Lesson 13:
Home On The Range in C, F, & G

Home On The Range provides a few little finger stretches (out of 5-note position), a bit of moving around, as well as a finger crossing over the thumb. As you know by now, the main objectives are keyboard awareness, finger numbers and technique. You are learning the notes and your finger numbers in preparation for all the fun stuff to come.

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

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Music Notation

Click here for the music.

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

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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.]

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Key of G, mistakenly labelled as "key of F", (sing along to establish proper rhythm):

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

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other verses:

Where the air is so pure and the zephyrs so free,

And the breezes so balmy and light,

That I would not exchange my home on the range

For all of the city so bright.

How often at night when the heavens are bright,

With the light from the glittering stars,

Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed,

If their glory exceeds that of ours.

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More Information on "Home On The Range"

For more about this tune, click here.

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return from "Home On The Range" to "Free Piano Lessons"