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Hey, Hey, Look at Me!

Lesson Book page 48

let's get started

1. Play skips from Middle C to the top. Use a braced third finger. I'll hold the pedal down. Magical sounds!
2. Super-duper challenge! Can you say the names of the keys as you skip from Middle C to the top? Go slowly.
3. When you skip notes, you also skip fingers. Let's test out some 1-3-5 skips (on the fallboard or table top).
4. Copy Cat. (Use 1-3-5 on C-E-G.) Repeat what I play. Can you make up skipping patterns for me to copy?
5. Hey, hey, let's play the piece!

Reading thirds and playing thirds are separate skills.

explore and create

• Hey, Hey, Play in F

  Put your thumb on F and play again. Think line-to-line skips.

• Hey, Hey, Play in G

  Put your thumb on G and off you go!

• Hey, Hey, Play Up the Keys

  After you play it once, move your thumb to the very next key (D) and repeat the piece. Can you go all the way up the white keys to the next C? Hey, hey, let's play a duet! (See video and download duet)

• Skip It Your Way!

  Put your RH fingers 1-3-5 over C-E-G. I'll play a duet. Listen to my beat and mood. You make up a melody using only C-E-G keys in any order. Nice skipping sounds! (See video and download duet)

Finger patterns and note patterns are musical building blocks

partner pages

Theory

p. 36 Skips on the Staff

• Line-to-line skips are presented first to foster success with this new reading concept.
• Students draw line-to-line skips up and down, then name the notes.

Performance

p. 22 Dancing with Frankenstein

• Frankenstein's line-to-line skips in the key of A minor pair nicely with the cheerful Hey, Hey, Look at Me for this week's practice.
• After playing the song, let the student improvise on any white keys with the teacher duet. When you say, "Freaky Frankenstein", return and play the song once again.

pedagogy pointers

The student is introduced to skips on the staff and in the hand. At this point, skipping focuses only on recognizing and playing line-to-line thirds, and using only fingers 1-3-5. Begin by testing out alternating fingers on the fallboard or a flat surface. Call them "skipping fingers". That way, the student can concentrate on the coordination required without depressing keys or reading specific notes.

Referring to finger and note patterns continues the process of guiding the student to read and think in musical units.

accompaniments on disk

• CD Tracks 62-63
• MIDI File 31

^back to top

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see it in action

Teaching Video 46

Skipping is fun! And skipping in thirds up the keyboard makes a magical sound, especially if the pedal stays down while the thirds go higher and higher. Playing thirds requires finger coordination, so Vivian gets fingers 1-3-5 ready to go by testing out combinations on the fallboard and the keyboard. Then playing the piece is easy.

Music using thirds always sounds good, so why not make up your own piece that skips any way you'd like? The upbeat accompaniment sets a lively mood, and Vivian's fingers take off.

What if you began the piece starting on a new key? Ingrid goes on a real adventure, from C to C. Those skipping fingers get a real workout! Hey, Hey—she can play!

Ask Yourself

• What is evident when Vivian plays the thirds to the top of the keyboard?
• What does the teacher do when Vivian reads through the piece?
• What is noticeable about Ingrid's transposition sequence?

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