- Level: Early Elementary
- Pages: 5 pages, 3 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Nostalgically
- Bonus: mp3 performance track + QR code to access recording online
- Format: PDF instant download
Like bringing back memories of contented holiday gatherings, Over the River and Through the Woods gives beginning pianists a familiar piece that they’ll feel they’ve heard before! But this arrangement helps even beginning students feel like they are playing a beautiful and more advanced piece.
This black-key piece (reading by finger number and direction of notes) is like sitting by the fire at a loved one’s house during the holiday season – relaxing and fun.
What level is Over the River and Through the Woods?
Over the River and Through the Woods is an early elementary piece written on black keys. Beginning pianists can read which note to play by finger number and direction of notes. All fingerings are indicated. The smallest note value is a quarter note/quarter rest, and the largest is a dotted quarter note. Dynamics are indicated, and include pianissimo, piano, mezzopiano, mezzoforte, and crescendo.
The piece is written in triple meter, which gives it a feeling of jolly forward motion without feeling rushed. The damper pedal is held in two places, which allows beginning students to sound mature without adding in the difficulty of true pedaling before they’re ready.
Bonus recordings included!
Over the River and Through the Woods 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.
In addition, a QR code is included on the first page of the PDF (not pictured in the sample) so students can scan the code and it will take them directly to the performance recording of the piece. This can help them be inspired and learn the piece even more effectively without you having to send the mp3 to them!
More About the Finding Beautiful Places Series:
Over the River and Through the Woods is written in the style 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 1 – EE (Early Elementary) Music on the black keys; For those with no prior piano experience
- Finding Beautiful Places 2 – EE (Early Elementary) More of the same kind of music as above. Bittersweet Creek is part of this set.
- Entering Beautiful Places 1 – E (Elementary)
Music for those who are transitioning to the white keys or who need to review their white key note names - Entering Beautiful Places 2 – E (Elementary) More music for those transitioning from black to white keys.
- 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?
Over the River and Through the Woods 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.
Valerie –
I LOVE Beautiful Places pieces and now a Christmas/holiday one? Yes, please! I like that my kids who are very familiar with the Beautiful Places style can easily pick up this piece. It is a new tune for most of them, but in a familiar style. Very well received!