September Free Sheet Music: The Knuckle Song Duet!
🎹 Hi Piano Pals 🎹
This month I thought it might be fun to step away from our serious practice and our serious lives, and play something purely for fun. Duets are a great way to connect to loved ones through music. You may not know this duet by name, but I'm pretty sure you will recognize The Knuckle Song Duet when you hear it. My family used to play this duet along with Heart and Soul and the Carmen Miranda hit, Mama eu quero, but the Knuckle Song Duet was the most fun (and it is in the public domain!)
I am providing you with the sheet music for my arrangement of the accompaniment, but the melody shouldn't be written down, rather just learned by rote - that's what makes it so fun and accessible to musicians and non-musicians alike. This is a great duet to teach your students, parents, children or grand children, friends or relatives.
Notice in the video that my student plays the 1st and 2nd sections with her left hand, then switches to her right hand for the 3rd section. Most people will play all 3 sections with their right hand, but this student is left-handed and preferred to start with her left hand.
CLICK to PRINT:
Happy September friends! It's almost fall, and fall signals for me a time for new projects, ideas and goals/intentions as the weather cools and children return to school. I've been working on getting better at playing the melodica (aka pianica), a small keyboard instrument you blow into to make a clarinet-ish sounding melody. I love experimenting with my breath to create different tones, and getting my fingers to move faster during improvised solos. It's a challenge to play the smaller keys, but as with your piano practice or any new challenge, I am improving over time.
I also want to get more consistent with posting on social media; Instagram and Facebook are great ways to connect with the piano community, but I haven't been visiting those platforms as much as I used to. If you haven't already, please follow Upper Hands Piano on Instagram and Facebook at UpperHandsPiano. I'm going to post a giveaway for three of my books this fall on those platforms, to reignite my Social Media presence. Though lots is published about the damaging effects of too much social media (especially for children) there are many positives in small doses - the chance to connect, enjoy and learn from each other! Hope I see you there. Until then, have fun playing The Knuckle Song Duet ! Please leave a comment and tell us who your duet partner is! Even better, post a video of you playing it with your partner! You can post videos in the comments section below. I would sure love to see you 🤗 Do you have any piano projects planned for the fall? New pieces? New skills? Let us know so we can support your goals.
With love and music, Gaili
P.S. If you are new to this blog, welcome! I post free sheet music every month, arranged for beginning to intermediate piano students, plus worksheets, practice tips and information on music and the brain. I have written piano instruction books for older adults called UpperHandsPiano.com, for younger adults and teens called Piano Powered (click then scroll down), Songs of the Seasons piano sheet music books for seasonal classical and popular favorites, and my latest intermediate/advanced piano/guitar/vocals books called The Music Remedy: sheet music collections to restore and revitalize the spirit.
In her review of my Upper Hands Piano: BOOK 1 for Clavier Companion, The Piano Magazine, Susan Geffen writes: “Upper Hands Piano, Gaili Schoen’s comprehensive method for adults over fifty, is so good and so original that it’s difficult to know where to begin. With the expert selection of repertoire? Or perhaps with Schoen’s emphasis on the mental benefits of playing the piano? Or maybe with her friendly, encouraging tone? And certainly her well-considered approach to harmony is worth mention.”
I hope you will check out my books on the links above as book sales support this blog and make my giveaways possible. Thanks so much for your support!
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