Anastasiya

Not bad at all for not practicing in Florida for over a week! Let’s review “Runaway Rabbit” and “Flute of the Andes” for next week. “Runaway Rabbit” was very good – just watch out for your rhythms. Hold your dotted half notes for 3 whole beats and your half notes for 2 whole beats. Otherwise, you know the notes very well. “Flute of the Andes” took you less than 5 minutes to remember. That was really impressive. Remember your left hand is in F position and your right hand is in G Position. In the second line, don’t forget that one note you have to play with your left hand. Also practice jumping up one octave for the very last measure of the piece.

Madison

We are so close to finishing the book! For “When Our Band Goes Marching By”, your left hand’s job is to remember when it has to change its pattern. Keep practicing hands separate and hands together for this week, but it’s ok to go super slowly when putting  the hands together at first. You know the right hand quite well too – practice the right hand alone and counting out loud like we did today. It’s super confusing at first, but it will help you know exactly where the beats are, which will help you when putting the hands together. Focus especially on the two super hard measures (last measure of the third line and first measure of the fourth line). If you can count out loud and play the right hand, you’re on the right track!

Melody

Excellent work with “Who’s on Third!”. For “Mexican Hat Dance”, it also looks like it’s getting more comfortable for you. Practice to make it even more comfortable. Focus on exactly where the steps and skips are and when the notes go up or down. It was much better this week! Keep practicing “More About Intervals” as this is a great song to play when thinking about steps and skips. Your new song for this week is “Rock Song”. We learned about Quarter Rests, which just like Quarter notes, get exactly one beat. So make sure not to skip over your rests. It will be important in this piece to have perfect rhythm, so watch that your half notes get exactly two beats, and quarter notes/quarter rests get one beat.