Beginner Download Music Piano Sheet
Back and Forth

This free beginner download music piano sheet is great for beginning readers who can recognize Middle C, and who have been successful with Sharks, another free beginner piece in my collection. Since every note in Back and Forth is either a repeated note, or one step away up or down, playing this song is a lot like playing Snakes, but with both hands.

Note that Middle C shows up in both hands. Some kids, when they see Middle C, automatically bring out their right hand thumb, whether the Middle C is in treble or bass staff. (This is one possible drawback to overusing the Middle C note-reading approach...) Then when they realize the Middle C is indeed meant for left hand, they will drop their left hand down an octave to a lower C! The answer to this is to review, draw notes together with them on your chalkboard or whiteboard, and play Middle C games. (The best ones are the ones that you make up yourself and that take only a half minute or less.)



Free beginner download music piano sheet Back and Forth

For kids who are having trouble remembering Right and Left, and which hand to start with as they look at their piano music, here's a great idea I learned from another teacher: Tell them the color red is for the right hand, and the color lime is for the left hand. (Get a real lime out of your refrigerator if necessary to show them what one looks like.) With crayons, colored pens or pencils, let them help you make red or lime loops around groups of right-hand and left-hand notes. I have used this simple technique a lot with young kids, especially boys.