Hello everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed your Halloween. Your lesson notes are as follows:

Eva

What we learned/reviewed in lesson: 

  • Dynamics review (piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte)
  • Counting exercises: we were able to figure out the math to have 4 beats in each measure 
  • Played through Echo Song and Old Macdonald
  • Introducing the pedals! They can really change the sounds of the piano

Recommended minutes to practice:

  • 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week

What to practice:

  • We’ve done a lot of practice on the black keys but now we will also begin playing on the white keys! As of now, we should be familiar with C, D, and F. The pieces you can work on this week will be on the white keys
    • Balloons (page 25), Merrily We Roll Along (page 26), Men From Mars (page 29)
    • Extra pieces if there’s interest: The Escalator (page 27), CDEFG March (page 28)
  • Continue playing through the new Finger Number Patterns for review/practice

How to practice efficiently: 

  • When we eat a pizza, we eat it one slice at a time (bite by bite), not the whole pizza at once! When learning a new piece, we can break it down into finger numbers, notes, rhythms, and sometimes words. Instead of trying to “digest” the whole piece at once, isolate one of these things to practice:
    • Can you say all the finger numbers of the piece?
    • Can you name all the notes you’re playing?
    • Can you clap the rhythm on its own?

How can caregivers support practice: 

  • Remind Eva of the pizza analogy and how we can approach learning a piece from many different angles (bite by bite, starting with the cheese, starting with the crust, eating all the toppings before eating the dough). When jumping into a new piece, try isolating some of  the “ingredients” — can we say all the finger numbers? Can we name the notes? Can you clap the rhythm? Can we clap/sing the different dynamics?

 

Chris

What we learned/reviewed in lesson:

  • Bartok sight reading
    • Noting shape of notes (which direction the notes are moving in, is the musical line going up? Or down?)
    • Motion of the hands (parallel or contrary)
    • Noticing if the lines are moving by steps or leaps
  • Chant of the monks
    • This piece tied in well with our sight reading. It mainly featured parallel motion moving by steps, integrating the 5 note scale (C D E F G)
  • Introducing sharps and flats (aka, the black keys on the keyboard)
    • See attached image breaking down how to read/understand their relation to white keys
  • Try sitting on books/pillows at home to get to the right seated position at the keyboard
  • Introducing C and G “positions” (Left Hand finger 5 and Right Hand finger 1 placed on these notes to start)
    • Begin playing through 5 note scales beginning in either of these positions. End with playing the first and fifth note together, playing the third (the note finger 3 is on), and end with playing the 3 notes chord (1 3 5)
    • Can work on this exercise one hand at a time before playing hands together. 

Recommended time to practice:

  • 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week

What to practice:

  • Planetarium, Roman Trumpets (focus on dynamic contrast in this piece. Aim to be able to play it start to finish so we can try the duet)
    • If there’s time/interest to look through a couple more pieces: Minuet, Russian Sailor Dance
  • Scales and chords (c position, g position)
    • Can practice hands separate, then together
  • In addition to our “main course” practice (playing pieces at the keyboard), take some time to check in with foundational elements (alignment, wrist support, tucking in elbows, whether tension is being felt in the body while playing)

How to practice efficiently: 

  • Address the height of your keyboard at home in case it’s contributing to discomfort while playing
  • To counteract the fingers floating away while playing, keep the imagery of fingertips being covered in peanut butter/caramel — we want to keep them close to the keyboard
  • Incorporating listening into practice:

 

Greta

What we learned/reviewed in lesson:

  • Bartok sight reading; recognizing parallel vs. contrary motion, notes moving by steps or leaps, counting
  • I have resent the PDFs for Amber Moon, please print or save a copy to your device so you can easily access it again
  • Discussing the importance of metronomes: they can be a bit tricky to use at first but they are ultimately a tool that exists to help elements of your playing. In this case, it is consistent rhythm/pulse
    • How to use a metronome: 
      • the beat that you hear will be a quarter note. The number equals how many times the metronome play a beat (you might hear the phrase “beat per minute” or BPM
      • Set the metronome to a pulse that feels comfortable to play to (we had a quarter note = 55-60 at our lesson). 
      • For scale practice, imagine that you are playing eighth notes. See attached image to see how each note will correspond to the pulse. 
      • Start slow! Your goal should be able to match the tempo of your playing to the beat of the metronome. Once you can play through consistently and without stops, you can increase the BPM and try the scale at a faster tempo!

Recommended time to practice:

  • 20-30 minutes a day, 4 days a week

What to practice:

  • Technique:
    • G major scale
      • One octave blocked
      • Two octaves one hand with metronome
      • Two octaves both hands with metronome
    • G major solid triads, 2 octaves, hands together
  • Practice playing through the left hand of Amber Moon in time (counting all the beats in each measure), begin learning and adding in the right hand melody

How to practice efficiently: 

  • Focus more on playing technique hands together (with a metronome). Playing hands together (straight through, no stops) at a consistent tempo will be our goal
  • If there’s only time to practice technique, practice it in varied ways (almost as if you were practicing a piece of repertoire):
    • Play technique at different dynamics: piano (softly), forte (loudly), crescendo going up the scale, diminuendo on the way down
    • Play with different articulation: staccato, accented
    • Play with different rhythms: swing, dotted, triplets 

Amber Moon URL:  https://youtu.be/CPn7mXHqASw?si=nkHA5JLjAiE6l8VJ 

  • If link does not work, you can copy and paste it into a browser

 

Have a good week everyone!