Emet
Recommended minutes to practice: 20 minutes a day
What to practice: G, D, and A major scales (hands separately, 1 octave), Piano Man, La Raspa
How to practice it most effectively: For your scales, G, D, and A are the ones with 1, 2 and 3 sharps respectively. Notice how each new sharp added is on the 7th degree. Fingering for RH is 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5, and for LH is 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1. In Piano Man, put the “da da” section hands together, paying extra attention to the rhythms and tied notes – between bars 41 and 42 remember the RH B is a tie, so it doesn’t play again (try RH by itself for these two bars once, then add LH). LH can read ahead to the end of the piece (take the 2nd ending). RH read ahead for the next couple of lines, going only as far as you’re comfortable. Much of this should be familiar since it’s the same verse melody as the first two pages. In La Raspa, please hold all quarter notes for two full beats; they should be distinct from all the eighth notes. Do be counting 1-2-3-4-5-6 in your head as you play, and remember the rests are included in these beats too! The accelerando only happens on the D.C. (so not the first time you play the beginning section).
Kollel
Recommended minutes to practice: 25 minutes a day
What to practice: F major scale (hands together, 2 octaves), Prelude, Canon
How to practice it most effectively: In the F major scale, finger 3s line up on A and finger 1s line up on C (finger 1s also line up on the middle F). In Prelude, the final piece of the puzzle is the articulation – specifically the staccatos. Take the first three lines one at a time, playing RH first to get the feel for it, then adding LH. In lines 4 and 5 please be really careful with fingering, and work on aligning the hands comfortably before trying the articulation. For Canon, continue focusing on lines 4 and 5 hands together, but feel free to try the next section hands together as well (LH’s part is quite easy, so once RH feels comfortable with all the 16th notes you’re good to go). Continue using pedal for this piece, changing every times there’s a new chord (every beat 1 and 3).