Muss i denn - Grade 1 Piano

Teaching Notes

The tempo marking of "cheerfully" at the beginning signifies that this piece is not to be played too slowly. At the end of the two bar introduction, there is a pause. This should be held just long enough to announce the beginning of the main tune. A slight breath (silence) would be appropriate before starting the last two quavers after this pause, as if you literally had to breathe in a song between phrases.

In bar 7, count the value of the minim carefully so that the 3rd beat is actually silent and then note that the last note is staccato. It can be tempting to stab at staccato notes, but in this case the first beat of the next bar should be naturally the accented beat, so be careful not to play the staccato note too hard.

There are more rests to be careful of in bars 11 (both hands), 12 (right hand), 13 (both hands) and 16 (left hand). In each of these cases make sure that the hand or hands that have rests are not lingering too long.

In bar 14, note that the main tune is played by the left hand, so you can make this line stronger than the long notes above in the right hand at this point. 

Finally, count carefully the length of the last note. Both hands should release together and remember that the 4th beat ends. If there were another bar after this, this ending of the 4th beat is when the first beat of the (imaginary) next bar starts, but since it doesn't exist, you could count something like "1, 2, 3, 4, OFF".