Description
It’s hot one day, snowing the next, and back to wearing shorts the next day! This piece captures the emotions surrounding rapidly changing extreme weather. In this piece, James L. King III made the tempo equal to the temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit), and the temperature changes a lot! The piece starts in C major (and C 5-finger position), but switches to C minor abruptly. Later, the left hand moves to a 3-black key group and the tonality moves towards a quasi-whole-tone sound. The hands return to C major for the ending. This piece is on the more challenging side of elementary, but the challenging parts can be taught by rote if necessary. Students will get practice in playing dynamic levels from piano to fortissimo.
Key: C Major, C minor
Mood: changing with the wind
Pedagogy: dynamics, changing hand positions, flats, changing tempos, cut time
Ashley Cook –
This is a fun piece with a variety of seasons represented.