Chloe

We began the lesson by reviewing the songs from last week “A Train” and “Tooth Fairy.” We also reviewed all the notes we’ve learned so far. Chloe is doing really well learning these! She had some trouble with A and E, but as the lesson progressed, she self-corrected when she called A an E (and vice versa).

We then began to look at Tucker’s Secret Life. This song has three new notes and some repetition. I asked Chloe to tell me where the repetition was happening and she pointed it out for me. We then worked on the song and she did a good job reading all the notes!

At home

Chloe can review Tooth Fairy and Tucker’s Secret Life at home this week. She can play for five minutes every day and can review both songs or just one!

Chantal

We began with the Dozen a Day group I exercises in G major. Chantal did such a good job with this! She played with strong fingers and very comfortably! I was very happy with her performance! We then started to learn about a new key: D major. D major has two sharps: F and C. We worked on playing the D major scale and learning the first few exercises in Group I in D major.

We then looked at Kites in the Sky. Chantal did a good job with the first half of the song. She had some trouble connecting notes in the left hand, especially C and E. We worked on connecting the two notes several times. We also began to look at the second section, which is at a free tempo. This means she can slow down and speed up as she wants! We reviewed how the hands cross over each other in this section as well.

At home

Chantal can begin to work on the Dozen a Day exercises 1-3 in D major. She can continue to work on the Kites in the Sky song, paying close attention to connecting the notes with each other. She should play for 15 minutes every day.

Zoe

We began the lesson by reviewing A Dozen a Day exercises in A major. Zoe did a really good job with this! We then started to look at exercises 7-9 in A major. While working on the “thumb under” technique, I asked Zoe to be aware that her wrist doesn’t need to twist too much as she does it. Her hand can stay in relatively the same position throughout the exercise.

We briefly reviewed the Peacock technique exercise. Zoe’s slurs and connecting notes were a lot stronger, which was great! We also worked on the Keyboard Trick exercise. This exercise works on the right hand moving while the left hand remains still, which is something new for Zoe. The song The Haunted Mouse also uses this technique!

At home

Zoe should work on the Dozen a Day exercises 7-9 in A major. She should also focus on the Keyboard Trick and Haunted Mouse song, making sure to work on keeping her left hand down while her right hand moves around. She should play for 15 minutes every day!

Julie

Warm-Up: Continue to work on the Double 3rds and F# natural minor. Continue to work on your finger evenness and consistent tone.

Here is a link for the hand exercises we’ve been doing in class: https://takelessons.com/blog/relaxing-while-playing-the-piano

Schumann: Try to bring out the left hand “emphasis notes” (the ones with the stems pointed upwards). Focus on strengthening the hands separate but you can start to work on hands together. When you’re working on bars with difficult rhythms, here are some steps you can take:

  • divide the bar into smaller sections
  • clap the rhythm of that section
  • try different segment division

Clementi: do the hand exercises before playing. Visualize yourself playing the opening (listen in your head to what it’s supposed to sound like) before actually playing the opening. Play it once through with the metronome. A lot of good progress was made with this!

Lied: Let’s make this performance ready! Work on making softer accented notes still sound accented (slightly louder than the rest). Continue to make the dynamics very contrasting and dramatic!

You should play for 30-45 minutes every day!