Look at the sheet music. Take your time. This is about sight-reading. It's necessary skill to master. Make this a habit with every new song. Next, look at the chords. Do not play the chords. Play the melody first without the chords. Title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Words and music by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Published in 1944 by Leo Feist, Inc.; renewed 1971 & 1972 SBK FEIST CATALOG. All Rights Reserved. Buy the songbook. Thanks for listening. 

YouTube video by Lorenz from the Philippines. "I hope you find my videos helpful as you learn the piano. Thank you all for the amazing support." Yes, we do in G flat major written by Tommie Connor (1904-1993). Continue to practice scales as you increase your sight reading and performance style. 

Jimmy Boyd was 13 when he recorded this #1 million-selling holiday smash in 1952 for Columbia Records.  His best-remembered television role was as Howard Meechim on “Bachelor Father” beginning in 1958. Watch Jimmy sing the song on YouTube at ScrambledEggs1969 or the78Prof. This song is performed in B flat Major. 

So many reasons! G Major, phrasing and tutorials online. More than enough going on to maintain our interest as we learn new songs going forward. This is a good choice. Arranged by Bill Boyd for Easy Piano Solos. Published by Hal Leonard. Includes the Hungarian Dance No. 5 in C Major by Johannes Brahms and "Love Theme" in G Major from Romeo and Juliet. Push the envelope, dear students. Thank you for listening.

What were conditions like for Bach, Beethoven and countless other church musicians during cold winter months? Guess we'll never know. Thirty minutes of practice time in an unheated room should increase our gratitude for all church musicians, choir directors, pastors, maintenance crew, teachers, congregations and masons from the past. Thank you for listening.

The Classical period was an era of classical music between roughly 1730 and 1820. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods. 10 Classical Music Composers to Know. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. He composed over 600 works, including some of the most famous and loved pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart was born in Salzburg to a musical family.

BAROQUE COMPOSERS who lived from around 1600 to 1850.  With Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Baroque music reached its zenith. The prosperous, cultivated world of contemporary Venice shines through all his works, composed with innate craftsmanship.

Eight notes over and over again. Beautiful and familiar that you often hear in movies and in real life at weddings, when the bridesmaids are walking down the aisle. Floating-on-clouds music! Let's give this a try as a new song to learn before the ball drops on New Year's Eve in Time Square in NYC 2022. Who is Pachelbel? 

Johann Pachelbel, (baptized September 1, 1653, Nürnberg [Germany]—died March 3, 1706, Nürnberg), German comser known for his works for organ and one of the great organ masters of the generation before Johann Sebastian Bach.

Johann Pachelbel is unfairly viewed as a one-work composer, that work being the popular, Canon in D major, for three violins and continuo. He was an important figure from the Baroque period who is now seen as central in the development of both keyboard music and Protestant church music. Some have summarized his primary contribution as the uniting of Catholic Gregorian chant elements with the Northern German organ style, a style that reflected the influence of the Protestant chorale.

A Lutheran, he spent several years in Vienna, where he was exposed to music by Froberger and Frescobaldi, which influenced his work with the chorale-prelude. His music in this genre would, in turn, influence the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, among others. It should be noted that many of Pachelbel's works are difficult to date, thus rendering judgments about his stylistic evolution questionable in many cases. Pachelbel was also a gifted organist and harpsichordist. Artist Biography by Robert Cummings.

This episode is about the language music, reference guides and scale books. Sound & Symbol published by Pro Art Publications. Vol. 856 is a thorough text and and work-book for all students of music (band, orchestra, chorus, piano, and organ). It is a valuable reference book for general music, for class or individual use. The FJH Classic Scale Book, Revised Edition, is published by FJH Music Company, Inc. It is a 60-page guidebook providing essential materials for preparing students for auditions, contests and other events, as well as for building a basic pianistic vocabulary used in performing, SIGHTREADING, and improvising at the piano. Thank you for listening.

Listen to the next episode about learning to play chords. You won't believe what I have to say about chords. Thank you for listening. 

This is about sight reading. Give yourself a round of applause if you can play the melody to your song in a major key from a song book. Thanks for listening.

All episodes going forward will be about the language of music, sightreading and chords for piano and digital keyboards. Thank you for listening.