O Holy Night & Giveaway Winners!

For the past two months I have asked my subscribers what their favorite holiday songs are, and the winner is the Christmas carol, O Holy Night, written by French composer Adolph-Charles Adam in 1847. O Holy Night was recorded by Mariah Carey in 1994, Celine Dion in 2004, and Andrea Bocelli in 2009, amongst many others!

I have written an early intermediate arrangement in the key of C in hopes that you will be able to learn it by Christmas! You’ll find a lot of fingering in this arrangement, but as always, if you find a fingering you like better, feel free to cross mine out, and add your own. Whatever fingering you use, try to keep it consistent. The quickest way to learn a piece is to practice it slowly, being vigilant about the fingering as you gradually increase your tempo over the days and weeks.

PRINT: O HOLY NIGHT

(O Holy Night will only be available on my website for year, so if you want a copy after November 2020 leave a comment below and I will send it to you)

✡️✡️✡️ If you would like a copy of the song Sevivon to play for Chanukah, leave a comment below this post and I will email it to you! ✡️✡️✡️

It’s time to announce the winners of the 12 copies of Upper Hands Piano: BOOK 1! If you are on Instagram, head over to my @UpperHandsPiano account (tonight or tomorrow) to watch the videos of me reaching into my hat and picking the 12 winners in my STORIES. My husband took the videos of me grabbing the 12 names, so you can see that I picked them randomly. I will be emailing the 12, but if they don’t write me back with their addresses within the week, I will choose additional names from the hat!!

Here are the winners: 1-Donna, 2-Ann, 3-Sarah (with @att.net email), 4-Linda, 5- Catherine, 6-Vicki M, 7-Amy, 8-Sandra, 9-Patricia, 10-Kathy B, 11-Mary K, 12-Joni

🎇CONGRATULATIONS!!!🎇

And remember, everyone that wasn’t chosen today is automatically entered to win one of the 20 the Kibcoh sheet music page holders I’m giving away in January!

Thanks so much for playing along with me! I just loved reading your comments- it gave me a better idea of who is reading my blog posts, and what their needs might be (teacher/student etc.) Happy Holidays and thanks so much for subscribing!

January 25, 2019January 26, 2019

Free: Waltzing Matilda sheet music for Australia Day!

Tomorrow is Australia Day! So I thought that you or your students might like to play Waltzing Matilda to celebrate.

Please CLICK BELOW TO PRINT WALTZING MATILDA:

Waltzing Matilda UpperHandsPiano.com Download

This is an intermediate arrangement from BOOK 4 of my piano instruction books called Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul (available on Amazon!) If you would like to learn more about my books, please visit my website.

https://smile.amazon.com/Upper-Hands-Piano-Method-Adults/dp/151962638X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548442263&sr=8-1&keywords=upper+hands+piano+gaili+schoen+book+4 — Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 4

If you are a beginner you can play just the right hand melody. More advanced students can either read the chords or use the chord symbols to play the chords. Learning about chords is really important for pianists, so it is a big part of what I teach in the Upper Hands Piano method books.

I hope you enjoy playing Waltzing Matilda, perhaps with a piece of toast and vegemite, some barbecued snags (sausages) and maybe a couple of stubbies (beer). It’s summer in Australia, and we can dream….

With love and music, Gaili

December 20, 2018April 6, 2021

January Free Sheet Music: Auld Lang Syne

Though you might be busy practicing your Christmas carols such as I Saw Three Ships and Silent Night, it occurred to me that you might also like to start practicing Auld Lang Syne for New Year’s Eve, too! So I have posted an arrangement of Auld Lang Syne for the late beginner piano student that you will be able to learn in the next 11 days 🙂 If you have friends who sing or play violin, oboe, flute, recorder, bass or guitar, ask them to join you! They can all read from your music as I have included chord symbols and lyrics.

Click Here to Print AULD LANG SYNE

(Remember, free sheet music is only available for 1 year on my website’s Free Sheet Music page. If you do not see the sheet music there, please request it in a comment below and I will email it to you ASAP)

The song Auld Lang Syne was originally a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and set to a traditional tune. “Auld Lang Syne” can be translated to mean “for old time’s sake,” and asks an interesting question: Should we forget about the past or cherish it? I am greatly sentimental and tend to come out on the side of cherishing the parts of my personal history that were meaningful to me, without dwelling too much on painful memories. New Year’s Eve is a great time to reflect upon the past year and set intentions for the coming year. Rather than making resolutions, intentions can help you to learn and grow without the pressure of an end point. If you are interested, read more about Goals vs. Intentions here.

Another reason for me to post a Scottish song is that I have been watching the Scottish series called Shetland on DVD (from the library) lately. It is a BBC murder mystery which isn’t my usual genre, at all. But the characters and story are engaging, the scenery is gorgeous and the music is beautiful. I am a great lover of Celtic music, especially Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton songs and pieces, and Shetland features lilting traditional Scottish background music throughout its episodes. It’s so wonderful when we get to see and hear traditional music played on traditional instruments on the screen.

I hope you are enjoying these last days of 2018. Though I am a pianist, I also enjoy playing Celtic music on a small student-sized accordion. My intention is to practice my accordion a little bit each day if possible, so that I can become a better player. By the time St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, I hope to be able to play Irish songs more smoothly. What are your musical intentions for 2019?

With love and music, Gaili Schoen

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul

UpperHandsPiano.com

December 2, 2018October 5, 2019

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!

November 2, 2018October 5, 2019

November Free Sheet Music: Sonata Pathetique (Adagio cantabile)

To reawaken love and beauty when life feels overwhelmingly painful, we can turn to our music. This gorgeous theme from the 2nd movement (video) of Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique reminds me that alongside recent horrific events, there have been incredible acts of human kindness and generosity that fill me with optimism and love. I hope that playing Beethoven’s music swells your heart as it does mine.

Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique is an advanced piece, but as you know, I like to take difficult pieces and make them accessible to beginning and intermediate piano students. So I have transposed the Adagio cantabile theme to the key of C, and simplified it ever-so-slightly for the intermediate student. I hope in doing so I have retained the original beauty of the movement, while offering a challenging, yet more easily played arrangement for the intermediate pianist.

CLICK TO PRINT Sonata Pathétique, Adagio Cantabile, intermediate (on our website)

I also have a very easy 1-page arrangement of the Sonata Pathetique for beginners. The easy arrangement loses much of the beautiful harmonies of Beethoven’s theme, but for the beginner it might be a fun entry. To get the 1 page arrangement, please email me at upperhandspiano@gmail.com and I will happily send it to you. No spam, ever, I promise!

Because I have been suffering from some nasty food poisoning, it’s taken me awhile to tell you my big news…

American Music Teacher magazine has published an article I wrote entitled Geragogy: The Joys of Teaching Older Adults, in its October/November issue! American Music Teacher is The Official Journal of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) of which I am a proud member and contributor.

American Music Teacher magazine, Oct/Nov

If you are a member of MTNA you can read my article on p. 16 of the current Oct/Nov issue, or you can read it online here. I offer specific teaching examples for piano teachers, but most of the article is useable by teachers of all instruments. Thanks American Music Teacher for encouraging me to write about my passion: teaching piano to older adults. I’m working on a follow-up article about teaching students using scientific studies on how the brain learns and retains musical information (for teachers of students of all ages.)

I hope you have a beautiful Thanksgiving filled with good food, good friends and/or family. Perhaps you can serenade your loved ones with the Adagio cantabile if you start practicing the piece today! Look around and see how the faces of your audience have softened into love, peace, and joy while listening to your beautiful music. Remember, it doesn’t have to be even nearly perfect. Play from your heart and your listeners will feel elevated by the beauty of the music.

With love and deep gratitude, Gaili

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul

Available on Amazon.com

May 1, 2018July 13, 2018

May FREE Sheet Music: Pavane

My dear student Joan requested the beautiful and melodic Pavane by the French composer Gabriel Fauré so I wrote a couple of arrangements for our piano community 🙂 One is exactly like the original, only a bit shorter, and the other I simplified to an early intermediate level. It has been used in many films and television shows so it will probably sound familiar to you. The Pavane is one of those pieces that appeal to both the young and old, so please feel free to share it with your friends, students or other teachers. *** Update! My student pointed out that the Pavane is played in the hiphop hit Paparazzi by Xzibit! Keeping it current 🙂

CLICK HERE TO PRINT PAVANE (only available until May 2019)

Happy May Day! In Europe and Scandinavia May Day was traditionally celebrated with a maypole dance in which neighbors circle around the maypole weaving their ribbons in and out. What might you like to weave into your life this spring? Think about an intention you might set for your practice, and begin each practice session by setting a small goal for a small section of your music, in support of that intention.

I want to remind you to think about your posture when playing the piano. When you want to bend forward, be sure to bend with a straight back. Check-in with your body now and then to make sure you are not curving your back or extending your neck. We tend to hunch over and extend our neck as we age, (and as we text!) and that can cause “forward head posture”, with its attendant neck and back pain.

I hope you enjoy a lovely May filled with flowers and a few showers, wherever you are! With love and music, Gaili

Author, Upper Hands Piano:A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul

UpperHandsPiano.com

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March 2, 2018July 13, 2018

March FREE Sheet Music: Star of the County Down

It’s March, and I’m enjoying practicing Irish tunes for a few upcoming St. Patrick’s Day gigs. Though I already have two Irish folksongs — Red Is The Rose and Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral — posted on the Free Sheet Music page of the website, I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to offer you one more Irish beauty: Star of the County Down. Van Morrison and The Chieftains made a great recording of it in 1988, but I love when it is played as a slow waltz. I wrote two arrangements, one easy, the other intermediate.

If you’re a subscriber to my blog, thanks very much! I hope you are finding the practice tips, cognitive science connections, and free sheet music helpful. If you have arrived here via a link from social media, could you take a second to leave a comment telling me where you linked from? Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn? To thank you I’ll send you free sheet music for The Irish Washerwoman. My students often play it as a fun exercise in every key!

PRINT Star of the County Down HERE (only available through February 2019!)

There is some question as to whether the lyrics are in the public domain so I didn’t include them. But if you would like to have them, click here.

Since we’re celebrating the Irish influence in America this month, is there an element of Irish culture that makes your heart sing? Do you have a favorite Irish book (Ulysses, Angela’s Ashes, The Country Girls, Brooklyn, Waiting for Godot, Circle of Friends)? Author (Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Edna O’Brien, Bram Stocker, W.B. Yeats, Maeve Binchy, Oscar Wilde)? Song (Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, She Moved Through The Fair, Si Bheg Si Mor, Rocky Road to Dublin, Lagan Love, Sailor’s Hornpipe)? Band (U2, The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Sinead O’Connor, The Bothy Band, Planxty)? Films (The Quiet Man, The Secret of Kells, The Crying Game, Once, My Left Foot, The Commitments, Waking Ned Devine, Ryan’s Daughter)? There is so much of Irish culture to enjoy. As soon as the Oscars are over I just might have to re-watch The Secret of Roan Inish! That is one of my all-time favorite films, filled with music and magic.

Next week I will be back in your inbox with some new practice tips from my latest research in learning science. Hope you enjoy the last weeks of winter wherever you are!

With love and music, Gaili

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to Spark the Mind, Heart and Soul

UpperHandsPiano.com

February 9, 2018July 13, 2018

Valentine’s Day FREE Sheet Music: Red Is The Rose (intermediate)

As Valentine’s Day is approaching I wanted to find a beautiful love song, and I when I came upon Red Is The Rose, I knew my search was over. Red Is The Rose has the most beautiful melody, which is almost the same as the melody to the Scottish tune, Loch Lomond, but the rhythm is a bit changed and the lyrics are very different. Red Is The Rose is Irish, which means that you can play it not only for Valentine’s Day, but also throughout March for St. Patrick’s Day! There is some question as to whether the tune began in Ireland or Scotland, but it doesn’t really matter– both songs are gorgeous.

What is it about the Celts that makes them such amazing artists? The music, the poetry, the literature… so much beauty and history! In my travels around Ireland and Scotland I’ve noticed that nearly every child either plays a musical instrument, sings, or does traditional dance. Adult and children’s competitions abound for all three. You can find live music in every pub, and everyone knows and loves the traditional songs. The Scots and Irish hugely influenced music in Northern America since so many immigrated in the 19th century. Here in Southern California we have a Scottish Festival at the RMS Queen Mary this month, and an Irish Fair in June, plus a St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Los Angeles. Seems like we’re all a bit Celtic at heart.

I have arranged Red Is The Rose for intermediate piano. (If it feels too difficult now, print it out for another time–it will only be available for a year!) It has an intro and an outro and can be played as a solo piece, or to accompany a vocalist. The chord symbols are also included for guitar, bass, etc. You can print the music below, and also watch the video to see the fingering I am using. In the Youtube videos I linked above for Red Is The Rose and Loch Lomond, you will notice that the artists took liberties with the rhythms and notes. You can also feel free to take liberties with this arrangement– express yourself through the music (dynamics, tempo, rhythm) however you feel it.

PRINT Red Is The Rose HERE (3 pages) (only available through January 2019)

You might also want to print You Made Me Love You on the FREE Sheet Music page from last Valentine’s Day, and other songs and pieces from the past year.

I hope you will enjoy playing Red Is The Rose, and I hope you will sing it as well. The Irish don’t care if they are singing perfectly in time or in tune. Everyone enjoys singing! Try it- -singing is incredibly therapeutic!

Soon I will begin blogging about practicing tips again– it’s been a busy year with taking classes, teaching teachers, writing books, traveling and teaching my beloved piano students. But I do want to get back to some of the nuts and bolts of playing the piano. Leave a comment and let me know if there are any particular piano technique topics you would like me to discuss.

I hope Valentine’s Day finds you playing and listening to beautiful music.

With much love, Gaili

P.S.

If you like Red Is The Rose, you might also like the sheet music I posted last September for The Water Is Wide— another gorgeous folk song.

Gaili Schoen

Author, Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ to SPARK the Mind, Heart and Soul

UpperHandsPiano.com