Helen

Begin your practice sessions by playing one or two of the warm-ups at the beginning of your book for the left hand and right hand. Make sure to play with “strong fingers” (emphasizing each note) to build strength in your fingers!

Work on the songs from page 20-21 with strong fingers. These songs introduce the time signature. For now, focus on the top number, which tells you how many beats are in each measure!

You can also look ahead to page 24 if you have extra time!

Rachel

This week, we learned about the music alphabet! The music alphabet is: ABCDEFG and then it starts over the higher on the keyboard you go.

We then took a look at Jungle Wedding, which uses C and F! I reminded Rachel that when she has problems playing a song, she doesn’t need to start over. She can start at the spot she has problems consistently and fix the issue.

At home, Rachel can review Jungle Wedding. It would be very helpful for a parent to be present so that they can read the instructions to her and make sure she’s following them properly. The book is very user friendly and easy to understand for non-musicians. Rachel should play for 5 minutes every day.

Chantal

We began by reviewing A Dozen a Day exercises 4-6 in D major. Chantal did a great job with this! I also listened to her play A Mixed Up Song. She was a little hesitant about the second part of the song, but after we examined it, she realized the melody was the same as the beginning melody expressed in the right hand!

We also looked forward in the lesson book and learned about the 8va symbol (to play something an octave higher than written). We will be examining this in more detail next week.

At home Chantal should play A Dozen a Day Group II exercises 7-9 in D major. She should always be playing with strong fingers and keeping her wrists up! She should also review A Mixed Up Song, starting with the second part of the song (since it’s less familiar).

Zoe

At home, Zoe should begin by reviewing A Dozen a Day Group III #10-12 in A major, playing with strong fingers.

She should also review The Young Colt technique exercise in the Technique Book. The main thing she should focus on is looking at her fingers, making sure they’re curved over the keys. She should also be focused on keeping each note connected (no silence in between).

She can start to learn The Young Hunter in her Lesson Book. The main focus is to keep her fingers close to the keyboard. She should be playing for 10-15 minutes every day!

Julie

Warm up with double 3rds. Review F# harmonic minor and start F# melodic minor (hands separately). Don’t forget in melodic minor, you raise the 6th and 7th ascending, descending you lower them!

Pavane: get really comfortable playing this! Listen to recordings to familiarize yourself with it.
Focus on b. 31-33. The chords are all structured the same, so you can keep your hand in the same position.
Work on playing without stopping.

Humoresque: learn this H.T.
The rolled chords are very light and quick (think ornaments)
Use metronome to beat 8th notes to help you out
Don’t forget the key signature! Also don’t forget where the signature switches!
Photocopy this at home and bring back the original next week.

Lied: work on the accented notes at the last page. Break it down H.S and then try hands together when you get more comfortable.
Try to play all the way through three times.
Come back to this at the end of practicing and see how you do!