Oscar – Continue to practice the stride pattern with your left hand. Practice improvising single-note lines in the right hand while playing a stride pattern in your left hand on the blues progression. IF you feel comfortable doing so, you can go through the whole progression, but it’s best to start by staying on the I chord. Just get used to the motion of the stride pattern against an improvised line.
Avril – Since I won’t be seeing you before the recital, I need to tell you: I think you should remove Autumn Leaves from your recital program and ONLY stick to the Czerny pieces. Good luck! I hope I can be there to watch you play.
Julie – Focus on the Bach pieces we discussed. For the Invention, zero in on the ornaments. Measured and even should be the goal, not fast. Complete the chord chart for two more keys.
Kristin – Practice the stride pattern with the bebop scales in the right hand and the swing rhythms, as discussed. You can also improvise over that A minor waltz vamp you showed me in the last lesson, focusing on centering your improvised melody around chord tones. Give direction to your melody by aiming for chord tones, rather than aimlessly wandering ‘within’ the key of A minor.