Abi:
Continue to work on your 5 note slurs. Alternate between slurring and tonguing to get the feel for it. The C G C E G slur sounded great this week! Keep the air moving forward; take full breaths and remember to relax.
We had a good chat about learning different scales this week! Just a quick reminder of what we talked about… Major scale + note alteration(s) = New scale. for example you could take a Major scale, flatten the 3rd & 6th degree of the scale and you will get a harmonic minor scale; by doing these alterations you can practically get any new scale. I know this might seem pretty complex and I don’t expect you to have tons of new scales memorized a while. It would be great f0r next week, if you could play C & A harmonic minor (b3, b6). A harmonic minor is all over power ride so that shouldn’t be too bad. C might take a little bit of thinking though but I trust you should be able to figure it out!
Keep up the good work on Power Ride. Just take it slow to make sure you’re playing every note, dynamic and articulation properly. Take full breaths so you can get through those 4 bars without stopping.
Matt:
All those minor scales are coming along well! If you take them slower and refine the arpeggios you’ll see a lot more improvement. When you’re ascending remember to keep your chin stable, don’t push it in. As soon as it pushes in your tone changes and you struggle to reach the higher notes. Chin up and support from the core with lots of air.
Continue to work on all four of the RCM pieces – All Through The Night, German Dance, Etude in G & Etude in D. It might be worth it to practice all four of these in a row to see if you have the stamina to do them all efficiently & with a beautiful sound. All the little details are coming together nicely as well. One thing that I’ve noticed though is sometimes the articulation can be a little inconsistent; You want all the staccatos, accents & legatos to feel and sound the same. Continue to work on all of those pieces.