Description
This attractive piece is perfect for the first day of piano lessons with beginners of all ages: they'll immediately start using finger 3 (which promotes good alignment and balance) and using both hands (which activates the area of the brain's motor cortex that controls hands-together motion). When combined with the teacher duet part, the result is a rich musical experience reminiscent of the late Romantic period, when composers like Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, and Franz Liszt frequently used common-tone modulations to pair unexpected harmonies together. The inspiration for this specific piece is the "balancing eagle" prop I use with younger students: I encourage them to imagine that their 3rd fingers are like the eagle's beak, balancing firmly on the stand, and their arms are like the eagle's body, floating in space without any tension or tethering.
The score contains optional lyrics to help students internalize the rhythm.
This piece is compatible with Irina Gorin's "Tales of a Musical Journey" method series.
A YouTube preview with score is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFXk8eYERck