Oscar - Please work on your C major pentascales in both hands. That means notes C, D, E, F, and G. Up and down, slowly. Pay close attention to the position of your hands and your posture. Back straight, feet firmly planted, maximum range of motion, minimal tension. In addition, listen to and watch some Phineas Newborn Jr. Avril - [...]
Julie - Please practice your scales with the cadence we discussed at the end. Learn the new fingering discussed for the Faure piece... Gavin - Of course, always work on the march. We'll talk about it more next lesson. Also, you have the chords cheatsheet I made for you...use that to learn all the chord types we discussed. Kristen - [...]
Katheline - Review the first few 'theory' pages of the Czerny book.. Play a bunch of pieces from the Dozen a Day Book 2, as well as the Czerny book, and put an asterisk next to the ones that are most difficult. Daniel - Find the notes F, C, G, D, and A. Work on playing your composition (Do you [...]
Avril - Continue to work on your Jabberwocky song. Write new lyrics if you want, but you don't have to. Play the next piece in your Czerny book. Kristen - Focus this week should be on BLACK KEY major scales. So, Db/C# major, Eb major, F#/Gb major, Ab major, and Bb major. You can also explore the jazz stuff, but [...]
Katheline - Start working on your books when you get them. Until then, technical exercises: all major and natural minor scales. All triad sequences (chords/triads and inversions) that use all white notes, EXCEPT for the one starting on B. Ear exercise: Play a perfect 5th (C-G) and then play the major and minor 3rds (E and Eb) to compare the [...]
Avril - Keep working on your scales and Czerny pieces. In addition, here is a poem made of nonsense words. Imagine that you are a songwriter and someone has given you this poem as 'lyrics'. Write a melody that goes with the first stanza (first four lines) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42916/jabberwocky Julie - For the Bach, focus on those ornaments. You can practice [...]
Katheline - Please acquire those books we talked about - The Young Pianist, and the pink 'Dozen a Day' book. Practice all your major scales as we've been doing, and work out some minor scales on your own. Don't use a reference for the fingering, just figure out the fingering logically (don't run out of fingers, don't get your hands [...]
Avril - Continue working on everything you've been working on (Czerny, scales, Bohemian Rhapsody). On top of that, please work on your analysis of 'There's Nothing Holding Me Back' by Shawn Mendes. Here is a tool that may help you: I found the instrumental version of the song on YouTube. This may help to clarify what each instrument is doing. [...]
Katheline - Please get the following books: The Young Pianist (Carl Czerny); and Dozen a Day book 1 (Edna Mae Burnam). You can also keep working on the scales we talked about (F, C, G), and the melody you began composing in your lesson today. Gavin - For this week, keep working on the March. Focus on the section starting at bar [...]
Avril -Continue with the first few pages of the Czerny book. This week, think about interpretation. In this week's lesson we talked about adding dynamics to make a piece more interesting. Think about that going forward. Also continue to practice Auld Lang Syne (With pedal, if you have access to a piano), and Bohemian Rhapsody. Julie - Practice our trill exercise: oscillating [...]