‘School Again’ an easy piano piece for preschoolers to learn dynamics by Piano Comics

‘School Again’ is a song I created for a 4 year old and a 5 year old student. It uses 3 consecutive keys , do, re, mi ( c, d, e ). I usually use these 3 keys so that the kids start noticing the different patterns of 2 black keys and 3 black keys. So when they have to play do/c I tell them ‘find the group of 2 black keys and by their side you’ll find do/c’. This piece was made to also show the different dynamics a musical picture can have. This way, the last sentence makes sense to play and sing it very quietly-pianissimo, because the one singing it conspires to hide ( observe reactions of kids trying to play pianissimo the first few times and what they do with their body…) . The students can play just with one finger and even without round hands if they still aren’t accustomed to this position. And if you see that playing the whole song is also challenging, have them play just that last sentence.

No matter the age I always use musical terms as they are, I want future little musicians to get used to this new language so for example in this piece we learned the pianissimo dynamic. I will explain what it is, I will demonstrate with my voice and/or on the piano the other dynamics but from then on, while we play and practice I will rarely say ‘play/sing very quietly’ rather that I’ll say ‘play/sing pianissimo’.

At the end of this post you can download the free scores. Have fun waking up for school!

tip: when I try to differentiate 2 groups of black and 3 groups of black keys I try and give them ‘characters’, ‘names’ instead of the dry and boring ‘groups of keys’. So I name the 2 black keys = 2 twin boys and the 3 black keys = 3 triplet girls.

More of this kind of material, teaching less theoretically and more practically through funny, real life examples basic music terms and basic piano skills get ‘Workbook Sheet Music’ for piano beginners by Piano Comics for ages 4-12.