Week 4
Smooth like honey
Make your notes touch. Play the happy Ode to Joy.
A smooth song has no gaps, like a train with no gaps between the carriages. This week you play a tune made by Beethoven, and you make it flow.
Get ready
- 1Press down a new key just as the last one comes up.
- 2Keep your hand quiet. Only your fingers move.
- 3Count the long notes. Hold them for their whole time.
The colours of the notes:
- Cred
- Dorange
- Eyellow
- Fgreen
- Gsky blue
- Ablue
- Bpurple
Finger exercises
Warm up your fingers
Two neighbours take turns. Wiggle, wiggle, then slide up.
Wiggle pairs
Right hand
Colour is the note. The number is your finger. A wide block means hold it longer.
Press Play to hear it. Then try Your turn!
- Play 1, 2, 1, 2. Then move over: 2, 3, 2, 3.
- Wobbly notes? Slow down until they are even.
- Your pinky might be tired. That is good practice!
Your pinky is the smallest finger, so it needs the most practice.
Pinky helper
Right hand
Colour is the note. The number is your finger. A wide block means hold it longer.
Press Play to hear it. Then try Your turn!
- Every second note is your pinky. Make it as strong as the rest.
- Keep your pinky curved. No flat pinky!
- Go slowly. Slow is how you get fast.
Songs to play
Your tune
A big happy tune by Beethoven. The notes walk up and down like stairs.
Ode to Joy
Right hand
Colour is the note. The number is your finger. A wide block means hold it longer.
Press Play to hear it. Then try Your turn!
- Make your notes touch, like holding hands. No gaps.
- Bar 4 has a long-short-long rhythm. Say: da-a-da, da-a.
- The tune walks up the stairs, then down the stairs.
Win four stars
Your quests
0 of 4 stars. Tap a star when you finish a quest.
Grown-up corner
'Legato' (smooth, connected) is a first big musical idea. Ask them to listen for gaps. Bar 4's dotted rhythm (long-short-long) is the tricky bit. Clapping it away from the piano first helps.
Plan for the week: about 10 minutes, 5 days. Warm up (2 min), scale or hard bar (3 min), the tune (3 min), then play anything you like (2 min).