Let's Make Music Fun!, Red Book: Piano Book

This collection answers a real curricular need by offering songs that develop specific skills at each elementary stage while actually holding children's attention. The inclusion of rounds, part-songs, and action songs means you're not locked into one teaching strategy; you can layer these pieces across your year to reinforce harmony, ensemble listening, and rhythmic precision without sacrificing joy.

Playful and purposeful. These songs sparkle with genuine musical ideas (notice how the rounds are constructed to create satisfying harmonic textures) while maintaining the lightness that draws children in. You get color and motion without condescension.

Elementary music teachers who need repertoire that builds skills systematically across grades K-5. Piano teachers working with young students or those preparing material for school assemblies and programs will find immediate classroom applications here.

• Start with the action songs to establish comfort and build kinesthetic awareness of pulse before introducing rounds that require inner hearing.
• Use the guitar chords to expand how you present these pieces: a student guitarist can accompany while singers focus on blend and part independence.
• Layer rounds gradually, beginning with unison verses before dividing into parts so singers internalize the melody fully before tracking a second voice.
• Rehearse the piano accompaniments separate from the singing initially so your focus can stay on vocal technique and ensemble balance.

Distribute these across your curriculum year rather than massing them in one unit. Use action songs to open lessons and build community, introduce rounds as your students develop inner hearing, and lean on part-songs when you're ready to explore simple harmony. Each song's specific purpose means it earns its place in sequence.

• Singing in rounds and canons with accurate part independence
• Rhythmic accuracy and ensemble pulse awareness through action songs
• Reading and singing simple two-part harmonies
• Following dynamic and tempo directions from a conductor
• Ensemble listening and blend in small group singing
• Coordination of movement with vocal production