The “Arrangements for Piano Students” spoiler is too massive… I wonder if I can tuck spoilers into spoilers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Meanwhile, feel free to use any of these scores for piano students (many of which omit fingering, slurs, dynamics, and/or other elements of notated music, for the purpose of pedagogical instruction), or for your own formal performance. I’d greatly appreciate hearing about your usage, of course!
Recent Changes
- 11/27/2015: Further revised Serenade on a Full Moon (all parts)
- 11/20-25/2015: Added Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Lead Sheets section
- 11/12/2015: Revised Serenade on a Full Moon (piano part)
- 11/10/2015: Added Serenade on a Full Moon
Arrangements for Piano Students
- Beginner:
- Mary Had a Little Lamb (right hand only)
- Camptown Races (both hands, one at a time)
- It’s a Small World
- The Force
- Yankee Doodle (both hands, one at a time)
- We Are the Dinosaurs, for four hands on one piano: Full Score, Piano I, Piano II
- Early Intermediate:
- Brahms’ Waltz, Op. 39 No. 15
- Everything Is Awesome
- Happy Birthday
- Jolly Old St. Nicholas (both hands)
- Jingle Bells, the chorus of (both hands)
- Jurassic Park
- London Bridge is Falling Down
- Nearer, My God, To Thee (19th-century English hymn: soprano and bass parts alone)
- Ode to Joy (easier)
- Summer Stars by Meghann Domond
- When the Saints Go Marching In (American gospel hymn)
- Intermediate:
- Ding, Dong! Merrily on High
- Brahms’ Lullaby
- Hedwig’s Theme
- If You’re Happy and You Know It
- Jeopardy!
- Lyra’s Song, from the anime “Fairy Tail”
- Marines’ Hymn
- Minecraft BGM (In the Evening on Grassland) for four hands on one piano: Full Score, Piano I, Piano II
- New Soul by Yael Naïm
- Ode to Joy
- Over the Rainbow v1.1 (updated 5/7/15)
- Silent Night for students’ chord discovery
- Sleeping Beauty
- Stay With Me v1.1 (updated 5/7/15)
- The Farmer in the Dell
- The Star-Spangled Banner
- Late Intermediate (some duplicated by ear, so sue me if I incorrectly recalled certain pitches/rhythms!):
- Silent Night
- Ice Cream Truck Song
- It is Well with My Soul (19th-century American hymn)
- It’s the Hard-Knock Life from the Musical Annie
- Precious Lord, Take My Hand
- Super Mario Bros Underground Theme
- The A section to Schubert’s March Militaire
- Shall We Gather At the River? (19th-century American hymn: freestyle parts)
- Pop! Goes the Weasel, for four hands on one piano: Full Score, Piano I, Piano II (parts added 11/3/2014)
- The Entertainer
- Main theme from The Legend of Zelda
- The Merry-Go-Round of Life from Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle by Studio Ghibli
- Advanced / Octave-Requiring Arrangements:
- Happy by Pharrell Williams (from Despicable Me 2)
- Let it Be by the Beatles
- Linus and Lucy from Charles M. Schultz’s Peanuts
Compositions
For Piano Pedagogy
For Piano Solo
- Valse in C-sharp Minor (inspired by Chopin’s Op. 64 No. 2)
- Grand Waltz in D-flat Major
- An American Toccata (its blog announcement)
- Grieg’s Melodie, Op. 38 No. 3, extended (its blog announcement)
For Piano Trio
- Serenade on a Full Moon: Full Score/Piano, Violin, Violoncello
Other
Technique Worksheets
- C Major Scale, in one and two octaves
Lead Sheets
Arrangements for String Trio
Media
Video
An American Toccata:
Audio
- [mp3j track=”http://www.joshuachandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Grand-Waltz.mp3″ title=”Grand Waltz”] (poor-quality, informal recording on Sept. 17, 2012.)
- [mp3j track=”http://www.joshuachandra.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Grieg-Melodie.mp3″ title=”Grieg’s Melodie, Op. 38 No. 3, extended”] (informal recording on Apr. 10, 2013)
Are people allowed to use these?
Absolutely, Julia! On that note, I’d be very interested in knowing which ones people use, because I throw out updates to files from time to time with better harmonics that I uncover (for example, I need to fix up the second system to the Schubert after my student actually played that part; the R.H. could be better voiced). Many of these scores I arrange silently at the computer without ever touching a piano, so playing the real deal sometimes leads to revisions.
The ultimate goal is for all teachers to be arranging & composing their own music for their students, and then getting their students to eventually write and put stuff together for themselves. I believe every teacher/musician should eventually do this, according to my encompassing philosophy of holistic music-making.
Thanks for the comment, and happy crafting!
Might use some of your Christmas arrangements for my students!
Awesome, Jess! Let me know how it goes!