch a short video of it below. 

Video

The Story

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

There are a few challenges in playing this piece, but they are challenges that you have faced before, so don’t worry.

Make sure you watch the video above for a discussion of the sheet music and explanations. Remember to notice when you have to switch and play with a different hand.

Don’t forget to practice it over and over again until you are able to play it allegro! That means fast and spirited.

Let’s see some exciting performances!

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Digging Deeper

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Sorida

Introduction

Sorida is a song from Zimbabwe, which is a country in Africa.  The word sorida means hello.  Every language has a word for hello. Do you know how to say hello in a different language?

Zimbabwe is the home of a world-famous waterfall, called Victoria Falls. Look down below for a video of it taken from a plane flying overhead. Try moving it around. You can look around and even straight down!

Listen To The Song

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Enrichment

Victoria Falls

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Morning

Introduction

Edvard Grieg was a composer from Norway who lived from 1843 through 1907. The song we are learning this week is from his Peer Gynt Suite.

Portrait of Edvard Grieg

Have you ever been awake just when the sun is starting to rise? Can you picture first beams of light coming over the horizon? Maybe just the first few streams of light peeking through the shades in the quiet of the morning? The sun continues to rise little by little and the sky gets brighter and brighter until it is finally morning. That’s what it sounds like to listen to this song.

While you are listening, use your imagination and try to remember when you have had an experience like that. Is it the same? Is it different?

Video

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

There are a few challenges in playing this piece, but they are challenges that you have faced before, so don’t worry.

I covered most of the really tricky stuff in the video above so make sure you have watched that. If you need to, you can play it over and over again until you understand. Once you understand the tricky repeats and endings, everything else should be pretty similar to something done before.

One of the most important parts of the song is the way that it sounds in the way that it makes you draw a picture in your mind of the morning sun rising. Keep working on playing it until you can get it smooth enough to really sound like a beautiful sunrise.

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Digging Deeper

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Musette

Introduction

Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest composers that ever lived. Remember, a composer writes music just like an author writes a book.

Bach’s father taught him to play the violin when he was seven years old. He also grew to play harpsichord and the organ.  The Bachs were a BIG family of composers and musicians. Fifty-three of his male musician relatives were also named Johann!

As a child, Johann had a beautiful soprano, (or really high) voice and sometimes sang in the street before eventually going to music school.

Bach composed music during a time known as the Baroque Period, and he wrote over 1,128 pieces of music! That’s a lot!  If you played one piece of his music every day, it would take over three years to play all of them!

The Life of Johann Sebastian Bach

Musette

Musette comes from a small notebook of songs that Bach wrote for his second wife, Anna Magdalena.  She was a singer, but Musette was meant to be played on the clavichord.  This performance is on the piano.

Rhythm

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Which hand plays this song?

The RIGHT.

Can the other hand go on vacation?

Yes.

The patterns in measures 1, 2 and 3 repeat themselves in measures 5, 6 and 7.  You can see that really clearly in the rhythm practice from before. 

Both lines end differently in measures 4 and 8, but they are not very much different.

Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases, or chunks.

I added the challenge version here for those of you that are able to play with both hands at the same time.  Most of us can just stick with the right hand only one.

Have fun!

Dig Deeper

The next video is a piano teacher demonstrating how to play the full version of Musette as Bach wrote it.  Maybe you’ll find it interesting.

Dig EVEN DEEPER (Other Music by Bach)