After flying half way across the country, Flopsy started to feel a considerable drag on his engines and he wasn't able to fly as fast as usual. He stopped to check out his flying car and when he opened his trunk, he found seven of his clown friends hiding there. That’s the trouble with clowns. Flopsy quickly removed the jovial jokesters and was back on his way.

Helpful Suggestions

Sound: This piece has an octave range of low A to A. You can find the fingerings here. The piece is marked forte, so play all of it loudly.

Rhythm: Your time signature is four-four time, which means that there are four beats in a measure and the quarter note is equal to one beat. Play along with Talking MetronomeBot in quadruple meter to help yourself maintain a steady tempo and play accurate note values.
The piece includes note values of eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and quarter rests.

Melody: Flopsy the Whimsical Clown Finds Seven Clowns in His Trunk consists of 4, four-measure phrases. All the notes should be tongued.

Harmony: This song begins in the key of D minor and moves to D major in measure 9. There is one flat in the key signature, so play B flat for the first half of the piece. In the second half of the piece, the B flats are all replaced with natural signs, so play B natural. Also, all of the F naturals of the first half are replaced with F sharps in the second half.

Notice that the first half of the piece is dark in mood and is not very happy sounding -- Flopsy is quite upset about having so many clowns in his trunk. The music is in a minor key for the first half. However, in the second half of the piece, Flopsy is back in the air and flying, and he is much happier (the major key).

Home | Publications | Recordings | Educational Tools | Store | Contact

© 2006-2010 by Kyle Coughlin and SkyLeap Music, All Rights Reserved