- Level: Early to Mid Elementary
- Pages: 4 pages, 2 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Relaxed
- 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
Summer Sky is a gentle, inviting piece that is easy to learn thanks to repeating sections in different registers. This piece is a quick win especially for those nervous about playing multi-page pieces, timid learners, or those who don’t practice consistently. Thanks to a sophisticated sound and helpful expressive markings, this solo will bring a sense of accomplishment to students who desire to play more emotionally mature music.
What level is Summer Sky?
Summer Sky is an elementary level piece. The smallest note value is a quarter note, and the pedal is held throughout. The piece is in C Major. Ritardando and a tempo sections give an opportunity to practice varying tempo changes within the safety of patterns that have already been learned.
This piece provides wonderful practice for jumping to new registers without taking a pause between measures since it does this within patterns that are well established throughout the piece. Alpha notes (notes in which the note name is written) and fingerings are placed in strategic places throughout the piece to give gentle reminders during practice. However, these note names 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.
Bonus recording included!
Summer Sky 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:
Summer Sky is from the Entering Beautiful Places series which 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 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?
Summer Sky 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.
Katie –
I started “Summer Sky” with a 1st grader yesterday who had selected it for the recital. First, she was thrilled by the RH pattern, then her excitement built as she could easily add the LH, then when I told her it was played 2 octaves higher she was to the giddy stage, but what threw her over the edge was when she learned she would get to press down the pedal. She did not want to stop playing the first line and move to our next activity. At the end of the lesson she (I’m not making this up) begged “Can I please play summer sky one more time?” To which mom told her she could do it at home. Nope, she jumped on the bench and played it memorized exclaiming, “I love this song!”
Kelly –
This song is an instant success! My nine year old student, who can get easily overwhelmed when songs seem complicated or take a lot of work, was thrilled with how easy it was for her to read and play the opening pattern, quickly followed by the whole page! She mastered the whole piece in two weeks, with lovely expression, and was so proud of herself! At the same time, my beginning teenager, who is working hard at early note reading, was captivated by the sound of the piece. She was easily started on the first few lines and said: “I can’t wait until I can play this really well”. Thank you, Wendy, for more beautiful and confidence building music!
Nick –
Summer Sky is a great piece. It is a perfect piece for a student who is learning how to identify an octave jump or transition. Helps the student be more comfortable with those types of transitions.
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).
Philippa Ashfield –
I used this amazing piece for a lady in her 60s who is returning to piano after many years. She was absolutely thrilled that she could play something so beautiful. I think all the leaping around the piano is a wonderful teaching, exercise and real treat for the musical ear. I told my pupil that I would be leaving a review, and she said, oh, do tell Wendy what a joy it was to play the piece. Thank you, Wendy.
Ryan Howard –
Imagine yourself lying in a field of spring grass, a gentle breeze around you , looking up at the blue sky with slowly drifting clouds. What bizarre animal or human shapes can you see ?
The lightness of the slowly descending (then rising ) opening notes create an image of a flying a skipping kite high in the sky or being in an air balloon above a patchwork landscape.
Ryan Howard –
Picture dolphins swimming playfully underwater, intertwining with each other…bubbles rising with them gently to the surface . Watch their shapes quickly melt into ripples of water. What a great introduction to listening to the soundscape of Debussy, Ravel or the highly underrated Catalan composer, Mompou.
Emily –
I bought Summer Sky for a 13 year old student I’ve had for 1.5 years who is still not reading notes, but I taught it by rote and she LOVED it. I have been so perplexed over her because she’s not a little kid, so the lush sound appealed to her, but
it allowed me to cater to her learning speed. Thank goodness for this series!