Lesson
1
A DISCOVERY
In this lesson you will learn...
...where all the C, D and E keys are on the piano keyboard.
Story:
Activity Sheets:
A Discovery
★Castles and Caves
Music:
★Cat, Dragon, Elf
★Elf, Dragon, Cat
Learn. Play. Teach.
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Musicland Level I
Lesson 1: A Discovery
(Keys C, D and E)
One cold and rainy day, Sarah and her brother Nikolai started to play a game
of hide and seek. Sarah ran off to hide first, heading
right toward the attic. Opening the door to the attic
stairs, she could hardly believe her eyes. The staircase
had turned into a gigantic piano keyboard! Instead of
steps, there were huge piano keys leading up as far as
she could see.
Sarah called to Nikolai to come quickly. He
stepped softly on the first key and it made a sound like a real piano. Soon they
were both scampering up the keyboard. Every time they stepped on a key, the
staircase made another beautiful sound.
When they got to the top, Sarah and Nikolai found
themselves standing right in front of a dark cave. Next to the
cave sat a large yellow cat that actually seemed to be smiling.
“Welcome to Musicland! I am Yellow Cat and I will be your guide. In Musicland,
you will learn to play the piano in a fun and exciting way.”
“Let’s start by looking at a piano keyboard. As you can see, there are lots of
black keys and lots of white keys. The black
keys are either in groups of two or groups of
three. In Musicland, each group of two back
keys makes a cave, and each group of three
black keys forms a castle. For each cave and
castle, there are seven white keys, one for
each of us who lives here in Musicland.
“Today I will introduce you to the Musicland family
living near the cave. Purple Dragon is probably the easiest
to remember because he is the only one who lives inside the
cave. Purple Dragon might look a bit scary and might sound
even scarier, but he really is very kind.”
“Green Elf and I would like to live in the cave too, but
Dragon can be so loud that it’s better to stay outside. Since I am
a cat, my favorite thing to do is to bask in the sun right here in
front of the cave. Green Elf also likes to relax; in fact, you will
usually find him resting on this lovely patch of grass just to the right of the cave.”
“To help you remember where we live, let’s sing a song called In
Musicland. It sounds just like Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Let’s start with:
In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And in that cave there was a
dragon, E-i-e-i-o.
In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And by that cave there was a cat,
E-i-e-i-o.
In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And by that cave there was an elf,
E-i-e-i-o”
“Next time you come to visit, I will introduce you to our friends who live at
the castle. Once you learn our names and where to find us on the keyboard, you
will be able to play all kinds of music. But now it’s time for you to head home so
your mother does not worry.”
“I am so glad we got to meet you,” Nikolai said. “This is the most fun I’ve
ever had on a rainy day.”
As Yellow Cat led Sarah and Nikolai back to the magical staircase, he
handed each one a picture of the Musicland keyboard and some music. “These
short songs will help you remember us when you get home. Just play the keys on
the piano that match the color of the notes. And have fun!” Sarah and Nikolai
waved goodbye before jumping from cave to castle to cave all the way to the
bottom of the staircase.
Cat, Dragon, Elf
move up
Yellow Cat
  

  Cat-Dra-gon Elf








Cat Dra- gon Elf
move up
move up
    Cat Dra-gon Elf
Cat Dra- gon Elf
Elf, Dragon, Cat
Yellow Cat
   move down
move down
move down
    
Elf Dra- gon Cat
   
Elf Dra- gon Cat
   
Elf Dra- gon Cat
Elf Dra- gon Cat