Animated Animals

Colleen Athparia

Categories: Piano Collections/Books

Levels: Early Advanced/Advanced (Gr 8 - 9), Elementary/Early Intermediate (Gr 1-4), Intermediate/Late Intermediate (Gr 5-7)

A fun collection of 12 imaginative pieces for students and teachers in Levels 2-8 to enjoy.

Description of Animated Animals

1. The Fish with Hiccups

This piece features alternating “thumbs only” to represent the swimming Fish.  But the poor Fish has the unpredictable hiccups!  (Level 4)

2. The Grumpy Gorilla

This Gorilla is in a very bad mood. It’s written all in bass clef using 4ths and 5ths exclusively with alternating hands.  (Level 3)

3. The Sluggish Sloth

This Sloth is sliding slowly in 5ths and major 7ths with legato pedalling. (Level 2)

4. The Timeless Turtle

The interval of 5ths represent the timeless dimension of this ancient creature as it floats lazily in the water. A good piece to teach chromatic fingering hands together at a relatively slow tempo. (Level 3)

5. The Playful Bug

This curious Bug is having lots of fun with some glissandos and chromaticism. (Level 4)

6. The Clever Beaver

This piece is fun to play with the Beaver scratching the piano bench and slapping the wood of the piano as it busily chews wood and slaps its tail!  Hands alternate in solid intervals of 5ths and 4ths.                                  (Level 4)

7. The Hyper Hummingbird

The fragile tiny wings of the Hummingbird are portrayed by rapid and feathery light broken major 3rds, blurred by pedal.  (Level 6)

8. The Prickly Porcupine

Watch out for this prickly animal with its sharp quills represented by broken major 7ths and its footsteps in major 2nds.  (Level 7)

9. The Elegant Elephant

This majestic animal strolls gracefully despite its massive form. You don’t need a large hand to play the widely spaced chords. There is an optional ending that you can experiment with on a grand piano by scraping the low strings with your nails to portray the “trumpeting” sound of the Elephant.  (Level 7)

10. The Lizard and the Mosquito

This piece contrasts the patient Lizard with the busy buzzing Mosquito.  The almost frozen Lizard suddenly gets excited and chases the Mosquito with its long tongue, finally enjoying its yummy snack!  (Level 8)

11. The Proud Peacock

The Peacock struts proudly showing off his exquisitely beautiful tail, played by contrary motion pentatonic scales on black keys. (Level 8)

12. The Quirky Kangaroo

Kangaroos love to jump and this one is no exception! This is the most challenging piece in the collection.  (Level 8)