Free Printable Sheet Music
Irish Wedding
Free printable sheet music for beginner piano students, Irish Wedding.
A simple and intuitive version for your first-year students is the latest addition to this collection of arrangements!
The best version for young beginners
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
I finally decided to make some changes, above, for my earliest beginners to make this piece just the way I like it, from the start, with three chords (Dm, C, and Am) instead of just two.
Still with a few helper notes.
All 3 pages, the easiest-to-read version
You've seen page 1, above... here are pages 2 and 3:
At the bottom of page 2, I did not write the chords onto the bass staff, but leaving the chords over the melody as with page 1, my students had no problem figuring out what to do!
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Additional arrangement choices
The arrangement below is HARDER TO READ, but easier to play... there is no third chord (Am), and fewer chords, period. But... it's not as compelling and fun as the arrangement above!
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Learn the song more than once - it's that fun
With FOUR levels of difficulty, kids can learn Irish Wedding four times. It's worth it -- this piece is incredibly fun! It has something for everyone; beautiful broken chord patterns, and fast rhythmic chords on the strong beats.
The right hand moves from one "position" to another, so the new easiest version still requires some work.
The arrangement of "Irish Wedding" played by this young man is very much like mine (but mine has more chord movement and a fancier ending, on the level 3 long version):
The key of Dm is easier
This easy arrangement of Irish Wedding is set in Dm position instead of Am. These are familiar notes to first and second-year piano students.
I have also simplified the rhythmic emphasis and the hand-over-hand broken chord section.
Irish Wedding still retains its character, I think, but now younger students can play it sooner. (There are also 2 easier versions - lead sheets actually - on the Note-Naming Worksheets / Piano Music with Letters page.)
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
A twisty melody in 3/4 time is hard at first
The hardest thing about Irish Wedding is learning the melody's rhythm in the opening bars.
Music with 3 beats per measure is harder for most students than Common Time, 4/4. Writing the music in 3/4 time instead of 6/8 (which is what it feels like when it gets going fast) makes it much easier for beginners to conquer.
Two even easier versions, each just one page, can be found on my "Note-Naming Worksheets" page (also called "Piano Music with Letters").
They actually look more like lead sheets, with no bass clef - just chord symbols. One sheet has all alpha notes, and the other has just a few.
A harder arrangement, in Am
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
An easy way to count this piece
I like to have younger students count by the method called "unit counting", at least initially.
Thus, the beginning of Irish Wedding goes "1, 1, 1-2, 1, 1-2, 1, 1-2, 1, 1, 1, 1..." (I hope that makes sense!) Students count it aloud. Sometimes I will have them learn just the right hand the first week, and we'll play it like a duet.
Gradually, they will be moving into what I call "band counting."
That's the way the band director counts, "One-two-three-four, One-two-three-four," so that the band can stay together.
The hardest version needs an octave reach
Now, version three of Irish Wedding cannot be played until a student can reach an octave, and not just reach an octave, but stretch to play a chord-plus-a-fourth with a bit of speed (a-c-e-a).
It is a real milestone to be able to play that stretched chord, and it's not very easy.
Before I give a student page 2 of the hard version, I assign them the stretched broken chord pattern as an exercise (you can see an example of that on the page Mary Had a Little Lamb).
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
After that part is learned, the repeat takes you back to the beginning, but up an octave for just 8 measures.
This page, page 1, sounds exactly like ALL of version 1 of the "easy-to-read" arrangement of Irish Wedding, -- it just looks faster because it is written in 6/8 time.
On page 2, skip through the 1st ending and go right into the left hand octave jumps. Hard for many kids at first, but very fun.
A beautiful & spectacular ending
The last line is perhaps the trickiest part.
The right hand goes far to the right, and the left hand far to the left -- simultaneously!
The best way I have found to teach this section is to insist kids play the right hand with their eyes closed, practicing the runs in short, fast bursts, to nail down the fingering. Then they can swoop left with their eyes on the left hand chords.
I know your students will enjoy this free printable sheet music!
The links for the piano music:
The easiest version to read, page 1, with three chords, in Dm
Download the easiest version to read with all 3 pages
Download Irish Wedding, easiest version to play (but harder to read) in Dm
Download the same Dm arrangement, but with a few helper notes
Download Irish Wedding in Am, written as 3 beats per measure
Download free printable sheet music Irish Wedding in 6/8 time, long version in Am
Check out more easy free piano songs with a reach of just 6 or 7 notes:
Egyptian Dance - not as hard as it sounds! Very mysterious & beautiful.
I'm a Pirate - a good song for imaginative young kids! Several settings.
Indian Dance - one of the most popular & accessible songs for beginners here
Irish Wedding (easy version) - all my students want to play this high-energy song!
Kum Ba Yah - very pretty and easy - just 6 notes.
Lavender's Blue - young girls love this music, especially if they have seen Lily James' Cinderella!
Winds in the Willow - scale practice disguised as a mysterious, pretty minor melody.
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
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Kerri:
What a great selection of beginner music!
My young student will be thrilled to be able to play songs she "knows!" Thank-you!
Ashley:
Thank you so so much for this site!
I'm teaching my little sister and everything up here is absolutely amazing! I will definitely be making a donation as soon as possible! Thank you again! You're wonderful!
Stasi: Because I have such a diverse group of students I spend SO much time making supplemental material and I feel like I have to pick through other websites, to only find one or two useful things.
I am so thankful for the wealth of supplement that you have offered here! And it's all SO user friendly!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Kay, US:
...wanted to let you know that I love using your early beginner sheet music with the alphanotes.
I have 10 beginners who began piano this fall, and your materials are great, especially the Christmas pieces, to bridge that time of just starting to read a few notes and being able to play more complicated rhythms.
Your site has helped my studio a great deal. Thank you for sharing!!!! Merry Christmas!
Kate:
I just wanted to thank you for providing music for music teachers.
I have two piano students, one of which is my little sister. This site has been such a blessing! Thank-you so much!
About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
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