Category: Easy Chanukah Sheet Music

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Drumroll please…

The Music Remedy No. 3: 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Discouraged to Hopeful is on the shelves! My team and I have been working hard to get this book finished for the holidays. It’s available now on Amazon and can get to you or a loved one in 2 days.

The Music Remedy series is intermediate to late intermediate level, for the piano player who has completed all four of my Upper Hands Piano books.

I started writing The Music Remedy books during the pandemic, because as it says in the introduction, “…listening to and playing music is deeply therapeutic, and more often than not, we musicians have the power to take our emotions into our own hands and literally play our blues away.”

The Music Remedy: No. 3 was created for anyone who is feeling discouraged, and might benefit from some musical therapy (piano players, guitarists and singers can all use it). Here is a list of the songs and pieces in this book:

As you can see, The Music Remedy No. 3 is an eclectic mix of classical, jazz and popular music. I love the old jazz standard Everything Happens to Me, and I think Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up is one of the best songs ever written. My arrangement of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is now 3 pages long (I’ve pared it down a bit from the 4-page arrangement I gave away a couple years ago, and it feels just like the right length now), highlighting the most beautiful themes. (I also shortened the Moonlight Sonata!🌙) I love all of the pieces in this book, and worked hard to curate the best music I could find, to help you move from feeling discouraged, to feeling hopeful.

I hope you might consider purchasing one of my Music Remedy books for yourself or a loved one this holiday season! They are art books as well as sheet music collections, which makes them great for gifts, or for treating yourself. Learn more on my website. By the way, Amazon has discounted all three books to $10.95 each, until the end of December.

You might also want to consider giving one of my Songs of the Seasons ⬇️ music books (Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn) which are arranged for beginners (years 1-3), or my ⬅️ Upper Hands Piano books for older adults who might want to learn or re-learn how to play the piano.

OK, commercial over! Usually I offer free sheet music, worksheets and practice tips on this blog, but I hope you don’t mind if once in awhile I tell you about my books.

Soon I will tell you about a great new free offering for beginning piano students! But for now, I want to wish you all a wonderful week of holiday music and magic. We celebrate the return of the light 🌞on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year! Many thanks for your support, and Happy Holidays! With Love and Music, Gaili

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December Free Holiday Sheet Music: Carol of the Bells and Rock of Ages

Happy December Piano Friends

I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, filled with music, love and gratitude. Today I got out my holiday cookie recipes and am looking forward to baking for my piano students!

This month I wanted to offer you an arrangement of the Ukrainian Bell Carol which we call Carol of the Bells. It’s a beautiful carol with a mesmerizing ostinato (a musical phrase that repeats throughout a piece) and not too difficult to play:

PRINT Carol of the Bells

Carol of the Bells will only be free for 1 year so print today!

Demonstration video for Carol of the Bells

I also have created an arrangement for the traditional Hanukkah song, Rock of Ages (A.K.A. Ma’oz Tsur) for early intermediate piano. If my arrangement is too difficult for you, leave off the top note of any bass chord, and the bottom note of any treble interval.

Click to print Rock of Ages ➡️Download
Demonstration video for Rock of Ages

I hope that wherever and however you celebrate this holiday season, you will enjoy playing and giving the gift of music. And maybe send some love to the embattled Ukrainians as you play Carol of the Bells.

I have some BIG news coming soon about my new book, and about a new project I have begun to offer free video piano lessons to older adult beginners. More news about these projects in the coming weeks. Many thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy playing Rock of Ages and Carol of the Bells this month! I LOVE your comments! Tell us what you are playing or what you would like to play on the piano?! Or just say “hi!” I love getting to know who is receiving and playing my free arrangements!

With love and music, Gaili

P.S. If you are new to this blog, welcome! I am a veteran piano teacher of 35 years! 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 (UpperHandsPiano.com), younger adults and teens (PianoPowered.com), Songs of the Seasons piano sheet music books for seasonal classical and popular favorites, and my latest piano/guitar/vocals books called The Music Remedy – sheet music collections to restore and revitalize the spirit. Check out my books on the websites above, or click below to view a few of them on Amazon.com.

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Announcing… New Books and Free Holiday Sheet Music!

Click to view on Amazon.com
Click to view on Amazon.com

My series called The Music Remedy launched today!

For the past year I have been hard at work researching, selecting, arranging and editing songs and pieces for a new series of sheet music books called, The Music Remedy. For many of us, playing music was the best medicine during the Covid-19 pandemic, getting us through the isolation, the anxiety, and our many losses. In The Music Remedy books we target some of life’s most problematic obstacles, offering songs and pieces to help the musician (pianist, guitarist, vocalist) move through distressing emotions to a more positive and balanced emotional state. Piano players and guitarists who have tested these books report that playing (and singing) these songs and pieces helped them to cope with painful feelings; they also reported that the pieces renewed their optimism, restoring a sense of well-being. Playing and singing the songs in The Music Remedy: No. 1: – 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Loss to Love, helped them to extend themselves to people and to open to the idea of bringing a new love into their lives. The Music Remedy: No. 2 – 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Anxiety to Calm helped musicians to relax and trust that they would be safe. It’s been so exciting creating music books that might help people feel better (while also boosting their brain power, of course!) But even if you aren’t experiencing these issues, the pieces within The Music Remedy books are beautiful, melodic, and fun to play!

You can click the images above to order on Amazon, or click here to view sample pages and song lists for each book.

This month only, The Music Remedy books are on sale for $9.50! On January 1st they go up to $12.95, so buy now!

On TheMusicRemedy.com you can find links to video demonstrations for every song in each book. I think you’ll find that watching the videos will help you to learn the pieces more quickly and accurately. All of these arrangements range from the early to late intermediate levels. I hope that you will consider giving these books as gifts, or buying them for yourself (as my student Joan says, playing the piano is the best therapy!)

As an added incentive, if you buy ANY of my books this month (Upper Hands Piano levels 1-4, Songs of the Seasons: Spring, Summer, Winter or Autumn, Piano Powered, or The Music Remedy) send a screen shot of your receipt to me at UpperHandsPiano@gmail.com, and I will send you some free holiday music- Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, Deck The Halls, Dona Nobis, I Saw Three Ships, Jingle Bells, Joyful Joyful, Little Drummer Boy, The Nutcracker Suite, O Christmas Tree, Oh Chanukah, Oh Holy Night, Sevivon, Silent Night, and Vivaldi’s Winter. Request one or request them all! That’s just this month, December 2021.

Selling my books helps me to support this blog so that I can continue to offer you free sheet music each month, so I hope you don’t mind my advertising today! Many thanks for your kind and generous support. Happy Holidays friends!

With love and music, Gaili

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December Free Sheet Music (Bach’s Jesu) and Announcement!

Photo of an early piano with a book of Bach pieces

Happy Holidays!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration and are enjoying the anticipation of the holiday season. Today I am posting a simplified arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, a popular holiday choral piece written by composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. Here is my favorite lyric from the piece:

“Through the way where hope is guiding, Hark, what peaceful music rings!“

I have simplified, shortened and transposed Jesu and I hope you or your students enjoy playing it this winter.:

Print : Jesu (simplified)

Here’s a slow video demonstration of my simplified arrangement ⬆️

For more advanced piano students, click below for the original arrangement:

Jesu, originalDownload

Today I am extremely excited to announced that my new sheet music book series will be published soon!

I have been working on these books during the pandemic, with the idea that playing music is the best medicine for getting through life’s most difficult times. Here’s how one of my editors described the series:

“The Music Remedy is a unique series of songbooks presenting beautiful, inspiring, and passionate music to help balance and uplift your emotional state.“

Just as we listen to playlists for inspiration, for de-stressing or for love songs on stations like Pandora or Apple Music, I have created piano-play-lists for times when we need to de-stress, get inspired, or find love again (with many more titles to come!)

The Music Remedy Series is written for the early to late intermediate pianist (and singers and guitarists), with melodic, easy-to-read classical and popular pieces. And there will be video demonstrations of every piece on my new website, which will launch the same day as the books! Here are a few of the upcoming titles:

  • The Music Remedy: No. 1 – 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Loss to Love (releasing Dec 2021)
  • The Music Remedy: No. 2 – 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Anxiety to Calm (releasing Dec 2021)
  • The Music Remedy: No. 3 – 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Discouraged to Hopeful (releasing Spring 2022)

Each book will cost $12.95 on Amazon or in bookstores, and I will purchase a few to sell also. I will tell you more about my books as soon as they are available for purchase, but I wanted to tell you a little about them just in case you’re looking for a holiday gift for that piano-lover in your life!

I hope you don’t mind my little self-promotion today. Most of the time I use my blog to give away free sheet music, worksheets and practice tips, but sometimes I also need to reach out and tell you what I am creating for sale. I will post again when Books 1 and 2 are available. Of course I also have my Upper Hands Piano instruction books for adults over 50, plus my Songs of the Seasons sheet music collections for beginners. I love books, so for me the combination of writing books and arranging music is pure magic.

Thanks so much for following my blog. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! With love and gratitude, Gaili

P.S. Email me upperhandspiano@gmail.com if you would like simplified arrangements of Sevivon or Oh Chanukah! Happy Chanukah friends!

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December Free Sheet Music: I Saw Three Ships

One of my favorite Christmas songs is the traditional English carol, I Saw Three Ships. I like Sting’s recording, and lots of other singers and choirs have sung it with varying melodies and lyrics. 

I have arranged I Saw Three Ships for easy piano; if you’re a beginner, listen to Sting’s performance to help you hear the rhythm. Intermediate students might also enjoy playing this fun and easy song (which doesn’t SOUND easy!) I have included 4 verses but there are many more; I hope you’ll play it for your loved ones and encourage them to sing along. Singing together is so fun!

CLICK HERE to PRINT I SAW THREE SHIPS

(and other giveaways from the past year)

Note: I can only keep each free sheet music arrangement on my website for a year. If this title is no longer available on the Free Sheet Music page of my website, please request it by email: upperhandspiano@gmail.com and I will email it to you! Don’t worry, I won’t spam or share your email. 

As we near the end of 2018 I look back at the year with so much gratitude for being able to do my musical works. I love playing the piano and teaching my wonderful students. I also love writing this blog– gathering my thoughts about piano technique, musicality and motivation, and arranging songs and pieces that I hope are accessible to all. To say thanks for following my blog, I’d be happy to also send you an additional easy arrangement of Silent Night or Oh Chanukah, from my Songs of the Seasons: WINTER sheet music book. Just send your request to me at UpperHandsPiano@gmail.com and I’ll email the song back to you. (Don’t worry- I won’t use your email for any other purpose and will not even save your e-address)

Is anyone else reading Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming? I bought the hardcover book for my daughter at an independent bookstore on the east coast (I am a great lover of books and indie bookstores, and visit them wherever I can find them!) then bought myself the audio book on Audible to listen to as I take my daily hikes. Though I am loving it all, I especially enjoyed Michelle describing her early experiences taking piano lessons, and her first recital. Michelle had taken lessons on her great aunt’s piano and that was the only piano she had ever played. At the recital she was to play on a gorgeous baby grand, but without the marker of  her aunt’s chipped key that marked middle C, she froze, until her aunt finally came to her rescue. “Maybe she knew that the disparities of the world had just quietly shown themselves to me for the first time,” writes Michelle.

I hope you enjoy your winter holidays wherever you are. Please leave a comment and tell us about what you are practicing, what your struggles are, what you enjoy about piano lessons, or anything you wish to share with our piano community. With love and music, Gaili

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul. Available on Amazon. Visit our website!