Hi everyone,

Here is the homework for this week.

Jonathan:

  • Review the notes we worked on during this lesson. You can try figuring the notes out in any major scale by using the Tone, Semitone pattern, or the order of sharps/flats combined with the other information I gave you!
  • Keep practicing your chromatic scale as a warm up – start with Low E, and work your way up to High C keeping the metronome on 60, holding each note for at least 4 beats.
  • Keep practicing C major, and try adding in F major and/or G major. You will probably be able to find them somewhere in the Rubank book. If not, try figuring out the notes to both scales using the information I gave you! Practice the arpeggios as well, which are comprised of the 1st note, 3rd note, 5th and 7th note (with the 1st note repeated at the top)
  • Look at some of your new music, and keep in mind the key signature (which you will find at the beginning of the piece). Remember to tongue the notes, UNLESS specified otherwise (slur markings).

Aubrey:

  • When working on your chromatic scale, don’t practice the full thing up and down. Instead, take small three or four note sections and work on them slowly, making sure your technique is good (fingers close to the keys, clean transitions between notes). When you’ve gone through several of these, then try practicing the scale as a whole.
  • Keep practicing C, G, and F major scales and arpeggios. Try practicing all of your scales in front of the mirror, until you are able to make a clean transition over the break. Make sure you are covering all of the holes completely, and keeping your fingers as close to the keys as possible. Remember, you can leave your pinkies down for B and C (over the break) while playing an A or even G.
  • Sea Shanty Variations: Make sure to practice with a metronome, and avoid slowing down when you make a slight error. Also, watch for speeding up with any of the eighth note sections. Again, take the piece section by section, working on the larger intervals or gaps (D to A, C to G) without the metronome at first.
  • Market in Marakesh: Practice your accented notes – try to get the same attack on them, without playing super loud. Try elongating your notes, as a general principle, unless stated otherwise. (eg. staccato). Just because you are tonguing the notes, doesn’t mean they have to be disconnected and rigid.

Susan:

  • Spend some time working on increasing your range on the clarinet this week! Here is a fingering chart that goes up to high F: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/fd/b8/93/fdb893a3234037fca8c95e06a655662d.gif
  • Keep working through your seven major scales, and add E major to the mix. When practicing your scales this week, make sure to spend some extra time adding notes from the altissimo register (above high C) to each scale. If you are having trouble getting the notes to come out, remember to push the sound a little bit more, tighten up, and try to “hear” what the note sounds like in your head before playing it.
  • Pavane: Make sure to really take note of the different dynamic markings. Be aware of what the loudest and softest part of each phrase should be, and don’t let any of the phrases fall flat dynamically. Watch out for the articulation markings, as well. Don’t add slurs where they shouldn’t be! Break down the difficult section bar by bar, and then even further than that. Practice the sixteenth note groupings alone, and then add the other eighth notes in the bar in when you are ready. Listen to different recordings on YouTube so you can get the sound of the piece in your head!