Want the Jaws Theme Song?Try Sharks!
Jaws theme song? Well, "Sharks" will remind your students of the scary movie theme. Perfect beginner piano music, they can learn this piece as soon as they can recognize Middle C and B.
This free kids' sheet music is usually the first piece I give my students for which they must actually read notes on the staff, instead of just using finger numbers (such as with "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or the black-key songs at the beginning of The Faber Piano Adventure Primer). When I introduce it, I like to play it very low on the piano, with lots of expression. It begins slowly with the ominous sound of a half-step, then picks up a little speed in line two. This definitely makes it sound like the Jaws theme song! When I get to the skip from C to A, I always give each A a bit of a push, to accentuate the unexpectedness of the melodic twist. Don't let THEM speed it up, though! At least not until the counting is well in hand. The metronome is very helpful with this piece, which can start to race and get out of control. Singing the words steadies the tempo, and if you sing along with it, your student will likely join in. Because this piece has some built-in emotional elements -- the scariness of the back-and-forth half-steps -- this song makes using dynamics seem natural. And guess what? They almost always LOVE this piece and make it a part of their repertoire. It has even been heard at recitals (only in a pinch, when I have a VERY VERY new student who wants to be in the recital). Encourage them to play it "down" a couple of octaves once they know it well. I always remind them that of course it is WRITTEN at Middle C, B and A, indicating that spot on the piano with a sweep of my hand over the piano company name (which is always painted on the fall-board) and down onto the keys just below the name, but that it is perfectly okay for us to play with the music to make it sound spooky, or just different.
With "Sharks," students only have to think about one hand -- the LH (the least-coordinated hand for most kids), and only three notes -- A, B, and MC. In fact, after the first week, when they SHOULD be feeling pretty confident with the Jaws theme song, I would likely make it a part of their assignment to SAY THE NOTE NAMES ALOUD as they play the piece. But I usually ask them to do that just 1x -- one time -- a day, and then play it normally after that, if they wish. The reason is that it can be very hard for beginners to do more than one thing at a time, particularly young boys, and I don't want them to be frustrated and avoid practising the piece altogether! One time is not too much to ask... eventually, saying and thinking note names will start to become more natural. Don't be too surprised if they come back the next week disappointed, having played it in the wrong location all week and thereby having been cheated of the ominous sounds of the Jaws theme song... This is very common and just means they need more reinforcement of piano key names. A good exercise is to have them "Dip Donuts" one time a day going up and down the piano on just one of the keys..."B", for example, every day all week. Then next week, make it a different key. Likely you have a favorite exercise which works well for you. By the way, a much better, slower and creepier rendition of the Jaws theme song is the movie trailer, available at Youtube. The full creepiness of the song comes across, but I just couldn't bring myself to post it here, because the images are so disturbing (I'm pretty old-school when it comes to violence). Have fun with the Jaws theme stand-in, Sharks!
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