For Young Revolutionaries: Seven Easy Pieces For Piano And Voice

Kelvin Sholar

1 Introduction

Young musicians need solid educational material that help them master cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills. How can we teach young musicians to play in odd meters like 3/4, 5/4, 7/4 when most of western music is in even meters like 2/4, 4/4 or 6/4? Furthermore, how can we begin to teach young musicians about social-political issues and people which are important to us? One way to do that is to learn how to play odd rhythms by speaking words or names that embody them. For example, suppose that a young African American family wants their children to learn the piano or voice, but also learn about important people and socio-political issues. Then, we can speak a name like “Rosa Parks”, which embodies the 3/4 meter and makes it easier for beginners to learn how to learn to play in that meter. With this idea in mind, I have come up with an etude of seven easy pieces for piano and voice. I provide it free of charge. And I dedicate it to the young budding revolutionaries that make peace and equality for everyone worth fighting for.

2 Seven Easy Pieces For Piano And Voice

The first piece of the etude is titled A (Love), it emphasizes singular tones. The second piece is titled B (George Floyd); it emphasizes two tones at a time. The third piece C (Rashard Brooks), emphasizing three tones at a time. The fourth piece D (Travon Martin) emphasizes four tones at a time. The fifth piece E (Breonna Taylor) emphasizes five tones at a time. The sixth piece F has four names all of which emphasize three beats: Rosa Parks, M. L. King, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton. They combine to create a greater six tone phrase. The final piece G (Jacob Ewing Wetterling) emphasizes seven tones at a time.

3 Several Media Formats

The etude is available as a pdf

The etude is available as jpg