Dvorah
This week we learned letters F-G-A-B, which are around the group of 3 black keys. Please scavenger hunt all the Fs and Bs as your warmup. We also talked about planting our bum on the stool and just reaching with our arms for the lower/higher notes in the songs – you shouldn’t need to be standing while playing.Merrily We Roll Along – Let’s keep this piece for practice with C-D-E. Remember that when the finger numbers disappear we need to use the letter names to guide us.The Escalator – This song only uses finger 2 and 3 in LH and RH – LH takes F and G, and RH takes A and B. Make sure you start low enough so you have enough room to go up all 4 times the pattern repeats.March on C-D-E-F-G – This song is in C position, which we have used before in our warmups. When we are stepping in music, it means we go from one note to the very next letter name in order. Try saying the letter names as you play as a bonus!
Marco
Please have a look at your composition from last week and fix those downwards facing stems, as well as change any notes you’re playing differently from the music. From your theory book please complete page 38.Yankee Doodle – Notice how in this piece there’s the exact same skipping pattern between LH and RH (G-B-D-F) that we had in Elephant Ride. We circled all the skips in class today. Please use Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge to help you find the RH line notes (especially the Gs!).Copycat – This pieces uses some new notes in the LH. To help you read the bass clef, use the sayings Good Birds Don’t Fly Away for the lines, and All Cows Eat Grass for the spaces. Paying attention to whether the melody moves in steps or skips will also help with sight reading.
Oliver
For your warmup this week please play the G major (no Bb) position 5-note scale. Pay extra attention to trying to connect between the notes – we want to play legato.A Friend Like You – For now let’s just play this song hands separately. LH is playing intervals: 5ths, 4ths, 3rds, and 2nds. The D (top note) always stays, and the bottom note moves up or down. Try to say the interval as you play it! RH make sure you’re playing the high D (not the one right next to middle C) – this D is always your starting note, and from there just pay close attention to whether the melody moves in steps or skips.
Alice
Lose You to Love Me – Please spend a little more time with the verses – we want those lyrics to feel comfortable. Do your best to enunciate your consonants – especially on important lyrics like “hate”, “lose”, and “love” we need to hear the “t”, “s”, and “v”. Still work on making your mouth more open on higher notes – you don’t have to sacrifice the sound of the word (Your tongue will still do the same thing), just let your jaw drop to let more sound out.Let’s Play Ball – Pay extra attention to RH’s steps in bars 5-6; use Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge to figure out the treble clef line notes. You can treat this like a review song.Petit Minuet – This piece has a new time signature: ¾ means in each bar you count to 3 before going back to 1. Beat 1 is always the one right after the bar line. While playing the notes, also speak the counting out loud. This will help make sure half notes are being held for the full 2 counts (1-2_ before going to the quarter notes on beat 3.
Linda
Let’s keep the LH 4-note chord warmup this week as the fingers start getting more comfortable.What a Wonderful World – The same way we went back and forth between A-7 and Abmaj7, and E-7 and E7, try going back and forth between Fmaj7 and F7 (the 7th is the only n ote changing between them). See if you can start thinking of the corresponding number to each chord (between 1-7, using “flat 6” as the name for the Ab chord). LH will always play the root denoted in the chord symbol.The Swing – Our key signature tells us that all Fs in this piece (no matter the octave) are sharp. As you adjust to this still keep the piece hands separately (except from bar 20 to the end). There are a lot of clef and octave changes, so just double check you are in the right spot as the piece goes one. Consider the scale degrees (1-7) of LH’s bottom notes. This progression is called a descending cliché line.