2 3

Shoulders down

• Tap, click or walk to the pulse while your teacher plays Pizza song (page 15), Sunny days (page 18), then Popcorn popping (page 26).

Black keys

• Place your hands gently over your kneecaps:

Picture signs:• Here are some picture signs that you’ll see throughout the book:

Are you ready to play?

• Try playing your tune at different speeds: slow, medium, fast.

• Try playing loudly and quietly.

• Don’t forget to keep to your teacher’s steady pulse.

HH

Black key bounce accompaniment • Use any of the black keys to make up your own tune to the Black key bounce accompaniment.

Pulse• Most music has a steady heartbeat or pulse. This is also known as the beat.

The pulse (or beat) can go quickly (like footsteps when you run fast) ….

… or slowly (like a dripping tap)….

Listen up! games Rhythm time activities Find, say and play games

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Teacher part:

• Check your sitting and hand positions with the pictures:

Back straight

Arms relaxed

Forearms level with keys

Stool positioned so that your knees are just under the keyboard

Feet firmly on the floor

• Keeping the same position, raise your hands to the piano:

• Play some black keys to see what they sound like.

4 5

ElephantA mouse in the house Fireworks

• Make up a tune and draw a picture for it here:

• Play all the groups of two black keys.

• Play all the groups of three black keys.

Bounce your fingers like a ball, moving across from

one side of the keyboard to the

other.

• Make up tunes to go with the pictures.

• Which part of the piano will you use?

High and low• On your piano there are high and low notes.

• Can you work out which are the high notes and which are the low notes? (Your teacher will help you if you are not sure.)

White keys• The white keys are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G (the first seven letters of the alphabet).

• Once you’ve got to G, start all over again at A.

• Fill in the missing notes on the keyboard picture:

Quiz ★ Fill in the answers to these questions, then play the word on the piano keys.

1. You sleep in this: __ E __

2. You can eat this fried, scrambled or sunny side up: E __ __

3. You put your books in this and carry it: B __ __

4. You get these for birthdays or when you’ve done well at Brownies or Cubs: B __ D __ __

★ Can you write in the finger numbers?

Finger taps• Using the piano lid, can you tap your

number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fingers in turn?

• Say the number as you tap each finger.

Find, say and play • The black keys come in 2s and 3s.

4 2

1

A B C D E F G B D E A

Musical pictures game

35

42

1

35

6 7

Rhythm• A rhythm is a pattern of notes and silences of different lengths.

• We measure the length of notes in beats.

Quiz ★ How many beats are these notes worth?

• Put your right hand on a group of three black keys and your left hand on a group of two black keys. Using the Get set! rhythm, play all the notes together.

q Quiz

★ Can you draw some treble clefs and bass clefs on the grand stave below?

h

The grand stave• The five lines and four spaces that music is written on is called the stave.

• Piano music is usually written on two staves: the treble stave and the bass stave.

• When two staves are joined together it is called the grand stave.

treble clef

bass clef

time signature bar

barlines

Rhythm time

Time signatures• Beats are organised into bars using barlines.

• The top number of the time signature shows us how many beats there are in each bar.

2 means 2 crotchet beats in a bar: 4 means 4 crotchet beats in a bar:4 4

double barline = end of the piece

q q h

w h

w w

• Say, then clap this rhythm:

This is a crotchet (or quarter note). It is worth 1 beat. q q

w

h h This is a minim (or half note). It is worth 2 crotchet beats.

This is a semibreve (or whole note). It is worth 4 crotchet beats.

or

or

w

8 9

First notes: B and D• Rest your thumbs on the white note between B

and D while you play this tune.

See-saw• Can you say the words, then tap the rhythm in See-saw?

• Now try playing See-saw.

Cobbler, cobbler • Tap the floor to mark the pulse (or beat) as your teacher plays Cobbler, cobbler.

• Now try playing Cobbler, cobbler yourself.traditional

traditional, arr. KM and HH

Teacher part:

Get Set! Piano Pieces 1,

page 2:

• I like… • Look at me!

I’ve got my B D eye on you! • Make up your own tune using Bs and Ds called I’ve got my B D eye on you!

• Can you write something down to help you remember it? You could draw a picture or write the notes on the stave below.

• Your teacher will be able to help you if necessary. Find, say and play

• Can you make up a tune for this rhythm using the notes B and D?

Rhythm time

Listen up!

• Can you sing See-saw to your teacher?

• Show the high notes by tapping your head and the low notes by tapping your knees.

22

B D

Can you tap your 1, 3, 5, 2, 4 fingers with your right hand,

then your left?

Do your hand and sitting positions still look like the ones on page 2?

10 11

Rain, rain• Can you spot the note E in this piece?

New note: E Dynamics

Francesca Forte (she’s very loud):

Patrick Piano (he’s very quiet):

• Forte, or f, means loud.

• Press the keys down faster and with more energy.

• Piano, or p, means quiet.

• Move the keys down more slowly and gently.

• Write some piano (quiet) and forte (loud) signs in Rain, rain and Bounce high.

• Now try playing the pieces again with the dynamics. How does this change the sound?

Bounce high• Can you clap the rhythm of Bounce high as your teacher plays it to you?

• Show which are the high, medium and low notes using the following actions:

1. high notes: tap your head

2. medium notes: tap your shoulders

3. low notes: tap your knees

traditional, arr. KM and HH

Teacher part:

traditional, arr. KM and HH

Teacher part:

Misses White• Look out for the dynamics in this piece.

• Can you play Misses White using high Ds and Es with your right hand and a low B with your left hand?

traditional, arr. KM and HH

Teacher part: Can you tap your 2, 4, 5, 1, 3 fingers with your right hand,

then your left?

Swap Layla’s name with your own, then with your friends’

names.

Get Set! Piano Pieces 1, page 3:

•Marching song •Apple tree

• Dynamics are the volume of a sound or note.

3

E

...................

12 13

Quiz

New note: middle C• Use the side of each thumb to play middle C.

Legato and staccatoLouis Legato (he glides along as smoothly as possible):

• Legato notes sound smooth.

• They have a curved line over or under them called a slur that looks like an umbrella:

Suzie Staccato (she’s a short and bouncy girl!):

• Staccato notes sound short and spiky.

• They have a little dot underneath or over the top:

Louis LegatoKM

• Make your fingers walk smoothly from one key to the next so that the sounds join together.

Get Set! Piano Pieces 1, page 4:

• Louis Legato’s skates

•Suzie Staccato’s dance

•Pitter, patter, rainy daysSuzie Staccato• Remember that staccato notes need to

be short and separated.

• Move your wrist as if you were bouncing a small ball on the keys. KM

...................

Mary had a little lamb (for right hand)• Can you tap the rhythm of Mary had a little lamb?

★ What does f mean?

★ What does piano mean?

★ Which note is this?

...................

Teacher part available at www.acblack.com/getsetpianotutor

• Your teacher will play you some legato and staccato pieces. Can you hear the difference?

1

C

1

middle C

Listen up!