Old MacDonald Had a Song
Lesson Book pages 18-19
- Repeat sign
- The melody is divided between the hands
- A two-page piece
what's new
- Playing a familiar tune
- Having fun playing a longer piece
what's important
let's get started
- There's a piano on this farm! Instead of "moo, moo here", the farmer sings, "black key here".
- How many times do we use this pattern? (Student may circle.)
- How many times do we use this pattern? (Student may circle.)
- Music uses some shorthand tricks. (Explain the repeat sign.)
- Let's follow the arrows to see where the melody goes. Be sure to have both hands ready!
Transposing a piece is fun—and important.
explore and create
Your Own Farm Sounds
Play any black keys you like. Try soft sounds, loud sounds, long sounds, and short sounds. I'll keep the duet going. (Download duet)Improvising Within a Piece
Let's make a very long piece—like a big sandwich. (A section of original "farm music" is the middle between performances of the whole piece.) (See video and download duet)Let's Visit a New Farm
"Whoosh" both hands down to the white keys. (Play the piece in F.)
Discovering patterns makes a piece easy to learn!
partner pages
Technique & Artistry
pp. 8-9 All the Stars Are Shining
- This piece uses the same hand position as Old MacDonald but presents instead a pedaled, dreamy piece with black-key clusters. Forte and piano echoes can tune up listening skills.
Theory
p. 10 Rhythm Patterns
- Rhythms can stay the same as stem directions change. Students scan rhythm patterns and connect those that match!
Performance
p. 5 The Shepherd's Flute
- A pentatonic shepherd melody uses all the note values learned thus far: quarter, half, and whole. Another effective piece for a black-key improvisation with teacher duet.
pedagogy pointers
This is the first piece that divides the melody between the hands. Because the melody shifts frequently from right to left hand, it's important that the hands are both in place at the beginning. There is no need to look down at the fingers. The whole note is reinforced amid quarter and half notes.
The repeat of the opening melody is anticipated, so it's natural to introduce the repeat sign as a shortcut to notate this. This is also the first long piece, but its familiarity and the many repeated patterns make it easy to learn.
accompaniments on disk
- CD Tracks 12-13
- MIDI File 6