- Level: Early to Mid Elementary
- Pages: 4 pages, 2 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Dark, brooding, but beautiful
- Bonus and Features: mp3 performance track; First notes have note names in them to help find position and learn note names.
- Format:PDF instant download
- Series: Entering Beautiful Places
Evening Rain gives a unique opportunity for students to practice exclusively bass clef or treble clef reading! The piece contains two versions – one in bass clef, one in treble. The gentle melody and short length make it a great note-reading piece that also functions as a quick win for students. Limited fingering and carefully placed alpha notes (notes in which the name is written) allow older students to feel they’re progressing beyond “kid’s songs” and early method book pieces. The extra helps are a bit like using training wheels when learning to ride a bike – students will find them helpful for successful home practice.
What level is Evening Rain?
Evening Rain is an elementary level piece. The damper pedal is held throughout for a more mature sound. The smallest note value is a quarter note. Alpha notes and fingerings are placed throughout (albeit sparingly). However, the alpha notes are not a “crutch” for the student. Seeing the note names only the first time they play the note and then seeing the patterns without those notes should help improve students’ reading abilities.
This piece is unique in that there are two versions included: a bass clef only version, and a treble clef only version. This expands the ways it can be used (ie: more advanced students who need bass clef practice can do so without feeling like they’ve gone “back” thanks to the mature sound.)
Bonus recording included!
Evening Rain 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.
Evening Rain also comes with two scores. One score has the piece written in treble clef. The other score has the piece written in bass clef. Both pieces can be played in their respective places on the piano for different effects. Students should be encouraged to read both, but choose which register they enjoy more. This piece is excellent for helping students learn note names in treble or bass clef.
More About the Entering Beautiful Places Series:
Evening Rain is a part of the Entering Beautiful Places series that gives older students (like teens and adults) who are just learning to read music or just learning to play piano beautiful, mature sounding music. This series features only Music Adults Love® and Music Teens Love® – 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?
Evening Rain 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.
Amy Mills –
My preteen beginners love all the music from the beautiful places series. I love how Evening Rain has been written with a bass clef or treble clef focus. I currently have two male students who are using the bass clef version as a LH solo (yes, I changed the fingering!). Their hands are plenty big enough to play it all with one hand and they seem to appreciate being able to focus on the reading of one clef and one hand. They are able to play the piece fairly quickly and it sounds nothing like Chopsticks or Mary Had A Little Lamb – which are not the kind of thing a preteen boy wants to show his friends!
Velia –
I have shared the following pieces with a few of my students: Misty Mountain, Gathering Storm, Evening Rain, Summer Sky, A Little Drama, Hold It!
I have received several comments about the beautiful artwork on the covers of ‘Finding Beautiful Places’ and ‘Entering Beautiful Places’ from parents and students. Some students automatically placed the artwork next to the music page at the piano, without me suggesting to do so.
Students immediately realized that the music is beautiful and quite manageable for their skill level. The students enjoyed the mature sounds.
From my perspective as a music teacher, it was evident that the students could apply the performance directions in a relaxed way, as they became comfortable with learning the piece quite quickly (playing correct notes, correct rhythm and at a good tempo).
Joyce Janzen –
This week a parent stopped in to thank me for the repertoire that I had been choosing for her two kids – Emerald, Evening Rain, Summer Sky etc. (They are working their way through method books and I am adding supplemental material.) She commented that listening to practice was enjoyable for the parents and that her daughter loved the sound of her pieces SO much that she didn’t need to be reminded to practice! It was such wonderful feedback for me as a teacher to hear that both students and parents were enjoying the process! I have given Evening Rain to young students, intermediate students as well as to beginning adults. They ALL love the sound – it transfers so well! So thank you for composing these inspirational pieces!
olivia –
Evening Rain seems so simple, yet sounds so lovely. I have a new teen girl who is mainly self-taught, & needed some blanks filled in. She really needed some basics, yet they had to sound more appropriate for her age. She plays both the bass & then the treble version as one piece. I am very grateful for all the more mature sounding pieces that make students of any age feel so accomplished.
Melissa –
A number of my students of varying ages had played Flowering Fields and Burgeoning Blooms and were begging me for more ‘Beautiful Places’ music. The bundle including Evening Rain was perfect! This mature sounding music appeals even to younger players who love beautiful music. Thank you Wendy, for composing music that really appeals to students and keeps them playing and learning!
Rebecca Everett –
My students are LOVING Evening Rain! It’s easily achievable for my first-year piano students. It has a few repeating patterns that helps make it easier, and it also helps strengthen their bass clef or treble clef note reading skills. Plus, the bass vs treble clef versions have such different sounds with just an octave difference!