Anybody Can Play PIANO
Most lesson levels will have not only activity sheets, but also instructional videos on YouTube. To access the videos, just type "karla crossett" in the top search bar on the YouTube page and you will be taken to the karla crossett channel. Videos for the free lessons will be a Playlist all to themselves.
The lessons are suitable for beginners with no music background - as young as 3! The "prep" videos and activities are primarily for the very young beginner.
Each level will have more than one song to learn. If one song is learned well (easy to play and memorized)
go on to the next level (if desired) rather than learning to play another song at the same level.
Sooo...always choose the song you wish to learn first in case that ends up being the only song you learn
before moving on.
Pre-Level One: MAKING THOSE KEYSTRIPS
We use what we call Key Strips to show beginner students where to place their hands. Since little keyboards are all different sizes this PDF has templates for keystrips that can be used in addition to information on how they are used, etc. Hopefully one of these templates is the size of your little keyboard keys! To download click here.
Level One: OUR BINDER MUSIC RACK
In the beginning we tend to always use lttle "Stand Up Boxes" that fit behind the keys. However we quickly move on to needing a music rack. Mini keyboards tend not to have one, so 3 ring binders work really well!To download this half page description click here.
Pre-Level One: OUR RH FINGER COLORS!
This is the title page on YouTube for the instructional video for pretend finger colors. This is primarily for very young students who are not familiar with numbers, but are recognizing colors. Color coding also helps tremendously when learning to play a melody with both hands in unison.
To download the activity sheets click here.
Pre-Level One: KEY PATTERNS
This is the title page on YouTube for the instructional video for the 2 and 3 black key activity sheets. Again, this is primarily for the very young student that has not had much experience with patterns.
To download the activity sheets click here.
Pre-Level One: THOSE FUNNY LOOKING NOTES
Pre-Level One
This video presents some basic notes - how they look, their names, number of beats, etc. This is a good video to study before working on that first song.To download click here.
Level One: INTRODUCTORY SONG: GOING UP
Our first little song! This song just uses fingers 1, 2, and 3. It is important that the prep videos and worksheets are done before learning this song. Finger colors, finding the D, and understanding a little bit about notes makes the learning much easier.To download click here.
Level One: MULTIPLE FORMAT ACTIVITY SHEETS for GOING UP
These are lesson sheets for GOING Up that have multiple formats, not just the Stand Up Boxes like what is used for the video. You may want to begin with a coloring sheet - or skip to the whole song that hangs on the binder music rack for older beginners that know how to "read" from left to right and top to bottom when there are multiple lines.To download click here.
Level One: MULTIPLE FORMAT SONGS: JESUS SAID and HOT CROSS BUNS
No video is necessary for these two songs. Written instructions are included and, as usual, there are several formats for ease in teaching different ages. These songs just use the first three fingers of the right hand.To download click here.