As a music coach for decades, Teresa Young's superpower is making note-reading skills development fun. (For real!) Use her cheat sheet along with some music-note flash cards to make a timed game of note recognition, for points. 4 minutes works great.

With a teacher or knowledgeable helper as time-keeper and score-keeper, gradually progress up and down the treble and bass staves to ledger lines, over a period of a few weeks. Beat your last score each time to fire up your music-reading skills. First, make it an open book game, then set the cheat sheet aside, picking it up as needed. Next, make sight-reading actual music a game too, keeping it equally light and fun. And take little mental breaks as needed.

After all, learning any language is a neurological process, and music is no different. Using Teresa's enjoyable approach to note recognition, before you know it this foundational skill will become second-nature. Then just keep it fresh. Because, bottom line, use it or lose it absolutely applies to music-reading. The more you read, the better you'll read. So go for it, and have fun!

Teresa Young's arrangement of the Beach Boys' classic Little Saint Nick came about the same way most of hers do, because a student requested it. It's this particular young man's favorite holiday song! This arrangement is in the user-friendly key of C major, and includes left hand block chords, right hand melody, piano fingerings, and guitar chord diagrams. Teresa's arrangement in the Beach Boys' key of G is available here too. Just search Little Saint Nick Teresa Young to see both.

Teresa Young's arrangement of Guns N' Roses' Don't Cry (Alternate Lyrics) came about in an unusual way for her. Most develop from someone's request, but this time, while listening to her musician son's podcast, she heard him declare Don't Cry an iconic soft song by a hard band. Instant intrigue. The result is this piano-centric arrangement that takes its shapes from Guns N' Roses' guitar riffs. Its purpose is to allow piano-based ensembles or bands to interpret the song with a vocalist. It includes guitar chord diagrams. Teresa's arrangement of Don't Cry with original lyrics for piano, voice and guitar is available here too, as is a simple lead sheet of melody, lyrics and guitar chords for both Don't Cry and Don't Cry (Alternate Lyrics). Just search Don't Cry Teresa Young to view all.

Teresa Young's piano-guitar-vocal arrangement of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer is custom designed for your holiday enjoyment. In the user-friendly key of G, the right hand melody is very singable for your guests to join in! The 3-page piece includes piano fingerings and requires only one page-turn. Teresa's other arrangement here, for just easy piano and voice, is only 2 pages, so no page-turn. And it includes piano fingerings. Just search Rudolph Teresa Young to see both.

Teresa Young's piano-vocal arrangement of Sting's exquisite ballad Fragile came about as most of hers do, because a talented student wanted to sing and play it. Accordingly, it stays very true to Sting's arrangement while providing a little additional vocal support without doubling the vocal melody.

This version is in Sting's key of E minor. You can find a version here in D minor too, a slightly more user-friendly key for female vocalists. Just search Fragile Teresa Young. And enjoy interpreting your version of this incredible song.

Teresa Young's piano-vocal arrangement of Sting's exquisite ballad Fragile came about as most of hers do, because a talented student wanted to sing and play it. Accordingly, it stays very true to Sting's arrangement while providing a little additional vocal support without doubling the vocal melody. 

This version is in D minor, a slightly more user-friendly key for female vocalists than Sting's key of E minor. But you can find Sting's key here too. Just search Fragile Teresa Young. And enjoy interpreting your version of this incredible song.

Teresa Young's arrangements of Black Sabbath's ageless Changes came about after a hardcore musician with deep rock music knowledge pronounced it one of THE most beautiful ballads in the annals of heavy music. Since you're reading this description, you may agree. This piano-centric version is quite true to Black Sabbath's rendition, with the addition of guitar chord diagrams. You can also find a piano-vocal version without guitar chord diagrams, and a simple 2-page lead sheet here containing only melody, lyrics, and chords. Just search Changes Black Sabbath Teresa Young to view them all.

Teresa Young's transcription of Band of Horses' sweet, confessional I Go to the Barn Because I Like The came about as most do: an adult student with a special relationship to the song wanted to interpret it and couldn't find it. Teresa's student is a pianist with a guitarist husband, so this piano-vocal arrangement includes guitar chord diagrams. Her simple lead sheet version with guitar chord diagrams is available here too. Enjoy this uniquely real ode from a man to the woman he loves and admires. Whew!

Teresa Young's arrangement of The Kinks' lovely, super-chill Waterloo Sunset came about as most of hers do, because someone requested it. In this case, it's one of her son's and granddaughter's faves! So this arrangement, designed as a piano-vocal recital piece, is in the user-friendly key of G, which also happens to work well for female voices. It includes guitar chord diagrams too. Teresa's piano solo arrangement is available here too, as is a simple lyric/guitar chord lead sheet.

Teresa Young’s arrangement of the Lumineers' addictive Ophelia for voice, piano and guitar came about as many of hers do: because a talented young performer asked to interpret it. So this version is set in the higher key of C major to showcase her lovely soprano voice. A version in the Lumineers’ key of F major will be available here soon. Enjoy exploring this rousing piano-based arrangement with accompanying guitar chord diagrams!

Teresa Young's arrangement of the Beach Boys' classic Little Saint Nick came about the same way most of hers do, because a student requested it. It's this particular young man's favorite holiday song! This arrangement is in the Beach Boys' key of G, with left hand block chords and right hand melody, written up an octave to keep the right hand out of the left hand's way. It includes guitar chord diagrams too. If you want to sing the melody rather than playing it, just omit the right hand. And enjoy!

Teresa Young's arrangement of Kermit the Frog's charming The Rainbow Connection came about as most do for her, because someone requested it. In this case, a young singer and her piano-student mother longed to interpret it together! So this simple piano-vocal arrangement supports the vocal with its right-hand melody, without doubling every single note. It works beautifully as a piano solo too, and includes instructional fingerings. It also includes guitar chord diagrams.

Teresa Young arranged this rock 'n' roll classic for a young pianist currently obsessed with Top Gun: Maverick! So now he's playing and singing just like Miles Teller, and you can too. Because everything you need (and nothing extra, so you can stay nimble) is right here.

Teresa Young's arrangement of Guns n' Roses' Don't Cry came about in an unusual way for her, since most develop from someone's request. But this time she learned, while listening to her musician son's podcast, that Don't Cry is considered an iconic soft song by a hard band. Instant intrigue, and she had to explore it. The result is a piano-based arrangement that takes its shape from Guns n' Roses guitar riffs. Its purpose is to allow piano-based ensembles or bands to interpret the song with a vocalist. It includes guitar chord diagrams too. Ya'll rock on, and don't cry.

Arranger Teresa Young's instructional take on Coldplay's lovely Green Eyes came about as most do: because an adult student, in this case a piano student, wanted to interpret it with her guitarist husband. The result is a chordal piano part that creates a solid harmonic and rhythmic foundation on which guitarist and vocalist can add their particular beauty. Enjoy!