Over two weeks ago, found out about an Irish piano teacher and composer named Tamara Niekludow. She share with a FB group about very short Halloween songs that are simple and fun for piano students to learn. Here are YouTubes I made recently.
The first one is called Haunted House, a 16 measure song, is filled with a variety of musical concepts in such a short song. Niekludow's creates a melody in A Harmonic minor, including a D#, which makes the song more interesting. Line 1 and 3 are exactly the same, while 2 and 4 incorporate parallelism. She includes staccatos and legatos in this "eerie", "creepy" song. I had the chance to share the song with a student who really liked it. The rhythms are quarter, half and eighth notes, yet still a haunting, gorgeous melody. Great job.
The second song is called Witches' Waltz, that is also in 3/4 as Haunted House. The first four measures of each line are exactly the same, which is great to teach a melody. The song is in A Harmonic Minor, with a C# this time. She only uses A, Middle C and E (all close together) to creating an eerie, haunting melody in the first 4 four measures. She includes an ascending line in measures 5-8 and 13-16 a descending line.
Here is her YouTube page, worth checking out. I'm excited to learn more about her and the music she creates.
Who is someone you just learned about and has been helpful with your teaching? Would like to know. Thanks for your support. Blessings.
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