- Level: Mid Elementary
- Pages: 4 pages, 2 pages of music, cover included!
- Style: Wily and clever
- Series: Outback Adventure, Rote and Reading®
- Bonuses: Mp3 performance track (music includes an opportunity to improvise!)
- Format: PDF instant download
The thorny dragon is a tiny, adorable creature that has the silliest walk! They almost “stutter” while walking, taking a step, and doing a sort of wobble before moving on to the next. This piece sounds just like the thorny dragon stutter walk!
Showing students how this animal moves before learning the piece will encourage them to pay close attention to the use of staccatos and half notes that need to be minded to really get the feel of the walk across to the audience. Use of dynamics and chromaticism also help paint a picture of this ferocious looking, but actually very small and adorable “dragon”.
What Level is Thorny Dragon?
Thorny Dragon is piece two from the Outback Adventure Rote and Reading® series, and is elementary level. The smallest note value is a quarter note, and there is no pedaling. Helpful fingerings are written throughout. There are several LH crossovers throughout the piece that can easily be taught by rote. Like other Rote and Reading® pieces, this solo explores multiple registers of the piano, always with repeated patterns so that students can successfully play across the entire keyboard.
Bonus Mp3 Included
Your purchase of Thorny Dragon includes a bonus mp3 performance track that you can send to students to introduce or help them learn the piece.
Part of the Outback Adventure Series
Thorny Dragon is one of four pieces in the Outback Adventure Series featuring piano solos about Australia. This is a fantastic value as the bundle is discounted and these things are included in the bundle:
- Hoppy Thoughts
- Thorny Dragon
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Koala Cuddles
- Mp3s for each piece
- Outback Adventure Bundle Bonus Cover
You can purchase the Outback Adventure Series at a discount here.
The Power of Rote and Reading® Teaching
Piano students are much more excited about their progress when you combine rote teaching with reading. And when you do this, students stay motivated longer. This is because kids know that they can play music that is much more difficult than they can read.
Think of the way kids learn to read. They first learn to “do” the language (i.e. speak it) before they ever learn to read it. In the same way, students best learn when we show them how to “do” the piano before they learn to read the notes. For more thoughts on the value of rote teaching and how long it really takes a child to learn to read music, read: How Long Does It Take to Learn to Read Music?
Rebecca McClain –
I assigned “Thorny Dragon” to an 8-year-old boy who was bored with everything and was in danger of quitting piano. Before I gave it to him, he had actually heard of the animal, so we watched videos to get an understanding of how it moves. He loves this piece! His grandmother said “you got him back.”
marian –
This is fun! So great for imaginative stories! Love the exposure to enharmonics!
Kelly Jenkins –
A lot of my 7-10 year old students love Wendy’s songs about animals, but this one might top the list!! When I give them choices of several songs to play, this one is almost always the top pick!! Especially the boys love to play it
Lori –
I assigned this piece to a student in September who had taken the summer off. It was perhaps a bit easier than his current repertoire, but he loved it! The piece got him excited about getting back to the piano and set a great tone to the start of the year. One of the appealing things about this piece is that it sounds a lot more advanced than it actually is, so you can use it with later elementary students who need a piece that they can learn quickly. We’ve probably all experienced the level of discouragement students deal with as their repertoire gets more advanced and they are not finishing pieces in a week like they used to with easier repertoire. This piece is a great remedy to boost student self esteem!
Dalarna van der Kemp –
The Thorny Dragon is a great new asset to my pianostudio repertoire!
The syncopated rhythm in this piece somehow seams easier to grasp for students because of the association with the motion of the animal.
I taught it mainly by rote to several students and they all loved it and they even practiced extra to master it.
Highly recommended!
Melissa Sutherland –
I highly recommend this piece! I have students age 8-11 who have learned this piece quickly and loved it! We watched a short video about thorny dragons and the way they move. This helped the students clearly understand and enjoy the rhythm. This piece is definitely on its way to becoming a studio favourite! Thank you Wendy 👏
Maria Jacobsen –
My student just loved this piece. This elementary piece is fun to play, and the melody really describes this dragon’s footsteps. The sound of the minor thirds at the beginning of the piece is a great description. It had such a minor sound that my student played it for the Halloween group.
Kerri –
My students are loving this!
CL –
This piece is so very nice! I have my adult student working on it in addition to a young online transfer student who is a whiz!
Anne –
My student adores these pieces from the “Outback Adventure” series and has learnt them in a very short time. The pieces are so descriptive and inspiring and enable the student to play much harder- sounding pieces than their level. My student is delighted with himself! Thank you for making my job so much easier!