Canon in D for Cello and Piano | Free Wedding Sheet Music

I keep forgetting to post this, but I arranged it a while ago.  In October, I was hired to play for a wedding at Bluemont Vineyard here in Northern Virginia.  The bride wanted to incorporate her cellist friend into the wedding.  As always, I was accommodating.  I love to play with others!  I figured that the bridal processional, Canon in D (Palchelbel), would be a nice shining moment for the cello to join me.  The bride had chosen one of my pre-set wedding programs, and this was the bridal processional in this particular program.   Not knowing the cellist well, I figured that this popular wedding classic would be a good, safe option (most strings players know it well).  I searched the internet for good duo arrangements for just piano and cello, but everything I could find was for a quartet or quintet.

So I sat down and wrote this arrangement.  It went well.  The cellist really liked it, because it gave him more to do than he was used to.  (He told me the cello part with a string quartet is very monotonous and unchallenging).  There was much more movement in his part than he was used to, and even a counter-melody against the piano!  I enjoyed it too.  I think it does take some preparation on the part of both instruments, but it is well worth it.

At the end of the piece, I decided to improvise.  The pianist should do this up high, in the upper registers, to sound like a music box.  I think there is not enough improv in classical music, and the spontaneous nature of improv lends a fresh presentation, full of sentiment.  Make sure you practice your improvisation at the end, but don't plan it too much!

   PRINT THIS FREE ARRANGEMENT NOW!

Canon in D for Cello and Piano:  www.freethepiano.com/ www.musicbyjennifer.net

Important Notes:

• You may pull out early at any of the double bars I added, to adjust to the timing of the ceremony.  Just add a D major chord right after the double-bar you choose to end on.
• Rehearsal letters have been added to help with rehearsal, or break up the piece into mini-canons.  For example, play the whole piece for the entrance of the bridal party and groomsmen, pulling out at the one of the double-bars as needed.  For a triumphant entrance, we paused the music before the bride and groom entered, and started the bridal processional (just the bride and groom walking down the aisle) at rehearsal letter C.  The flower girls/boys took an unexpectedly long time, so I just vamped from letter D to the end for them (add repeats as needed).  
• Whoever's in charge (me, in this case) should be ready to call out rehearsal letters or repeats softly so that music can be vamped (repeats added) to fill time.     

Hanukkah Piano: Dreidel Boogie

I took a book of Hanukkah songs yesterday and rearranged them in my own way.  I had never played a Hanukkah party before this weekend, so I had to do my homework.  Most Hanukkah songs are sad-sounding, folk-like melodies in minor keys, with simple chord progressions.  With most of the songs, I took a pretty, classical interpretation, adding the usual bling (you know, arpeggios, scale runs, thickened chords, change of register, octaves in the melody, more bass/tremolos, beautiful intros).  But when it came to "I Have a Little Dreidel," I had to do more. This song has the child-like quality of a nursery rhyme.  It's about as sophisticated as "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," or "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  In my humble opinion, it's just kinda dull! With the need for some musical spice, I thought about spinning up a boogie around this tune. Boogie is typically characterized by a left-hand ostinato (repeating pattern) played fast and swingy.  Simple songs with only two or three chords lend themselves nicely to a boogie accompaniment in the left hand. Jingle Bells is another simple holiday song I play in boogie style.  So this two-chord folk song was just begging to boogie yesterday!  Here is what I came up with, in about ten minutes of jamming out my ideas:

How did I do it?  Here is what my left hand is doing (below).  If you don't know this left-hand pattern, you should add it to your tool box.  It's a great work-out for the left hand that uses all five fingers.  It keeps the lazy hand in shape (yes, it gets lazy because, even if you are left-handed, left hand parts in general are less physically challenging than right-hand parts).

Piano Boogie:  Left Hand Accompaniment Pattern No. 1:  www.freethepiano.com

Just memorize the pattern in scale degrees (thinking in numbers is always a good idea in music!), and apply this pattern to whatever chord you're in.  When you go to the V chord (G here) in the song, the pattern looks like this:

Piano Boogie:  Left Hand Accompaniment Pattern No. 1, transposed to G Ma:  www.freethepiano.com

Of course I also jazzed up the melodic rhythm and added some blue grace notes to the melody (more on this later), but you don't have to do that if you don't want to.  I hope you enjoy trying some boogie on your Christmas and Hanukkah tunes this year.  Have fun!

Jazz Piano "Therapy" for Adult Students

One of the student types I've attracted over the years is the adult student looking to explore jazz and improvisation.  Perhaps their childhood teacher knew nothing about it.  One time I was teaching a woman who just couldn't get the sight-reading thing mastered.  Every lesson had been a struggle in the past.  But she truly loved music.  A former dancer, she suffered from miserable back pain and life troubles in general.  Simply put, she was unhappy.  I knew these lessons were possibly self-therapy for her.  But the traditional approach wasn't working.  As I find with many students, reading two staves of music is a burdensome chore that stifles their natural musical ability.  So I switched my approach with this student.

One day I asked her to improvise with the C pentatonic scale while I played a swing beat on my keyboard and improvised a 7th chord accompaniment.  I will never forget how transformative this experience was.  The sullen face she usually wore was replaced with a radiant smile.  Her typically rigid body began to bounce freely to the music.  She clearly felt the rhythm of the music, and her improvisations were good!  At the end of the exercise, she was talking rapidly and excitedly:

"That was so much fun, Jennifer!  Oh my!  Oh my!  I've never had so much fun in my whole life!  I've never done anything like this.  Do you think we can do more of this?  I love it!"

She went on raving about the experience for the rest of the lesson.  It was as if I'd given her a magic potion.  She couldn't sit still and couldn't stop talking.  Joy had replaced despondency and I pondered over this transformation for several days.  What was it about that experience that gave her more fun that she had ever had?

I think it was the freedom she found in improvisation.  She could play the notes of her heart.  Her fingers didn't need to get it right, or be mistake-free.  She didn't feel the judgment of a teacher; she didn't feel wrongness and inadequacy, only joy in expression.  She just needed to be herself and let her heart dance to the music.

The man in this article claims that jazz piano lessons cured his mental illness:  http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-04/how-learning-play-jazz-piano-kept-me-sane.

I would encourage everyone considering adult piano lessons (especially jazz) to read this.  I have no doubt that music study was what cured his illness.

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If you're interested in exploring jazz piano as an adult beginner or a returning adult student with classical training, I specialize in making jazz easy and joyful.  And I also teach popular, classic rock, and movie themes from a jazz approach.  Call 571-439-0136, or visit www.musicbyjennifer.net for more information.  

In-Home Piano Lessons for Loudoun and Purcellville, VA

After spending a year in the field refining my performance and arranging skills, I am excited to share what I've learned with a new crop of select students.  I'm looking for serious piano students who want to expand beyond their classical skills to become proficient in  popular, jazz, improvisation, and/or composition.  My diverse experience in just about every piano capacity imaginable helps me prepare students for college music study and/or professional careers in music.  I can also help returning adults to re-gain confidence and find their own special gift.  What will you learn?  You will learn all the tricks and arranging secrets that I have learned over the past fifteen years.  You will learn to listen and trust your musical intuition more.  You will learn to make music from scratch, without relying on a piece of paper.  I am also skilled in helping students to dramatically improve sight-reading, so that they can handle anything that is thrown at them.  I do this by equipping students with a deep understanding of theory and chords, and through direct application of that knowledge in creative lead-sheet interpretation and score analysis.  I teach all styles, drawing from my experience in composition & arranging, musical theater accompanying, playing with orchestras/bands, wedding piano, hotel/restaurant/party piano, dance accompanying, and vocal accompanying.

Accepting students by audition only.  Call 571-439-0136 or e-mail info@musicbyjennifer.net for more information. SUNDAYS ONLY, IN YOUR HOME.  LOUDOUN COUNTY AREA.

Visit my website at www.musicbyjennifer.net to learn more about my experience and qualifications.