Weekly Update # 28 - Mar 1st, 2020

Hello, dear pianists! It’s time to relax with another beautiful song. Australia’s best-known bush ballad, Waltzing Matilda. We dedicate it to our best student yet, Effie Mineo from Melbourne, Australia! The song was first published in 1895. It is slang for traveling on foot with one’s belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back. Here is the original manuscript transcribed by Christina Macpherson (Wikipedia):

And here is one of the many versions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzK0iXux05E We scripted this song to a piano version with the utmost respect which it deserves. Here it is played beautifully by Yanna: http://bit.ly/32Cphq2 It is played in the C scale, the easiest scale to play, with the common rhythm of 4/4. This song, as many others, are included in our songbook, The Classics, which is available at our bookstore at a very reasonable price. If you already have some familiarity with PENTA, we’ve decided to show you the script right here so you can see how easy it is compared to standard sheet music, and yet, how beautiful the music sounds. Every single note that Yanna plays is right here, on this single page! We graded the song at a difficulty level of 5 (between 1 and 10) which means that you can play this in 5-6 months, from zero knowledge of piano!

So why wait? Start learning today, and enjoy a fantastic pastime activity that helps your body and mind tremendously! Have a wonderful week, and keep practicing! The Piano Esperanto team