Lesson 17:
America The Beautiful in C, F, & G

"America The Beautiful" will move your hands around, stretch your fingering, allow you a chance to put a thumb under, as well as play an occasional black note. Reinforcement of note and keyboard awareness, as well as piano fingering are great reasons to master this patriotic favorite.

Instructions for learning a piece on the piano:

-play each line with right hand (fingerings written above note names) until it is easy and/or memorized.

-play each line with left hand (fingerings written below note names) until it is easy and/or memorized.

-play each line with both hands until it is easy and/or memorized.

-string the lines together until you can play the whole piece. Keep it slow until you are comfortable and familiar with it. Then, start playing it faster, working up to an appropriate tempo for that piece.

-Regardless of tempo, relax your arms & shoulders and keep it smooth and flowing.

[The tunes listed in the "free piano lessons" portion of this website provide a fun way for beginners to begin getting to know their way around the piano keyboard. By learning a bunch of simple tunes and learning to play them hands-separately and hands-together, as well as in at least 3 different keys, a new piano player not only learns the layout of the notes, but also begins to develop knowledge and confidence in piano fingerings. Along the way, you are working on the ability to learn and memorize melodies on the keys. Add a bit of work with a metronome and you begin developing a sense for steady rhythm, as well as the ability to work with an extremely valuable tool. Together, these elements will become part of a solid foundation of basic skills needed for more advanced piano playing in the future.]

Video Tutorial

---

Music Notation

Click here for the music.

---

"America The Beautiful" in the Key of C (sing along to establish proper rhythm):

[note: C-Sharp is the black note to the right (a half-step up) of C.]

---

Key of F (sing along to establish proper rhythm):

[note: B-flat is the black note to the left (a half-step down) of B.]

[note: F-Sharp is the black note to the right (a half-step up) of F.]

---

Key of G (sing along to establish proper rhythm):

[note: F-Sharp is the black note to the right (a half-step up) of F.]

[note: G-Sharp is the black note to the right (a half-step up) of G.]

---

other verses to "America the Beautiful":

2. Oh beautiful, for pilgrim feet,Whose stern impassioned stress,A thoroughfare for freedom beat,Across the wilderness.America, America,God mend thy every flaw,confirm thy soul in self-control,Thy liberty in law.

3. Oh beautiful, for heroes proved,In liberating strife,Who more than self their country loved,And mercy more than life.America, America, May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness,And ev'ry gain divine

4. Oh beautiful, for patriot dream,That sees beyond the years, Thine alabaster cities gleam,Undimmed by human tears.America, America, God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea.

---

More Information on "America The Beautiful"

For more about this tune, click here.

---

return from "America The Beautiful" to "Free Piano Lessons"