Excellent job today and this past week, pianists in training!!
Caelen
Wowweee!! Good on you and your mom for starting to write your first song! And, without any suggestion from me. Yes, besides helping Caelen read music better, such endeavors are a great way of understanding how each musical element in a piece is related to each other, as well as increasing a general love and appreciation for music. We also tried the school’s Hal Leonard Flash Cards, and Caelen liked and benefited from them. Please see my teacher profile to follow the link to purchase these cards so you (Mom) can use these cards at home. I think it will also help Caelen’s reading aptitude.
Ruth
Excellent work this past week, dear! So glad you are so keen, and that you practice so much! Your persistence will pay off. Just BE PATIENT. Remember to practice in slow motion, while DOING THE DANCE of the piece you’re practicing. Also, make sure your hands and fingers are relaxed while pushing your HIGH wrists forward, playing on your fingertips (most of the time).
Kate
Besides focusing more on your technique and sight-reading/ear-training, please challenge yourself to see how CREATIVE and IMAGINATIVE you can tell the story (the melodic line) in your pieces. Every story (musical phrase) has a beginning, a middle, and an end, so make these elements to each phrase stand out from one another. Every melodic note must be SPECIAL (so, ELECTRIC fingers!!!), and must be CONNECTED (at least in your mind) to the next melodic note.