JOHN THOMPSON’S EASIEST PIANO COURSE PART ONE Vaa snl Desig maton ont ypesating by Yel Lined 101955 The Willis Music Co, The Willis Music Company Florence, Kentucky 41022-0548Contents TEACHERS and PARENTS THE KEYBOARD - Showing Middle C KEYBOARD CHART RUDIMENTS MIDDLE C AS A WHOLE NOTE - In the Treble. “Let's Play” MIDDLE C AS A WHOLE NOTE - In the Bass “Let's Play” MIDDLE C IN HALF NOTES “Grandfather's Clock” MIDDLE CIN QUARTER NOTES “Moccasin Dance” < WORK SHEET NEW NOTE -D in the Treble “The Train” NEW NOTE - 8 in the Bass “The Seabees” WORK SHEET TWO.FOUR - New Time Signature “March of the Gnomes" THREE FOUR - Tho Dotted Hal! Note “Dance ol the Gnomes” NEW NOTE - € in the Treble “Mary Had o Little Lamb” NEW NOTE - A in the Bass “The Paratrooper” 10 " 12 REVIEW - “Marching Up and Down” REVIEW ~ "Rag-Time Ragales” WORK SHEET NEW NOTE - Gin the Bass “The Chimes” REVIEW - "Funny Faces” REVIEW - "Old MacDonald Had a Farm” RESTS - WORK SHEET REVIEW - “Blow the Man Down" NEW NOTE - Fin the Teeble “The Church Organ” REVIEW — “Yankee Doodle” REVIEW - “Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny” THE TIE - “Tho Old Cotton Picker” NEW NOTE -G in the Treble ‘Theme from “The New World Symphony," Dvorak REVIEW-"Bugles” REVIEW — “Row, Row” REVIEW ~ “Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen’ NEW NOTE - F in the Bass “Ina Rickshow’" REVIEW - “The Banjo Picker” REVIEW - “Princess Waltz” WORK SHEET CERTIFICATE 20 a 2 23 24 25 6 2 28 29 30 a 33 34 36 7 38 39 40The Piano Keyboard ‘There are WHITE KEYS and BLACK KEYS on the Piano Keyboard, ‘The WHITE KEYS are named Recite the lotters of the Musical Alphabet several times. ‘The BLACK KEYS are grouped in TWOS and THREES. ‘ouch allthe groups of TWO BLACK KEYS on your Piano. Cie tound to the left of the TWO BLACK KEYS. Letter all the C’s you can find on the Keyboord Chart, next page. Now. on your piano, PLAY ail the C’s you can find - using the thumb. 0Keyboard Chart This is a picture of part of your keyboard. As you learn the name of each new key, turn back to this page and mark ALL the keys having the same name. m9. 3 Middle C on the Music ‘Music is written on the LINES and SPACES of the STAFF The Staff The NOTES on the music tell us which KEYS to play. There are different kinds of notes, but frst we shall learn the WHOLE NOTE. A WHOLE NOTE looks like this, © Itis held for FOUR COUNTS. Clef Signs ‘Treble Clef sign Boss Clef sign Lo This is how MIDDLE C looks in the Treble. This is how MIDDLE C looks in the Bass, Itis written as a WHOLE NOTE, and gets FOUR counts. Itis played by the RIGHT HAND thumb. Play it and count FOUR, Written as a whole note, it gets FOUR counts Itis played by the LEFT HAND thumb. Play it and count FOUR. 758Music is divided by bar lines into measures. Measure | Measure | Measure | Measure: ‘The numbers after the Clef Signs tell us how to count. In this book we need to read only the TOP number. It shows how many counts there are to each measure. Count 4t0 Count $t0 Count 210 each measure. ‘each measure. ‘each measure. The thumbs are both numbered 1 Left Hand Right HandMiddle C as a Whole Note Accompaniment prbnes tHe = ns In the Treble a a ta SS ie wi Play with right hand thumb and count four to each note. Let's Play ith the Right HandMiddle C as a Whole Note In the Bass HAL We Accompaniment let's Play with the Left Hand Play with left hand thumb. Count four to each note.Middle C in Half Notes When o note has an open head and a stem, like this, ( den Play the following, counting TWO to each note ~ “ONE, TWO" to the first note and "THREE, FOUR" Pp? itis called a HALF NOTE and gets TWO CoUNts, to the second note of each measure. Count four to each a — Grandfather's Clock é ‘ ae = — : = —— ZN Count: of@:two thfee-four a os ie EE — =H — = =< alin Accompaniment ope Peet pe Hot BEEA stoce. | | of 155 tMiddle C in Quarter Notes each measure. 4 A QUARTER NOTE looks like this ( d or r ) and gets one count. Moccasin DanceWork Shee ‘Mark the Time Valves of the following notes, using 1 for Quarter Notes, 2 for Half Notes and 4 for Whole Notes, : = —e —— 1 =———= = — E J | = 5 —_— — — Make Halt Notes of the following by adding stems Stems Up : E = T a =| 2 S| e Stems Down Change the following into Quarter Notes by filing in the heads and adding stems when necessary. : aa =e — 3 f £ ec | == = = o We Midale Cin each Cet, Two Four ‘Two Four Whole Note Half Notes Quarter Notes Half Notes Quarter Notes — Whole Note —— i a4 =Axeempaniiwett Tie W Spee es eoreragg Right Hand 3 = Zz The Train ~ Turn to the work sheet on page 15 i and do exercises 1 and 2. | Note to teacher | From this point on, be sure to stress “the importance of accenting the “fist count of each measureDo writing excercises 3, 4.and 5 on page 15.Write letter names under the notes. ork Shee Write the new note D as indicated. oe £ Write the letter names under the notes, Whole Two Note Half Notes ‘Write the new note B 4s indicated. ore = ete ye 3 BEE == rh a ‘Whole Two Note Half Notes Quarter Notes, In the following exercise, first draw the Bar Lines where they belong. (Note Time Signature). Next write the letter names of the notes. Four Finally, mark the Time Values - using 1 for @ Quarter Note, 2 for a Half Note and 4 for a Whole Note. A ee Dee Letter Names ¢ Time Values 2 5— Two-Four “ea w 42" Count two to each measure. eee rhe he * March of the Gnomes Left Hand SS = SSThree-Four and The Dotted Half Note , Accompaniment The dotted hal note looks like this ( der cond is held for 3 counts. Count 3 to each measure ~ ‘= === Do you see the importance of correct counting? These are the same notes you played in “March of the Gnomes” but they make a new piece when you count 5 to each measure.Accompaniment Write the new note E below. SHS Sey Dotted Quarter Half Note NoteAccompaniment mee Read Aloud . emRead AloudRag-Time Raggles ¢ ae AccompanimentWork Sheet ” First, look atthe time signatures. Next, draw bar lines in their proper places ~ then, write the leter-names under the notes. == = SSSA SSS Seo & ° o a a AW Read AloudFunny Faces25 Read Aloud Read Aloud Old MacDonald 3 Old Mac-Don-ald had a farm, a 1, | Be-eye, Ee-eye, | oh! And 2 = | eee ere se 6 eo _e 2 22 this form he [hed some ducks, | Ee-eye, Ee-eye| oh! | Quack, Quack, here | Quack,Quack, there 3 nf tS ae | = pe : F i eecoelsc ae a weve Ev-‘ty-wherea Quack, Quack, Quack, : ee Mac-Don-ald | had a farm, Se aCe ae ata — aoeRests RESTS are signs of silence. Each kind of note has a rest sign of equal value. Whole Rest Half Rest Quarter Rest Awhole measure’s rest, Gets 2 counts Gets 1 count Draw the bar lines in the following example, so that each measure have the number of silent counts shown in the time signature. he Man Down” SSIS df acral r F 7209Blow the Man Dow SSeS] — ptRead Aloud — 6 o 2 6 eo Oe Ac neared nbd i it ior] ote ‘Wd ady t f led Quarter ___Half Note NoteRead Aloud Read Aloud °o ° oe Yankee Doodle ee Yan - kee Doo -dle came to town a - |rid - ing on a t = = = = oe 8 © stuck a feath - er in his hat and eZ 1 1 29Carry Me Back to Old Virginny James A. Bland SSS ¥5 There's where the = So sweet in the lpringsime,4 The Old Cotton Picker (ft Pickin’ cotton, I've not | for - got-ten, The ee hours I've _— 3 THE TIE ee es thon wo nate are together the second note not stuck But hele fr su Meg og ge pbsNew Note Theme from "New World" Symphony Anton DvofékBugles!Gen - tly down the strear35 Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen Accompaniment Bg dod Ae oe eee opeWrite the two F’s you have learned.The Banjo Picker Rreoniicatneenh etre ae ee qaseeriees fo [econ galPrincess Waltz Accompaniment bpd d 2. o \ ao ky tds rE pata eae]