Hello all! Your practice notes are as follows
Eva
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- We have officially learned all the white notes on the keyboard (ABCDEFG)
- Composed a piece in 4/4 time; practiced using quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.
- Discussed the different qualities of sounds on the piano:
- Very very high notes are twinkly and bright, reminding us of mice.
- Very very low notes are rumbly, like a dragon
- Played through Balloons, and Merrily We Roll Along
- Work towards Men from Mars for next week
Recommended minutes to practice:
- 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week
What to practice:
- Men from Mars
- Finger patterns on a flat surface
How to practice efficiently:
- Bringing back the pizza analogy from last week: instead of trying to “digest” the whole pizza (piano 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:
- When Eva is at the keyboard, keep an eye on hand positioning — are we still trying to maintain the soft ‘c’ shape? (see previous lesson notes). It will take time to develop the muscles/fine motor control but gentle reminders throughout practice will help.
Chris
What we learned/reviewed in lesson:
- Reviewed roman trumpets
- Highlight spot of practice — how to approach and break down. Can isolate 1-2 measures and break them down into fundamentals: clapping or saying the rhythm, saying/singing the finger numbers or notes, hand positioning and when to shift.
- Played through duet
- Planetarium — introducing the pedal; creating atmosphere on the piano
- Minuet
- Introduced the dotted quarter note
- Broke down time signature and how they work
- See attached image for notes on above
- 5 note scales
- Good work on them this week! It will continue to take time and practice to get the non-dominant hand doing what we want it to do. Keep it up!
- Can practice them in many different ways; musical skills that we practice with scales will transfer over to pieces (dynamics, articulation, phrasing).
- Note: achieving a wide dynamic range on a keyboard can be difficult due to the limitations of the structure (in contrast to an upright piano or a grand piano). For this week, see if you can play through the scales in these ways:
- Forte (try playing the scale with just your arm as well, reinforce how the power and volume come with using larger muscle groups)
- Accenting every second beat and vice versa (see attached image)
- Staccato all notes (can use the imagery of the keys being very hot to touch — the fingers/hands will release from the piano key very quickly
Recommended time to practice:
- 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week
What to practice:
- Continue working through Minuet and Russian Sailor dance.
- Additional piece if interested: Midnight Ride
- 5 note scales and ending chords; try practicing these with the variations mentioned above
- These can be practiced hands separately and then together
- C position and G position. If you’re feeling bold, you can try the scale in an “A” position — note some differences you hear between a 5 note scale played on C versus on A
How to practice efficiently:
- If we’re noticing a lot of resistance with our non-dominant hand while playing, try leading some of your practice starting with your left hand (ex: if you’re sitting down to do scales, start with a left hand scale. Or if you’re learning a new piece, start by reading just the left hand)
- Often, we become reliant on our dominant hand for everyday tasks, causing it to feel bizarre trying to have our non-dominant hand mirror/play along with our right hand. Don’t put the pressure on yourself to have the left hand play exactly like the right hand by your next lesson, this will take time.
- If you want to try something fun, try doing an activity (like eating or brushing your teeth) with your non-dominant hand — it really highlights how much we rely on our dominant hand.
Happy practicing! See you all next week