Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman
and today we're learning how to play "Deck the Halls". This video is my Level 2
piano tutorial which requires that you have about two years or more solid piano
experience. If you try this and it seems too hard and you want something easier,
then please check out my Preparatory Level "Deck the Halls" tutorial. Okay,
let's come to the piano to get started. By the way, as we're learning this, it
might be helpful to have your own copy of "Deck the Halls".
So I recommend that you download and print "Deck the Halls" Level 2 which you
can find on our website. Let's start by learning the right hand. You can see here
in the treble staff we have finger 5 on G. Actually before we get there, we
should check out our time signature tells us we're in 4/4, and we're going to
be playing this lively. So get finger five on treble G, and what we're going to
do today is I'm going to see how much you can learn on your own.
So I'll have you pause the video and try the right hand by yourself for the first
two measures, then the left hand which starts here on this C major chord, and
then go ahead and try it hands together and then I'll walk you through it
and we'll see how you did. So, press pause and just work on these first two
measures, right hand alone, left hand alone, then hands together, and then we'll
do it together. So, press pause and then play to go on.
So the right hand should have sounded like this.
Now let's try that together.
Ready, go.
Good, then the left hand should be, 1 2 3, F E F G E. Now try it with me.
Let's slow it down a little bit. Ready, go. 1 2 3, F E F G E. Now together it
sounds like this.
And notice for the hands together, we have this chord and then,
the hands kind of follow this pattern where they both step down together, step
up, step up, skip down, even though they're on different notes, they're following the
same pattern. Okay, now let's try it together.
Ready, go. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4. Feel free to press pause if you need a little more practice
with that section, otherwise let's keep going to the next two measures. Let's
look at the right hand first. We have, it starts on a D, we go D, step up, step up,
skip down, step up, step down, step down, with the staccato,
then we have to step down again but, uh oh, we're out of fingers.
No problem, finger 2 will just come over for that B below middle C, but our thumb
is gonna stay on middle C. So we're gonna have C B C. We're gonna come right
back, so just glide that finger 2 over, but the thumb stays put. So let's watch
all of that together. We have TI-TI-TI-TI-TA-TI-TA-TA-TA, rest. Good, now the left hand meanwhile has this V7
chord with B F G for 2 beats, 1 2, and then a tonic or a I chord, and then
we have F E D and then a C and E chord. And then together we'll get
So press pause, and I'd like you to work on right hand alone, then left hand alone,
and then try it hands together. Then press play when you're ready to go on.
So let's hear the whole thing so far. We have,
and then it repeats
Now, if you need a little more work on that section, please feel free to press
pause and work on it until you feel ready, otherwise let's keep going. Let's
take a look at this next section. Now, with the right hand we begin with finger
2 on D. For ♫Don we now our gay apparel♫
And then the left hand, we have this V7 chord again for 4 beats. 1 2
3 4, and then back to the tonic or I chord, 1 2 3. But then you have that
F. So together we get ♫Don we now our gay apparel♫
So now I'd like you to press pause and work on those two measures. First try
right hand alone, then try the left hand alone, then put it hands together, then
press play to go on.
Okay, now in this next section we start with the right hand finger 3 on E,
and then you'll see that we step up but it asks for a finger 1 and that's
because we're gonna run out of fingers because then we have to travel all the
way up to C, and you don't want to use a bad fingering like I just showed. You
want to use our scale fingering. If you've learned how to do a one
octave C major scale like this, you know how to bring your thumb under. Okay, so
finger 3 will play E, finger 1 will just glide under to F, and then your
other fingers will slide over to this position. So 3 1 2 is the finger numbers
for just stepping up across those three notes. So let's try that a couple times 3
1 2. Try that again, 3 1 2. Okay, so if we go on from there we have 3 1 2,
and then we keep stepping up, 3 4 5. Just six notes in a row stepping up 3 1 2, 3 4 5.
And that makes ♫Fa la la la la la la la la♫ Okay, press pause and just work on those two measures, right
hand alone, until you feel really comfortable with that fingering and then
press play to go on.
Okay, let's check out the left hand part now. We're here in this position, finger
1 is on G. We play G for a half note, 1 2, then we play this F-sharp, so
finger 2's got to move over to F-sharp, and then D. So G, 2 beats, F-sharp D and
then G D G F E D. See those eighth notes, so we go, TI-TI-TI-TI, and the F-natural warns
us that we have to stop playing the F-sharp. We're going to come back to F-
natural. And that leads in to another tonic chord in the next measure. So watch
the whole thing again. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3-and-4-and
Okay, now press pause and work on the left hand. Do those two measures plus go
ahead and add in that tonic chord so you get used to how those eighth notes lead
right into that chord. Press pause to try that, then press play to go on.
Good, now you may find that these two measures are the trickiest in the
entire song. Whenever there's a tricky section in a song, I really encourage you
to practice that section extra extra-hard. Do it ten maybe even twenty
times in a row until you feel like you've really mastered it, and that's
going to apply when we do this hands together. Watch how that works. So we have
this 3 1 2 fingering in the right hand, remember that fingering, while
the left hand just holds that G. And then TI-TI-TA, while the right hand plays TI-TI-TA, the
left hand goes TA-TA, and together we get TI-TI-TA. All together, TI-TI-TA, TI-TI-TA, and then together
TA-TA, the right hand plays TA while the left hand plays TI-TI-TI-TI, so let's
watch that measure again, we have, TA-TA, TI-TI-TI-TI
And during that quarter rest the right hand is moving back to this
position, so we can go back to this main theme.
Does that make sense? So watch the whole thing again from that section, TI-TI-TA, TI-TI-TA
And let's stop there for right now. So, press pause and work on this section
hands together, and then press play to go on.
Now let's check out the next section. You'll see that it's just the same as
the first two measures of the song. So let's try that together, ready go.
And then right here the right hand shifts up, finger 5 to A, we have four
repeated A's, A A A A G, then we step down, step down, step down, step down. Since we run
out of fingers there, once again finger 2 is gonna cross over
the thumb for that last note. A A A A G F E D C. Notice we have a staccato, and an accent on those
two notes, and then an accent. So we'll play those extra strong for a big finale.
Now, let's check out the left hand. We have this F for 2 beats, then E, step
up, step up, V7 chord, I chord, and together that sounds like this, F E
So notice right there the right hand is stepping down, while the left hand is
stepping up. That's called contrary motion right?
So we're going contrary motion there, then V7 chord, I chord.
Now, press pause and on your own, do the right hand alone for the last two
measures, left hand alone last two measures, then hands together, then press
play to go on.
Good, now that we've worked through all the little two measure sections, let's
check out the dynamics. At the beginning we start forte, so play nice and strong.
And repeat, still forte.
Now mezzo piano which means kind of medium soft, so we'll get a little softer here.
Then right here you see the crescendo mark tells us that we're gonna gradually
get louder a little at a time. Build, still building, back to forte.
And that's the whole thing. Now on your own, it will be your turn to put all
those sections together, master it with dynamics, and learn to play it with
energy and have a lot of fun. Nice work learning how to play "Deck the Halls".
Happy practicing and see you next time.
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