Do you have a piano recital scheduled for October but you don’t want spooky music? Perhaps, like me, you have students that don’t even celebrate Halloween!
Each year my studio holds a virtual piano recital the last week of October. It is a wonderful time to do a recital because they can showcase all of the wonderful things they’ve been working on before we get out our Christmas music for our December recital. But a few years ago I started teaching piano students who do not celebrate Halloween. I didn’t want them to be left out of the recital fun but I also did not want them to be the only students to play music that didn’t fall into our theme. So I wrote these fall themed performance pieces and now they are studio favorites!
If you don’t want spooky Halloween music this year, download these free fall-themed songs for various levels! This piano music can be used in so many different ways…
Fall Sheet Music for Students
Use “Apple Picking”, “Leaves Are Falling”, and “Harvest Time” as a quick addition to your piano students’ repertoire for a Fall Recital.
Sight Reading Exercise
Another great way to use this Fall sheet music is by integrating them into your lesson time as sight reading exercises. Choose a song that is one level or one half level below your student’s current piano level. Have the student sight read the song during your lesson. Sight reading is a great exercise to improve students’ skills – note reading, rhythm, time signatures, dynamics, and articulations. If you’ve never taught students to sight read, check out my sight reading articles to walk you through teaching sight reading to beginner piano students.
Play From a Lead Sheet
I have included two different arrangements of the song “Harvest Season” below. One of these arrangements is formatted as a lead sheet, using only chord names in the left hand. Use this song as a simple introduction to teaching how to read lead sheets on piano. The simple right hand melody and chord progression makes it easy for students to succeed at reading lead sheets. Use it for any age group to help everyone feel like great musicians!
Compose a New Ending or Introduction
The last great idea for these songs is to use them as a composition activity for your students. Have students compose an introduction or an alternate ending to the song. Take out a line in the middle and have students compose a new line that fits with the rhythm of the lyrics. If you’re new to teaching composing, check out my article “How to Compose a Song – Piano for Beginners”.
No matter how you choose to use this Fall sheet music, make sure to include it in your studio this year. Grab your free Fall sheet music today!
One Comment
Julie
Thank you for sharing creative ideas!