Galloping Ponies [HL:406430]

Description: It is in A B A form with a coda. The song has direct dynamic contrasts and also shading (crescendo- decrescendo). It is meant to be played in a 'lively' tempo that the student can master.

Purpose: * It's an exercise for a legato right hand accompanied by a detached left hand.

* The student learns to 'roll off' staccato at the ends of slurs gently without 'punching' them.

* The song also requires the student to count the eighth rests in mm. 18-19, 22-23 in order to give 'oomph' to the following accented quarter notes.

Suggestions for Instruction: *Have the student say, “Giddy-up, giddy-up.”

The sound of the words gives a feeling for the rhythm of two eighths and a quarter note.

*The fingering in mm. 19-20 and 23-24 is important in order to execute slurs properly.

*Try the right hand alone (mm. 4-8, 11-12) for shading with the crescendos and decrescendos.

Key: C Major