Do you have students who love minor keys, odd meters, or Halloween pieces that swing?
Here are some tips on how to approach my favorite pieces from the songbook Tricks & Treats, which contains nothing but minor-key pieces, four jazzy solos that swing, and two odd-meter solos.
“Insomniac’s Lullaby”
This selection is an over-the-top scary version of Brahms’ Lullaby. It tends to make students and audiences laugh as soon as they figure out what the distorted melody actually is. Students get to gleefully play dissonant minor seconds in the lowest range of the piano, and their ability to read accidentals may be challenged in a good way. Students might be inspired to alter other famous melodies in similarly scary ways!
Listen to “Insomniac’s Lullaby”:
This piece is also available as a single:
“Itsy Bitsy Tarantula”
“Itsy Bitsy Tarantula” is a swinging minor version of Itsy Bitsy Spider with a bluesy ostinato in the left hand.
Listen to “Itsy Bitsy Tarantula”:
If students are adventurous, you can have them repeat bars 25 through 32 and improvise over that ostinato using the notes E, F-sharp, G, A, and B in the right hand.
This piece is also available as a single:
“Those Who See, But Are Not Seen”
This is my favorite piece in the book because of its rhythm. It features a ghostly melody in G minor that creates a subtle hemiola feel against the left hand.
This piece is also available as a single:
“Too Much Sugar Blues”
This piece begins with falling tritones, and is a good rhythmic challenge with lots of syncopated swing rhythms in A minor. Students learn the left hand first, then tap or say the right hand rhythms with syllables like “bah bah da dah, bah bah da dah.” Leave out the grace notes until the rest of the rhythm is solid.
Listen to “Too Much Sugar Blues”:
This piece is also available as a single:
“Skulls Chattering”
Another piece that swings, with a bluesy minor left hand ostinato and lots of syncopation. I teach the left hand first, then have students tap or say the right hand rhythms. Since the rhythms are repetitive, once they get the first 4 bars, they’ll be able to figure out the whole piece.
Listen to “Skulls Chattering”:
This piece is also available as a single:
“This Odd Man, He Played Seven”
An introduction to playing in 7/8 and a great study in forearm rotation. Students start by counting “1-2-3-4 1-2-3” with an accent on both 1’s and keeping it as steady as possible. I recommend playing the left hand alone in bar 5 first, then the right hand alone in bar 11.
This piece is also available as a single:
“Five Feisty Witches”
This piece offers an introduction to playing in 5/8 that also is a good forearm rotation study. Count “1-2 1-2-3” with an accent on both 1’s, and start by playing the left hand alone in bars 1-8.
This piece is also available as a single:
“Boogie-Man Blues”
This is the most difficult piece in the book. I use it to teach the classic boogie left hand that is featured in bar 27. Usually students start with the left hand alone there, then we go back and learn the left hand alone at the beginning.
This piece is also available as a single:
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