As a teacher, I have always had a love-hate relationship with sharps and flats. I love the complexity and flexibility they add to my piano students’ pieces… but I hate that they are introduced right after my kiddos have finally become comfortable note readers.
They barely have time to do a note reading happy dance when accidentals pop out of nowhere and knock them down a couple of pegs. Talk about a confidence crusher!
So I decided to bring in a top secret teaching assistant to take the bite out of sharps and flats. And his name is… Henry T. Hedgehog.
Henry is the star of The Accidental Adventures of Half-Step Henry. Despite Henry’s tumbles and fumbles, his hilarious adventures will turn the frustration and confusion of accidentals into a laugh-out-loud, educational experience.
Keep reading to learn more and check out a 12 page preview at the end of the post.
The Accidental Adventures of Half-Step Henry
When an accident-prone hedgehog enters the piano studio, a comical adventure is bound to occur!
Join Henry T. Hedgehog as he takes piano students on a laugh-out-loud journey, bumping and crashing his way through a lesson on accidentals. Sharps, flats, and naturals commonly encountered in both C and G position are explored in this step-by-step format that you can use as a first introduction to accidentals or as a tool to reinforce this important concept.
Take away the trepidation many kids experience when playing accidentals by using an unforgettable resource that will have your young piano students reading sharps, flats, and naturals with ease.
Are your piano students ready to do the Hedgehog Happy Dance with Henry?
Preview Henry’s Hilarious Adventures Below
If you click on the image below you’ll be able to preview 12 pages from The Accidental Adventures of Half-Step Henry.
If you like what you see you can find this book on Amazon here.
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Carol says
This book looks really cool but concerned about the labor and cost involved in having to print copies for each student that I give it to. Is that the case or is it available in a hard copy ?
Andrea says
Hi Carol! This book comes with a studio license meaning you can print it or photocopy it as much as you like for the one $8 charge. It is within the license to charge a print fee to parents to recoup your costs – we recommend sending it to staples or similar for printing as that’s easy and cost effective. Alternatively, some teachers print just one studio copy of the full colour teaching pages and then give the black and white music to their students to being home
cheryl says
I think I have a Henry as a student ! Students will enjoy the conversations between Henry and the teacher. I guess many teachers will be sharing their ideas about teaching sharps and flats; here’s mine….Me: “What would you do if you sat on something sharp”…Student: “I would jump up”… then we work with that concept, talk about sharps and play some. Then Me: “What happens when you have a flat tire?” Student: “It goes down.”… then we talk about that concept. If the student is older and easily understands the concepts we joke about the tire ran over something “sharp” and then it became “flat”.
Rochelle Thompson says
This is a great way to explain it! I have 2 students right now who are struggling with this.