Happy Thanksgiving from SightReadingMastery!

This year, take a few minutes away from stuffing your turkey (or yourself) for a Thanksgiving sight reading of the holiday’s classic song, “Over the River and Through the Woods”.

You can download the sheet music for free, and even though you probably know the song, I doubt you’ve seen this arrangement, so it will still be good sight reading practice:

Download sheet music for “Over the River and Through the Woods”

It’s written for piano, so pianists are all set. Guitarists should pick out what they can. If you play flute, trumpet or another treble clef instrument, practice reading the melody in the treble clef. Bass clef instruments can read the bass line in the bottom of the bass clef.

Singers, try singing it in whatever register is comfortable for you. Below are the lyrics, additionally useful if you’d like to invite any friends or family to sing along with you (this is Thanksgiving, after all):

Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather’s house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandfather’s house away!
We would not stop for doll or top,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river, and through the wood—
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.

Over the river, and through the wood,
With a clear blue winter sky,
The dogs do bark, and children hark,
As we go jingling by.

Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring, “Ting-a-ling-ding”,
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river, and through the wood,
No matter for winds that blow,
Or if we get the sleigh upset
Into a bank of snow

Over the river, and through the wood,
To see little John and Ann.
We will kiss them all, and play snow-ball,
And stay as long as we can.

Over the river, and through the wood
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

Over the river, and through the wood—
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait!

Over the river, and through the wood,
Old Jowler hears our bells.
He shakes his pow, with a loud bow-wow,
And thus the news he tells.

Over the river, and through the wood,
When Grandmother sees us come,
She will say, “Oh, dear, the children are here,
Bring a pie for everyone.”

Over the river, and through the wood—
Now Grandmother’s cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Sight Reading!