Hello and welcome back.
I'm Joseph Hoffman, and today we're learning a new song called "Five Woodpeckers".
This song has a story, and I need your help with it.
Let's imagine we're deep in a forest.
Can you make a tree with your arm?
And there were five woodpeckers, all brothers and sisters that like to peck on this tree.
The first woodpecker was actually strangely afraid of heights, and so he always pecked down low on the tree,
like this:
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
Then woodpecker number two was a little bit braver so she would peck here.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
Number three was a little braver.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
And number four was braver still. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
Woodpecker number five was the bravest of all. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ then they all pecked one more time.
♫Looking for a bug♫
♫yum♫
Can you tell what the woodpeckers were looking for?
If you said a bug, you're right.
They were looking for something to eat.
Did you know that under the bark of a tree little bugs live,
and that's what the woodpeckers were tapping for. A little snack.
Now will you try the whole song with me using your tree and tapping on the tree with me together as we sing?
Ready, go.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
♫Looking for a bug, yum♫
Great job!
Now each of these woodpeckers has a name.
Do you remember in "Hot Cross Buns" how we gave a special solfège name for each note?
MI RE DO,
and that lowest note was called DO.
Well it's the same thing in "Five Woodpeckers".
The lowest woodpecker is called DO.
So now we're going to sing "Five Woodpeckers" using solfège and our special solfège
hand signs, and that will give each woodpecker a name.
We call the lowest one DO.
Try this with me. The next one's RE,
and the next one up is called MI,
and then here are two new ones:
FA and SO
Now let's try to sing the whole thing using solfège this time.
Can you do this with me? Use your hands and sing along.
Here's DO, ready go.
DO DO DO DO DO , RE RE RE RE RE
MI MI MI MI MI,
FA FA FA FA FA
SO SO SO SO SO
SO FA MI RE DO
DO
Great job.
Now let's practice moving our fingers for "Five Woodpeckers".
Hold up your right hand like this.
It so happens that with five fingers it's perfect for playing "Five Woodpeckers".
One finger can be in charge of each woodpecker.
So your thumb will be DO.
So wiggle your thumb and say DO with me.
That's gonna be woodpecker number one.
So let's try this together. My turn first.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Now you try.
Good, then we'll go up to woodpecker number two. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Now you try.
Good, and then next we have woodpecker number three. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Now your turn.
And then number four ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Your turn.
And then number five is last ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Your turn.
Then every woodpecker is going to get one more peck ♫Looking for a bug♫, then one more, ♫yum♫ Your turn.
Good, now let's try it one more time using our special solfège language. Remember we have DO
RE MI FA and SO
Sing it in solfège with me, and let's try it together this time.
Ready, go.
DO DO DO DO DO
RE RE RE RE RE
MI MI MI MI MI
FA FA FA FA FA
SO SO SO SO SO
SO FA MI RE DO
DO
Great job. You're ready to try it on the piano.
At the piano, make sure you're always sitting with your best piano posture.
So bench not too close or you'll have tyrannosaurus rex arms.
So pull that bench out so your arms are comfortably placed.
Tall back using arm weight and fingers in a good, relaxed, and slightly curved shape.
For "Five Woodpeckers", our first woodpecker is going to be on C.
Remember how to find C?
You point to a C nearest the middle of your screen.
If you're pointing right here, you're correct.
We have C, and now try to name each of these notes with me. C D E
F for grandma's front yard,
and then G for grandma's house. C D E F G are the five notes we're going to use for "Five Woodpeckers".
By the way, these five notes form what we call the C major pentascale.
Penta means five, like a pentagon is a shape with five sides.
A pentascale is a family of five notes all one step apart.
So with your best piano posture, let's place your 5 fingers on C
with your thumb, and then D E F and G for your other fingers.
Now, for smaller hands if that's too big of a stretch, just focus on one finger at a time. it's most important to keep your fingers
relaxed. if it's comfortable to touch
one finger on each key, great. Otherwise, you can always adjust.
Now, I'll play part of "Five Woodpeckers", and then you play it back.
My turn first. We'll start with woodpecker number one on C.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Now your turn.
Good, and then we go on to woodpecker number two. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Now your turn.
Then we'll go on to woodpecker number three.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Your turn.
Now my turn again for number four. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Your turn.
And then woodpecker number five's turn. ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫ Your turn.
And then they're all going to step down one at a time. ♫Looking for a bug♫, and then one more time
on DO ♫yum♫
Now your turn.
In order to play with your best piano posture, remember
to get some good arm weight helping the notes to play. It's helpful to have
what I call a bouncy wrist. I almost imagine it like it's a trampoline with a little kid on it.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
Notice how that bouncy wrist is helping me to play.
Okay, it's not a big motion, but a little bit of a bounce can help.
Also, try not to let your other fingers fly away as you're playing. I call this flying fingers.
Whenever a finger isn't playing, it should be relaxed and just
resting, waiting for its turn.
So if you see your fingers flying away like this, just tell everybody to relax.
You want to look like this as you play. A little bit of a bounce.
To use your good arm weight.
Remember your pinky is going to play near the tip.
Not karate chop style.
that's wrong.
This is correct.
The little bounce.
It takes a lot of practice to train your fingers to have good piano posture.
So be patient with yourself. If they're flying away,
just relax and try one more time.
See if you can get your fingers to stay in this shape as you play.
Pause and try singing and playing "Five Woodpeckers" with your right hand, then press play to go on.
Great job playing "Five Woodpeckers" on your own.
Now I'd like to show you how you can play along with our play along track from the unit one practice album.
You'll get your hand ready
in the C major pentascale.
You'll play the track,
you'll hear some music start to play,
and you're waiting for four clicks just like we did before.
1 2 3 4
♫Woodpecker tap, tap, woodpecker tap, tap♫
♫woodpecker tap, tap, woodpecker tap, tap♫
♫woodpecker tap, tap, looking for a bug, yum♫
And that audio track along with all the audio tracks for this unit are available for premium members.
Now let's talk about how to play "Five Woodpeckers" with the left hand.
The left hand usually feels more comfortable playing on the lower part of the piano.
So, can you point to a C that's on the lower part of your screen?
If you're pointing right here, you're correct.
So our left hand will also need to cover up the C major pentascale: C D E F G
But you'll notice for the left hand to be able to do that now instead of our thumb covering up C,
since your left hand is built opposite from your right hand, now our pinky will be on C,
and our other fingers will go up from there.
So with the left hand,
Woodpecker,
the first woodpecker to play will be your pinky, and then you'll go up just like before.
So now pause the video and try playing "Five Woodpeckers" with your left hand.
Remember, pianists need to become great at both hands. So we'll always practice
using both hands. So pause to play "Five Woodpeckers" with your left hand, then press play to go on.
Now I want to show you a secret piano technique that not many people know about.
The cool thing about it is that you can do it anytime even when you don't have a piano.
So if you're driving around in the car, sitting at the table for breakfast,
basically all you need is your leg, which I assume you always have with you.
If you don't, you probably have problems more urgent than practicing piano.
So yeah, go see your doctor.
Just kidding.
Assuming you've got your leg, here's what you do.
Just place your hand in great piano posture. Nice,
relaxed finger shape
on your leg,
and then you're going to play "Five Woodpeckers" just by activating each finger.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
See how my thumb didn't have to move very much, and the same is true on the piano. Your fingers really don't move very much.
So this is a great way to train your fingers to stay relaxed,
stay in good piano posture,
and just move enough
to feel it in your leg, then woodpecker number two would be ♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
Try this on your leg,
and try woodpecker number three.
♫woodpecker tap, tap♫
And one at a time you can practice all five of your fingers
keeping a good piano posture shape.
And this way you can practice any time right there on your leg.
Now that you know "Five Woodpeckers", I highly encourage you to practice it many times every day.
Remember, practicing every day makes your fingers stronger,
and you'll see your piano skills get better and better every time you practice.
So this week, try playing "Five Woodpeckers"
three times in your right hand, and then three times in your left hand every day.
The first time sing it with the lyrics.
I always ask you to sing while you play because that will
turn on the musical part of your brain, and you'll make better and faster progress
if you sing while you play.
So the first time seeing the lyrics, which just means the regular words, 'woodpecker tap, tap'
The second time through sing it in solfège.
DO DO DO DO DO
And then the third time through, sing the letter names while you play.
C C C C C , D D D D D
So you're doing it a little different every time,
and then do those same three steps again with your left hand.
First time lyrics, second time solfège, third time letter names.
Now for an extra challenge, you can try playing "Five Woodpeckers" hands together.
But that is very tricky, so maybe save that until you know it really well.
And finally to make it more fun, try playing along with the practice album play along track which I showed you earlier.
And don't forget that you can practice "Five Woodpeckers" on your leg any time.
Great job learning how to play "Five Woodpeckers" with me today.
If you are a premium member, then don't forget to download and print the sheet music for "Five Woodpeckers".
As a premium member, you also get access to all our online learning games and other learning resources
like our practice session tool, which gives you step-by-step instructions from me for your daily practicing.
So if you're not already a premium member, I highly encourage you to join
so you get access to all the tools you need for becoming an amazing pianist.
I'm really glad you're here learning piano with me.
I hope you have lots of fun making music this week.
Thanks for watching, and happy practicing!
Here's how I would sing it.
♫Looking for a bug, yuck♫
Ugh, who'd want to eat a bug?
I'd like a big piece of chocolate cake myself. Yeah...