Last week I shared a composition activity about Ralph, the Smelly Elf. I had so much fun creating that activity that I found myself singing my own version days later.

I got so into it, that I note only wrote a song, but I also wrote it in 4 different arrangements, as well as a second verse and a teacher duet!

What can I say, Ralph stayed with me and when creativity strikes, I cannot ignore it. :)

The Smelly Elf, is an early elementary song that can be used in piano lessons, guitar lessons, ukulele lessons, voice lesson, orchestra string lessons and wind lessons. (whew!)

How does it work for so many instruments? There are 4 versions in this bundle to make this piece accessible to a variety of instruments: Grand Staff in C position; Pre-reading in C position; Treble Staff in C major; and Treble Staff in G major.

The Smelly Elf can be found here in my store.

This is it. The last composing activity of the year.

If I'm being totally honest, my heart wasn't in this one when I first started it. There's so much Christmas music out there and my goal with these composition sheets - in addition to giving my young students a different kind of creative outlet and teaching them about composing - was to highlight holidays that don't get as much attention in the musical world.

But I do love Christmas and the further into creating these cute lyrics, the more excited I got about this project, so I present to you today: The Smelly Elf.

His name is Ralph.

Now before you get concerned and start judging poor Ralph, he is not a bad smelling elf.

As music teachers we are in a unique position. Especially those of us who teach privately. We see our students for longer than most teachers do and we are more than teachers to them.  We're friends, confidants, & role models.

So, in addition to teaching pick ups and syncopation, this 12-measure piece also gives us the opportunity to teach our students about caring for others by not judging them before we know more about them. Ralph is a smelly elf, but as your student will quickly learn he smells SO good!

This activity will be FREE for a limited time in my store!

Looking for more Christmas activities for your lessons or music classroom? I created a Pinterest Board with many other games, songs and activities!

Hanukkah is a little under a month away and I have a fun little composing worksheet you can use in your lessons today!

"My Dreidel" was inspired by - you guessed it - one of my students. :)

Before I opened the academy, I was a traveling in-home piano teacher. Every year around this time I would say to my new students in hushed-excited tones "I have an exciting surprise, Today, we're going to pick your Christmas song! Then I'll bring it next week for you to start learning!"

And everybody cheered!

Until Jenna. (student's name has been changed for privacy)

Jenna put her head down and barely whispered, "I think Hanukkah is cooler."

My heart sank. I had no idea she didn't celebrate Christmas. I had taught Jewish children before, but they all celebrated Hanukkah AND Christmas, so I never thought twice about offering a Christmas piece. In hindsight, I should've checked with mom first, but you know what they say about hindsight.

I quickly recovered from my embarrassment and said, "You do? That's awesome, let's find you a Hanukkah piece to play! What's your favorite Hanukkah song?" At that her face lit up and her excitement returned. I later discovered that she always felt left out at school because they didn't do much for Hanukkah in any of her classes, so my offering her a Hanukkah piece was a special moment.

Since then, I've built up my Hanukkah song library and created this composing activity.
This activity will be FREE for a limited time on my newly opened TopMusicMarketplace Store!

Looking for more Hanukkah activities for your lessons or music classroom? I created a Pinterest Board with many other games, songs and activities!

I don't know about your students, but mine love composing, so I try to incorporate a composing activity as much as possible in my private lessons.

Today I'm sharing a new composing activity just in time for Thanksgiving!

"I am Thankful" gives your pre-reading students the opportunity to think about what they're grateful for and express it in song.

Usually for composing activities I write the lyrics and choose the rhythms for my students then they plug in the notes/finger numbers then play the song.

This composing activity is special because students get to write what they're thankful for and figure out the rhythms to go with it!

Note: There are guide notes in some measures - which can easily be changed - and others are left blank so your students can create their own rhythm to match their lyrics.

This activity will be FREE for a limited time on my TpT Store and my newly opened TopMusicMarketplace Store!

Looking for more Thanksgiving activities for your lessons or music classroom? I created a Pinterest Board with many other games, songs and activities!