Haunted Piano

by Karl Hitzemann

Sometimes kids will do just about anything to get out of practicing. "I forgot my lesson books," "I don't have time," "I have so much homework," etc. But have you ever heard the excuse, "I can't practice because I think the piano is haunted"? Sounds like a pretty wild excuse, right? But what if it was true?!

That's what the song "Haunted Piano" is all about. It tells the story of a young student who needs to go and practice, but can't because, well, the piano is... haunted! The accompaniment, featuring our amazing rhythm section and strings, comes complete with lots of fun, scary, spooky sound effects, including the eerie sound of sweeping across the strings inside the piano. (This would be a great way to segue into a discussion about how a piano works, by the way.) This haunted piano also has an ominous "laugh" that you will hear a couple of times.

Staging this song for a performance could be a lot of fun. All you'll need is one student really good at pantomime and a piano. The accompaniment tracks and your singers will do the rest. The student who is trying to practice can pretend to be scared, or just look really frustrated because the piano won't let her/him play. This person would also have a couple of speaking lines at the end of the song. You can use what we suggest in the music (and hear on the recording), or come up with your own. This is all optional, of course.

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.