Let Us Chase The Squirrel

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we're learning how to play a new song, "Let Us Chase the Squirrel."
First, I'll play and sing a jazzy version for you,
and then we'll learn to play the simple version.

♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry, down the hick'ry ♫
♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry tree ♫

Okay, let's try drawing the notes of, "Let Us Chase the Squirrel" on the treble staff.
I'll sing part of the song and see if you can figure it out in solfège.
♫ ba ba ba ba ♫ What did you hear? In solfège the correct answer is:
♫ DO DO RE RE ♫ DO repeats, then step up, repeat. Then what do we have next?
♫ ba ba ♫ After that, we have MI SO, and are these stepping or skipping?
That's right, because we went from a line note to a line note,
we know there's a space note in between that we skipped over.
Now, can you point and sing the solfège with me? Ready, go:
♫ DO DO RE RE MI SO ♫

Let's try playing these notes on the piano.
We'll need the C major pentascale today, so cover up C D E F G,
and we're going to play: ♫ C C D D E G ♫ Now you try.
Good, now let's check out the next phrase of this song.
The next phrase starts out: ♫ ba ba ba ba ♫ What would that be in solfège?
That's right, just like last time, we have: ♫ DO DO RE RE, ♫
but then this time it goes: ♫ ba ba ba ba ♫
This time, once we get DO DO RE RE, then it steps up to ♫ MI MI, ♫
then steps back down ♫ RE RE ♫, for up the hick'ry down the hick'ry.
You point and sing the solfège with me. Ready, go:

♫ DO DO RE RE ♫
♫ MI MI RE RE ♫

Now let's try to point and sing the letter names. Ready, go: ♫ C C D D E E D D ♫
Now let's try to play this phrase on the piano.
Once again, cover up the C major pentascale, and we'll play ♫ C C D D E E D D ♫
Now your turn. Good, let's go on to the next phrase.
Now the next phrase goes ♫ ba ba ba ba ba ba ♫ What would that be in solfège?
The correct answer is ♫ DO DO RE RE MI SO ♫
Have we heard these notes before?
That's right, they're the exact same as the first phrase.
Let's try playing that on the piano. Remember it's just what we played before:
♫ C C D D E G ♫ Now your turn.

Good, now let's try the last phrase. It goes ♫ ba ba ba ba ba ♫
What would that be in solfège? The correct answer is ♫ DO DO RE RE DO ♫
Can you tell me the letter names for these five notes? Go.
If you said, ♫ C C D D C ♫ you're correct. Let's try playing that on the piano.
Cover up the C major pentascale. Let's try together at the same time. Ready, go:
♫ C C D D C ♫ And the lyrics for that part are ♫ up the hick'ry tree ♫

Now I'll show you the whole song on the piano.
If we put all those patterns together, we have,

♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry, down the hick'ry♫
♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry tree ♫

I'll show you the whole song on the piano using letter names.

♫ C C D D E G ♫
♫ C C D D E E D D ♫
♫ C C D D E G ♫
♫ C C D D C ♫

Now I'd like you to press pause and practice the whole song,
"Let Us Chase the Squirrel," by yourself several times until you feel confident.
Press play when you're ready to go on.

Now I'll show you how to have some real fun with "Squirrel,"
using the practice track, which you can download from our website
as part of the Complete Materials for Unit 2. On the track for "Squirrel,"
|first you'll hear an introduction, then you'll hear four clicks.
That's your cue to start playing "Squirrel." Once you've finished playing the song,
you'll have some time to improvise. Use any note in the C major pentascale,
and have fun making up patterns for your improvisation.
This time I want you to experiment especially with repeating notes,
similar to what you have in "Let Us Chase the Squirrel."

I'll show you once how it's going to go.
I'm going to place my right hand in the C major pentascale when the music starts.
You're going to listen to the intro, wait for four clicks,
play "Let Us Chase the Squirrel," then improvise. While you're improvising,
as you near the end of the improvisation, you'll hear four clicks again,
and that's your cue to play "Let Us Chase the Squirrel" one last time.
Here's how it's done. I'm going to show you. Here come the four clicks:
One, two, three, four. ♫
Now, improvise. One, two, three, four.

♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry, down the hick'ry♫
♫ Let us chase the squirrel ♫
♫ up the hick'ry tree ♫

At first that practice track may feel too fast for you to ...