- Level: Early Elementary
- Pages: 4 pages, 2 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Mysterious
- Bonus and Features: mp3 performance track; Black key; Hand positions pictured
- Format:PDF instant download
- Series: Finding Beautiful Places
An ancient forest is fascinating to all ages and beginning students will love the mystifying sounds of this piano solo. Students will find it easy to play expressively because of the beautiful motive with intricately gorgeous harmony. Even beginning students will fall in love with how advanced and nuanced their playing sounds thanks to the damper pedal, shifting registers, and a lilting melody. Adult and teen students will love the nuanced writing.
What level is Ancient Forest?
Ancient Forest is an early elementary piece on black keys, with one white key in the left hand. The hand position is pictured clearly on the first page. The smallest note value is a quarter note, and the piece is written in triple meter. Fingerings are written in for every note.
The damper pedal is held throughout the entire piece. Many registers are explored, but always with a repeating pattern that helps students to avoid getting “stuck” playing in just one register – always in a way that is appropriate for their level. Different dynamic markings will help the student play expressively.
Bonus recording included!
Ancient Forest comes with a bonus mp3 recording performed by Wendy Stevens. You are permitted to send this example performance track to your students to help them learn the piece.
More About the Entering Beautiful Places Series:
Ancient Forest is a part of the Finding Beautiful Places series that gives older students (like teens and adults) beautiful music that doesn’t make them sound like a child. This series is especially easy and helpful as hand positions are pictured, finger numbers are indicated on each note, and the hands are mostly on the black keys so finding the correct notes are easy. This series is made especially for teens and adults as is part of our Music Adults Love® and Music Teens Love® collection – beautiful, mature sounding music that doesn’t sound like it comes from a child’s method book.
The collections in this series include:
- Finding Beautiful Places – EE (Early Elementary) Music on the black keys; For those with no prior piano experience
- Entering Beautiful Places – E (Elementary) Music for those who are transitioning to the white keys or who need to review their white key note names
- In Beautiful Places – E (Elementary) Music for mid elementary students containing some across the bar line syncopation, but music that is still quite achievable and beautiful at this level
- Exploring Beautiful Places – LE (Late Elementary) Music for the late elementary pianist that contains eighth notes that are easy to feel and play.
What is the Studio License?
Ancient Forest is delivered digitally (through your email receipt) and is studio licensed. This means that you can print and use this for any student that you directly teach for your entire lifetime of teaching.
Kim Oien –
I love these beautiful pieces in this series for many levels of students. They can work on beautiful expression in an easy to read and play piece. I also plan to use this for a brand new to piano adult student. I’m sure he will love it!
Anna –
In the Finding Beautiful Places bundle which I purchased, Ancient Forest is the 1st piece I introduced to my middle schoolers. They loved the sound of it and right away started playing it with passion. Parents have emailed me telling me the students are practicing at home and they enjoy the music as well!
Kelly –
This is a fantastic piece- SO versatile! Within the first week of getting it, I have three VERY different students working on it: a six year who loves expressive pieces; a fifteen year old beginning teenager who is using it to work on his rubato; and a special needs preteen who resists many rote pieces but was entranced by this sound. Total winner!
Nick –
I really like Ancient Forest and Misty Mountain and how they are learning notes values, without the overwhelming of clef and staff reading.
Dr. Steven Clifford –
Thank you for composing Coastal Reverie and Ancient Forest. They are a godsend for the complete beginner; immensely appealing and hugely uplifting. A joy to listen to and to play.
They made me realise that learning to play the piano is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Louise –
I have an older adult gentleman who is a beginning student. He loves playing the Ancient Forest and plans to play it at our June Recital
I think your collection of black key pieces is great and so very much needed as students really need to get acquainted with the keyboard using the comfortable fingering that black keys require. Besides they produce beautiful sounds which is exciting for students.
Estelle –
A determined 10 year-old beginner gasped, “I can’t believe I am already training my fingers to do this kind of thing!”
Christie Davis –
I love Ancient Forest! What a beautiful piece for my beginners to learn to use expression and dynamics and have the experience of playing “real music!” (As they call it!). Without worrying about the staff, they can concentrate on rhythms and playing beautifully, also introducing the pedal. My young elementary student who is a boy, couldn’t wait to play this – just from the title, and he loves it!
olivia campione –
Another great piece in the Beautiful Places series. I just enjoy teaching these so much, because my older students are just so pleased they can play something that sounds so lovely, in just the 1st couple of lessons. It encourages them that they can learn piano, even at a little older age.
Kacey Ableman –
A brand new teenage student of mine just played this for her first recital. The piece was lovely and she sounded (and felt) so mature and confident! That first recital would have been a hard sell without a piece like this!
Rebecca –
This is my new favorite very entry-level Beautiful Places piece for all ages! We can talk about the rhythms/notes but there is also so much room for artistry and nuance. Everyone who has started this one is loving it. It earns applause from parents during our lessons!!
Nancy –
Ancient Forest made my wiggly and silly 7YO student become very imaginative and serious about his performance! He loves the mature and mysterious sound and performed this for a recital recently! It wowed the crowd to see such a young student play something that sounded lovely and was longer than a typical piece for that age! I think it’s a great piece for students of all ages and plan to use it with all beginners.
Rachel –
Enjoy this song so much! It can be played by new students almost immediately and adults & kids both enjoy its sound.