Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman,
and today we're going to learn a traditional German folk song called "Honey Bee".
It's about someone telling a honey bee, don't sting me.
No one wants to get stung, so if you ask me it's best to leave bees peacefully alone,
and they'll usually--
leave you alone too. let's have a listen to "Honey Bee".
Let's check out the sheet music or score for "Honey Bee".
Take just a few seconds and tell me what you notice.
I always like to notice my clefs. I've got treble and bass, and what's the time signature?
This top number tells us we'll have 2 beats per measure. We have a 2/4 time signature.
You might have also noticed a lot of sharp symbols tells us we'll be in a key with
plenty of sharps.
Maybe you also notice some new dynamic symbols.
mf
written this fancy way stands for Mezzo forte.
Try saying that with me. Mezzo forte.
Mezzo Forte means medium loud. It's not as loud as Forte.
It's more of a medium loud.
You might have also noticed this Mezzo piano.
This fancy mp stands for Mezzo piano. Try saying it with me. Mezzo piano.
Mezzo piano is not as soft as piano. It's more of a medium soft.
So in order from softest to loudest,
the dynamic symbols we've learned so far are piano, which is the softest,
mezzo piano more of a medium soft,
mezzo forte medium loud, and then Forte which means strong or loud.
Did you notice our symbol that we've seen before? D.C. al Fine, which I think of as a teleporter
that teleports us back to the start of a song, and then we finish at the Fine.
So the path of the whole song will go this first section the A section,
B section, D.C. al Fine,
A section one last time, Fine you're done.
Now let's take a look at the right-hand part, which is here on the top staff.
I'd like you to pause the video and say the letter names for these notes,
and see if you can figure out what pentascale we are in.
Pause the video, name the letter names of each note,
don't forget to say the sharp name as well.
So for example this first note don't just say F, say F-sharp.
You figure out the rest, then press play and we'll look at it together.
The correct answer is F-sharp, E, D-sharp, C-sharp, D-sharp, E,
C-sharp, don't forget a C-sharp here is still C-sharp through the end of the measure.
And then here we have a note a step below this middle C line.
Remember any note on the line
one ledger line below treble staff is middle C, but here we want to step below that.
What's a step below C?
It's a B.
Now,
what pentascale is that? Let's see we have an F-sharp, an E,
a D-sharp, we have a C-sharp, then some notes we've already had, and a B.
Do you recognize that pentascale?
It's our B major pentascale.
Now the last thing I'd like you to do before we try to play this is pause the video, and
if you haven't already, download and print out this sheet music and then on your own
I'd like you to write in the subdivided beat.
Remember every beat has a first half which we give a number for, and then the second half of the beat
we give an & to.
So 1-& 2-&, and then a half note would get 1-& 2-&
Half note gets 2 beats,
and then these eighth notes get 1-& 2-& 1-& 2-& and for that rest.
Pause the video, write the counts in your own music,
then press play and we'll practice it together.
N ow can you tap this rhythm while we count the beat out loud?
I'll count 2 beats to get us ready, and then we'll start. 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-& 1-& 2-&
1-& 2-& 1-& 2-& for rest remember you can just lift your hand.
Now let's try to play it.
Here I have our B major pentascale.
Can you point and tell me the letter name for each of these keys? Go.
The correct answer is B C-sharp D-sharp E F-sharp.
Now go ahead and place your right hand. Here's my middle C, so we're going to find this B major pentascale.
And notice that our first note is F-sharp with finger 5,
and I'd like you to pause the video and try to play the first four measures without my help.
See if you can figure out the notes, then press play and we'll try it together.
Okay here's what the first four measures sound like. If you'd like you can just listen,
or if you'd like to play along with me that works too.
1 2 ♫Honey bee, don't you dare sting me!♫ Rest
And on the rest make sure you do a little lift off of the keys.
If you hold through the rest then you're not really observing the rest. We have: TA rest
♫don't you dare♫ and on 'sting' remember the C is still sharp. ♫don't you dare sting me♫ Rest
Now pause the video if you need more practice with that,
otherwise let's check out line two, or the B section.
Can you tell me the step, skip, repeat pattern? Say start for this first note.
Start. Now what happens?
The correct answer is start, step up, step up, skip down, and what's the interval?
We're skipping down a third.
Now can you tell me what's happening in this measure?
What do you notice about the step, skip, repeat pattern in this measure?
This measure essentially has the same pattern: start, step up, step up, skip down.
Just like we had start, step up, step up, skip down. But what's different?
We're starting one step lower to begin with even though it's the same pattern,
we're beginning one step lower. This one started on D-sharp E F-sharp D-sharp.
This one goes C-sharp D-sharp E C-sharp.
In solfège that would give us MI FA SO MI RE MI FA RE
Now what do you notice about these two measures?
If you check every note you'll see these two measures are a repeat of these two.
No problem right? let's come to the piano and try to play it.
Go ahead and get your right hand back in the B major pentascale.
And on line two, or the B section, here in measure five we start with finger 3 on D-sharp.
Now once again I'd like you to challenge yourself to figure out how to play this
without me showing you first. So pause the video, try to play measures five through eight.
This B section, then press play and we'll try it together.
Now I'll play measures five through eight. If you'd like to listen
you can do that, or if you'd like to try to play along with me you can do that as well.
So we're going to start here with finger 3 on D-sharp. Here in measure five. 1-& 2-&
♫Don't sting sister, don't sting brother, don't sting father, don't sting mother,♫
Now, if you need more time working on that, press pause and work on it some more. Otherwise let's keep going.
Now as you're putting the A section and the B section together with the right hand,
I wanted to remind you about this concept called phrasing.
When you see these longer slur marks,
you're going to look for opportunities to give the notes a shape.
In other words, if the notes are stepping up towards the middle of a phrase
that's a great time to do a little crescendo.
So you can start softer ♫don't you dare♫, then get a little louder as it goes up,
and then as the phrase finishes and the notes go back down that's a good time for a decrescendo.
♫don't you dare sting me♫
See if you give it that shape the notes are so much more interesting than if you just
♫don't you dare sting me♫
That sounds boring.
Start soft, ♫don't you dare♫ crescendo to the middle ♫sting me♫
and then you can get softer towards the end. That makes a beautiful phrase.
Also don't forget to follow the dynamic markings.
This line is marked Mezzo forte so this whole first line will be medium loud. Mezzo forte
Then this the B section is marked Mezzo piano. This line will be medium soft mezzo piano.
Let's now listen to the entire song with dynamics, with phrasing.
If you'd like to listen you can do that, or if you want to challenge yourself by playing along with me
that's fine too.
I'll start with my finger 5 on F-sharp.
We're going to play this first line Mezzo forte. Medium loud. I'll count 2 beats then we'll start.
1-& 2-&
♫Honey bee, don't you dare sting me!♫ Rest
♫Don't sting sister, don't sting brother don't sting father, don't sting mother,♫
♫Honeybee, don't you dare sting me!♫ Rest
And don't forget because of the D.C. al Fine, I went back to the start, played to the Fine.
Great job learning how to play the right hand part for "Honeybee".
Happy practicing and see you at our next lesson!
Princess, do you mind helping me with something?
Sure what is it?
I need to review the names of the keys on the piano for my piano homework. Can you quiz me?
Sure thing! Try finding an F.
okay, mmm.
Good job! Now find an A.
Okay, A.
Good, okay now find a B.
B, hmmm
I can't seem to remember B.
Oh look, a bee!