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A DISCOVERY

Story:A Discovery

Music:★Cat, Dragon, Elf★Elf, Dragon, Cat

Activity Sheets:★Castles and Caves

www.ycmused.com

1In this lesson you will learn... ...where all the C, D and E keys are on the piano keyboard.

Musicland Level I

Lesson 1: A Discovery

(Keys C, D and E)

One cold and rainy day, Sarah and her brother Nikolai started to play a game

of hide and seek. Sarah ran off to hide first, heading

right toward the attic. Opening the door to the attic

stairs, she could hardly believe her eyes. The staircase

had turned into a gigantic piano keyboard! Instead of

steps, there were huge piano keys leading up as far as

she could see.

Sarah called to Nikolai to come quickly. He

stepped softly on the first key and it made a sound like a real piano. Soon they

were both scampering up the keyboard. Every time they stepped on a key, the

staircase made another beautiful sound.

When they got to the top, Sarah and Nikolai found

themselves standing right in front of a dark cave. Next to the

cave sat a large yellow cat that actually seemed to be smiling.

“Welcome to Musicland! I am Yellow Cat and I will be your guide. In Musicland,

you will learn to play the piano in a fun and exciting way.”

“Let’s start by looking at a piano keyboard. As you can see, there are lots of

black keys and lots of white keys. The black

keys are either in groups of two or groups of

three. In Musicland, each group of two back

keys makes a cave, and each group of three

black keys forms a castle. For each cave and

castle, there are seven white keys, one for

each of us who lives here in Musicland.

“Today I will introduce you to the Musicland family

living near the cave. Purple Dragon is probably the easiest

to remember because he is the only one who lives inside the

cave. Purple Dragon might look a bit scary and might sound

even scarier, but he really is very kind.”

“Green Elf and I would like to live in the cave too, but

Dragon can be so loud that it’s better to stay outside. Since I am

a cat, my favorite thing to do is to bask in the sun right here in

front of the cave. Green Elf also likes to relax; in fact, you will

usually find him resting on this lovely patch of grass just to the right of the cave.”

“To help you remember where we live, let’s sing a song called In

Musicland. It sounds just like Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Let’s start with:

In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And in that cave there was a

dragon, E-i-e-i-o.

In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And by that cave there was a cat,

E-i-e-i-o.

In Musicland, there was a cave. E-i-e-i-o. And by that cave there was an elf,

E-i-e-i-o”

“Next time you come to visit, I will introduce you to our friends who live at

the castle. Once you learn our names and where to find us on the keyboard, you

will be able to play all kinds of music. But now it’s time for you to head home so

your mother does not worry.”

“I am so glad we got to meet you,” Nikolai said. “This is the most fun I’ve

ever had on a rainy day.”

As Yellow Cat led Sarah and Nikolai back to the magical staircase, he

handed each one a picture of the Musicland keyboard and some music. “These

short songs will help you remember us when you get home. Just play the keys on

the piano that match the color of the notes. And have fun!” Sarah and Nikolai

waved goodbye before jumping from cave to castle to cave all the way to the

bottom of the staircase.

Cat Dra gon- Elf

Cat Dra gon- Elf

Cat Dra gon- Elf

Cat Dra- gon- Elf

move up

move up

move up

Yellow CatCat, Dragon, Elf

Elf Dra gon- Cat

Elf Dra gon- Cat

Elf Dra gon- Cat

Elf Dra gon- Cat

move down

move down

move down

Elf, Dragon, CatYellow Cat