Vivienne

Warm Up: Vivienne did an awesome job with “Fit as a Fiddle and Ready to Go” last week!  This week, Vivienne can review exercises 1-6.  I suggest she play three at each practice session, rotating which she does each day (ex: one day, she does exercises 1-3, the next she does exercises 4-6, and the repeat that rotation).

Ode to Joy: Vivienne should practice this piece hands together.  She should take her time, since playing hands together can be challenging.

Practice Suggestions:

  • Practice each line of the piece hands together three times before moving on to the next line.
  • While practicing the next line, practice through it three times.  And so on.
  • Then, after playing each line separately three times, Vivienne can try to play the whole song once all the way through with her hands together.
  • Counting out loud is very important in all stages of practicing this piece.

Chantal

Warm Up: Review “Walking in a Puddle in the Rain”,  and add the exercise “Fit as a Fiddle and Ready to Go.”

Songs: Review the songs from last week.  These are “Russian Folk Song” and the first page of “Come See the Parade.”

Practicing Hints

  • In both her repertoire songs and her warm up, make sure that Chantal is counting out loud.  This will ensure her rhythm is steady and she doesn’t rush through longer notes, like half notes or whole notes.
  • Remind Chantal to have both of her hands ready to play at the start of her piece.  For example, if her left hand comes in several bars into the song, her hand should still be near the starting note of that line.  This helps because she won’t hesitate in between sections to place her hand in the right spot: it will already be there!
  • Continue to ask Chantal what the starting note is for both of her hands in each piece and ask her to show you where it is on the keyboard.

Tanishq

Warm Ups

  • Double thirds, ascending and descending, legato and staccato.
    D melodic minor formula pattern this week was awesome!
  • Alternate between D melodic minor and A melodic minor formula patterns while practicing this week, as to not forget them.
  • You can also add G melodic minor formula pattern.  Like last week, practice the scale by itself first every practice session before diving into the formula pattern to familiarize yourself with the notes.

The Avalanche: Great job!  This is ready to be set aside for the time being.  Perhaps we can bring it back for a recital performance?

March in D: Great job!  The slower speed was nice and precise.  Let’s speed it up now.  Practice with your metronome at quarter note = 132.
Hint: Sing the melody with the metronome before you play.  Your may find the beat is not as fast as you think it will be!

Hakuna Matata: Review pages 1-3.  They are sounding really great!  Practice page 4, hands separately, using the fingering we found in the lesson.  Always count out loud, even while playing through the review pages.

Zoe

Practice the songs “Tucker’s Secret Life” and “B Bop!”

In “B Bop,” Zoe’s hands play some notes at the same time.  This is something very new for her, and may require slower practice than normal.  If needed, she can practice the song hands separately first, and then try playing them together.  Make sure she is counting out loud in this piece.

Some other practicing hints:

  • Zoe should be counting out loud with every piece as she practices.  Having steady rhythm is important as her pieces become more challenging.
  • Remind Zoe to have both of her hands ready to play at the start of her piece.  For example, if her left hand comes in several bars into the song, her hand should still be near the starting note of that line.  This helps because she won’t hesitate in between sections to place her hand in the right spot: it will already be there!
  • Continue to ask Zoe what the starting note is for both of her hands in each piece, as well as what hand the piece begins on.  Ask her to show you on the keyboard where the starting notes are.