Play It! Children's Songs. Jennifer Kemmeter
LABELS & CERTIFICATEOF COMPLETION LINK 59
Hi Kids! My Name is Zooey I’m going to teach you how to play music Using my awesome system you don’t need to know anything fancy or technical—all you need is to know your colors be able to follow a tune and maybe even sing along It’s easy! Once you learn my cool colorcoded systemyou’llbe ableto play a bunch of songs you probably already recognize just by pressing the colors on the keyboard Let’s play!
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Good Piano Posture
also known as The Pro’s Pose!
It may not seem important at first but when you sit down to play the way you sit on the bench or chair plays a part in how good your music sounds Follow this diagram to look and sound like a pro:
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Let your upper arms hang loose and relaxed from your shoulder
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Keep your back straight and lean forward slightly
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You want your elbows slightly higher than the keyboard to get the best sound from the keys (you may need to adjust the seat height or sit on a book to get things just right)
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Sit on the front half of the bench or chair so that your weight is positioned forward toward the keyboard
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Position yourself so that your knees are slightly underneath the keyboard
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Keep your feet flat on the floor If they don’t touch put some books or a step underneath them
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Use rounded hands to strike the keys—hold your wrists above the keyboard and arch your fingers down toward the keys
That’s it! Now you look like a rock star!
Now that you look cool at the keyboard you’re just five steps away from playing your first song! Here’s how:
BCDEFGABDEFGABCDEFC
MIDDLE
How to Use This Book
Middle C is the C key nearest the center of the keyboardMiddle C
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Cut out the color-coded labels on page 59 or 61. Be sure to set aside the red “Middle C” label, because this one is special. The letters on the labels represent the musical notes on the keyboard. So, red labels represent C notes in music; yellow labels represent E notes; blue labels represent G notes; etcetera.
TIP: To make the labels last longer, ask your parent or teacher to laminate the sheet of labels before cutting them.
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Attach the “Middle C” label to the keyboard. It’s the one nearest the center of the keyboard that’s shaped like an “L”. You can use tape or removable blue putty to secure the label.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
MIDDLE
RIGHT
LEFT
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
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Again referring to the diagram, place your hands in the correct position for playing the song. Then, shift your attention to the song and begin to play, pressing the keys with the colors and using the correct finger as shown.
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Once you have attached the Middle C, follow the diagram on the top of the pages for the song you want to play to attach the rest of the color-coded labels.
TIP: Put any loose labels into a covered container and tuck them into a drawer or your piano bench for storage.
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Have fun! Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to play a ton of new songs Look for me throughout the book—I’ll be giving you extra tips and tricks so you’ll become even more of a rock star as you go
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there are
there are
beats in the measure
For example if you see:
The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure (Ignore the bottom number for now)
staff is marked
Before you dive in and play your first song I want to tell