Hey everyone, welcome back! Here is the homework for this week.
Susan:
- Keep working on your major/minor scales with the metronome. This week add Bb major and G minor. Reminder to support the air as much as possible in the upper/altissimo register.
- Lady Gaga Fugue – try playing along with a version on YouTube. This way you can hear your part in context. Work on the whole piece, including the bars of rests, so you can practice counting through them and coming in in the right place.
- Toccata – Prioritize and work on the sections that need the most work and that you can realistically play at the concert. Slowly speed them up (maybe every 3-4 days?) but only when you’re ready.
Aubrey:
- Do a short warm up before every practice session – either register slurs, or picking a note, starting from nothing and crescendo-ing/decrescendo-ing.
- Try working on A minor this week, along with C major. Remember – the notes are exactly the same as C, but you’re starting on A. For this week, you can just look at the Natural Minor, or if you get bored try the Harmonic and Melodic Minor scales.
- March – practice the trickier sections, and ignore the notes we talked about. Try speeding it up slowly with the metronome.
Audrey:
- Work on your chromatic scale at the beginning of your practice sessions with the metronome on sixty. Remember to stay loose, and make sure your bottom lip isn’t tucked in all the way.
- Work on your C major and F major scales and arpeggios. Put the metronome on sixty, and hold each note for two beats.
- Mozart Piece – Practice up until the first repeat sign. Take each bar and play it by itself, and then add another bar when you’re comfortable. Make sure you’re not pressing the octave key down by accident!
- Bring your band music for next time.
Camille:
- Camille should be working on her chromatic, C, G, F and D major scales.
- Remind her that she can be using a bit more air, especially in the upper octave. She will have an easier time with this if she loosens up, and rolls her bottom lip out a bit. Make sure she’s not tucking it in all the way.
- The March – the notes sound good, but she just needs to work on getting the rhythms right. Get her to clap or sing the melody along with a metronome. Once she’s done this, she should practice the tricky sections on a loop until the rhythms are correct, then she can move on and play the whole piece.