Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we are learning a Hanukkah song.
Hanukkah is a special Jewish holiday that
comes in the month of December.
It's sometimes called the festival of lights
because it involves a tradition where every
night they light one extra candle
on a special candle stick called the Menorah
which can hold nine candles.
Let's take a listen to "S'vivon."
Here's the sheet music to "S'vivon."
Let's take a look at this first line.
What do you notice?
You probably notice that some of these notes
have staccato dots over them.
Remember this little dot is called a staccato
and it means that we're going to play the
note with a quick release like this.
Now we also have some dynamic marks in "S'vivon"
like this mezzo piano.
Mezzo piano means you'll play medium soft.
Then down here, these lines that grow wider
mean to do a crescendo.
A crescendo will mean gradually get louder,
louder, louder, louder
until we get to forte, which means to play
with strength or loudly.
Now let's take a look at the rhythm of "S'vivon."
We'll speak it together.
Whenever you see a quarter note let's say
TA.
When you see a half note we'll say TWO since
it gets two beats.
And for the eighth notes let's say TI-TI TI-TI.
So can you speak the rhythm of "S'vivon" for
this first line?
Ready go. TA TA TWO. TA TA TWO.
TA TA TI-TI TI-TI TA TA TWO.
You'll notice how the melody passes between the left hand and the right hand in this song.
Good now let's try to speak the letter names
together.
Can you tell me the letter name for this first
note?
If you said A you're correct.
Now let's say all the letters together for
this first line.
Can you say them with me? Ready go.
A, A, B.
C, C, B.
What's this letter?
If you said E you're correct.
Now I Have E, E, D, C, B, A,
C, C, what's this one?
If you said B you're correct.
Now it looks like a big jump from here to
here but if you think about it
you'll remember that B in the bass clef is
just a step away from this middle C
so from here to here is just a step up.
Now let's take a look at where to place our
hands on the piano to play "S'vivon."
When you're first learning a new song how
do you know
where to put your hands on the piano?
Well you want to look for the first note of
each hand and look for a finger number.
You'll see in the left hand for the bass clef
you'll find a number two under the A.
That means put finger two on A right below
middle C.
You'll notice in the right hand for the treble
clef you'll see a finger one for middle C.
So in this song our thumbs will be next door
neighbors on C and B in the bass clef.
But the song starts on an A.
Alright here are the first three notes.
We have A, A, B. Now you try.
Good in the next measure we go up to middle
C in the right hand.
C, C, B. And then it ends by going back to
B in the left hand.
Again we have C, C, B.
Now you try.
Good now let's put those two together.
We have A, A, B,
C, C, B. Your turn.
Good and don't forget to make the notes with
dots over them staccato.
A, A, those are staccato, and then B.
And then two more staccatos. C, C, B.
A little hint for staccato is to remember
to keep your fingers close to the keys
and just lift your wrist with a little quick
motion.
You don't want your whole hand to fly off
the keys
because that will get you out of position.
Just keep your fingers close to the keys
and a little wrist lift will make the staccato
sound we want.
Now let's go on to measure three.
In measure three we start off with two staccato
E's in the right hand.
E, E, your turn.
Great. Now the next four notes in a row are
all stepping down starting on D.
We have TI-TI TI-TI four notes in a row.
D, C, B, A.
Your turn.
Now let's connect that with the two E's.
E, E, D, C, B, A.
Your turn.
Good. Now let's go on to measure four
which is C, C, B.
Your turn.
Good now listen to the whole line.
We have A, A, B,
C, C, B,
E, E, D, C, B, A,
C, C, B.
Now press pause and practice all of line one.
Press play when you're ready to go on to line
two.
Let's say the letter names for line two.
Can you help me? Ready go.
A, A, B. Keep going.
C, C, D.
What's this one?
If you said E you're correct.
Let's go on. E, E, E and what do you see here?
Can you tell me the letter name?
If you said E you're correct.
It's a step below the bass F line so we know
it has to be an E
so we go an octave down from this E in treble
clef
all the way down to this E in bass clef with
the left hand.
And then we end on A, A, A.
Now you might be wondering what is this curved
line here
as well as this line here?
Curved lines in music are called slurs
and that means to play these two notes legato.
Legato means to play them smoothly like this.
It's kind of the opposite of staccato which
would sound like this.
So these two notes we'll play smoothly following
these two staccato notes.
TA, TA, TA, TA.
Now let's try line two on the piano.
For line two our hands are still in the same
position.
And remember that this line has a crescendo
so we're going to start on the softer side
and for two measures
each note is going to get a little bit louder
like this.
A, A, B, C, C, D.
Will you try that?
Remember to start soft and then gradually
each note will get a little bit louder.
Try it.
Now in measure three we have three E's in
a row in the treble clef
played by the right hand, E, E, E,
and then it goes down to the E in the left
hand.
And finger five is on the E down here in bass
clef
so we have E, E, E, E.
And then we end with three A's.
A, A, A.
So all together it will go E, E, E, E
A, A, A.
Now your turn to try.
Good now listen to all of line two together.
It's going to start soft.
A, A, B,
C, C, D,
E, E, E, E,
A, A, A.
Now press pause and practice line two on your
own.
Don't forget the crescendo.
Now that you know both lines, let's try the
whole song from the very beginning.
If you like you can play along with me
or if you choose you can just listen once.
I'll start at the very beginning.
One, two, ready go.
Now press pause and practice the whole thing
on your own.
Once you can play it really well,
press play and I'll play an accompaniment
with you to make it more exciting.
Now we're ready to try playing it together.
Why don't you listen once to the accompaniment
I'm going to play.
So that's what I'll play while you go S'vivon.
And together it will be S'vivon
Okay are you ready to try it?
Put your hands in position.
I'll play the accompaniment, you play the
melody of S'vivon.
One, two, ready go.
Great job today learning "S'vivon."
I hope you have lots of fun practicing it.
Happy Hannukah and see you next time.
Happy Hannukah!