Hi everyone, here is the homework for this week. Thank you for a great semester of lessons, and I look forward to teaching you guys in the months to come :)
Jonathan:
- When warming up/practicing your chromatic scale, add in the new approach where you start as softly as possible, crescendo, and then decrescendo until the note ends. Hold out the notes as long as possible, and make sure you don’t hit the loudest point of the note too soon. Make sure to practice this in all registers of the clarinet, especially the upper register, as this is where it will get tricky.
- Keep practicing your major scales, metronome at 60, half notes, and this week with the extra challenge of the scales being slurred both coming up AND down. Make sure to avoid that split second of hesitation before you put your fingers down on the key – this will eliminate “blips” and will make the scales cleaner.
- Continue working on Summertime – this week, try tackling the rest of the piece. Remember to isolate the eighth note groups with the metronome (at 60). In the sections where there are four eighth notes, play the first two on a loop, then the second two, then all four together. Make sure to also hold out your half notes for long enough and always count the rests!
Susan:
- Keep working on your major scales, and add F# major into the mix (only one more!!) Don’t worry too much about agility (most of the new scales we’ve been working on past three sharps/flats probably won’t be much faster than 60-70 bpm) but more about technique, and range (getting up high into the altissimmo register). Remember to really push in the altissimmo register!
- Spend some time working your way through the Galper book, specifically the exercises we looked at. Focus on using the specific fingerings stated in the book (eg. right F#). It will be awkward at first, but is great in the long run for better technique and more dexterity with side keys.
Thomas:
- Thomas should be working on his fingerings this week, from C# down to low C. If he isn’t able to get a sound on the lower notes, it’s not a problem – this is a work in progress. After he works on these fingerings, he should do the same thing with the octave key down like we talked about. He should be playing through this with the metronome at 60, each note for 4 beats.
- Please ensure that Thomas uses a metronome during his practice sessions! The app I told him to use is “Pro Metronome”. It’s free on the App Store!
- Thomas should also be working on his C major scale, same thing – metronome at 60, 4 beats each.
- If you get a chance to stop by Long and McQuade, please pick up the Rubank Elementary Method for Saxophone book! It’s a great beginner book that we can use to start working on Thomas’ scales and technique.