Poison Ivy

• Level: Mid Elementary
• Pages: 5 pages, 3 pages of music, cover included!
• Style: Itchy, bouncy, and impressive (glissando included)
• Format: PDF instant download

Even if your student has never come in contact with Poison Ivy, they’ll love the way these lyrics and music work together to make you feel the itch!  And who hasn’t had an itch before? Lots of staccatos and the glissando in the middle of the piece will get your students excited about practicing, and will be a piece they’ll love to share with friends.

The Level of Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy is a mid elementary piece. The shortest note value is a quarter note. There are staccatos written throughout the entire piece, but also many phrasing marks written in.

There are many dynamics in this piece, and it’s meant to be played dramatically and from the perspective of someone who is super itchy! The piece is written in C minor, but the accidentals are written in – there is only an Eb played several times throughout the piece. The hand position in Poison Ivy is the same throughout, so finding their place after the glissando is easy for students. There is no pedal though students can certainly add it to the glissando for a fuller sound.

The left hand gets to participate in the energy with an “it itches” echo, so it’s a great way to practice coordination between the hands without it being too difficult.

Music From a Child’s Perspective

So much of the time, kids hear things from adults’ perspectives, so you will find that they love music written from their perspective. Poison Ivy is written in the language of children and talks about how annoying and itchy it can be! There’s so much itchiness and annoyance in this piece, that there’s even a glissando. Every person who’s experienced some kind of itchiness knows how maddening it can be. So a glissando’s the perfect way to capture that irritation. Poison Ivy affirms how kids feel and lets them know that their experiences are important. Kids love it when music speaks their language.

For more music that speaks the language of a child, check out the “What Kids Think” bundle or this Loose Tooth or Got a Scratch piece!

Bonus Poison Ivy mp3 Recording:

Poison Ivy 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.

What is the Studio License?

Poison Ivy 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 – for all those kids who get a scratch. And that’s everyone!