Vivienne

Warm Up: Download the document linked below and print. Practice the exercises “Stretching” and “Tiptoe Running”

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1CqaK9iJ5Y7NXNVYVkwdDdTYms

An Oriental Song: Vivienne should review this piece to help solidify it. I want to ensure she feels completely comfortable playing it before we move on. She should continue counting out loud by saying “one and two and…” If she is having problems with the left hand melody, I suggest she practice it separately three times before practicing it hands together again.

Skating at Twilight: This week, Vivienne should practice this piece hands separately and count out loud. She can try near the end of the week to put the hands together (around Wednesday) if she feels confident in the parts separately. It is important to have both hands solid before trying to play them together.

Chantal

Warm Up: This week, Chantal can practice the first warm up from “Group II” of the Dozen a Day method, “Twisting.” I suggest purchasing the book, since we will be using it for the rest of the term and there are still many exercises to go. It will be easier than having a lot of photocopies. The book can be purchased here.
https://www.amazon.ca/Dozen-Day-Mini-Book/dp/0877180237

Songs: “Yankee Doodle,” “Magic Rhythm for Bass D,” and “A Joke for You.”

Practice Hints

  • Make sure Chantal prepares both hands on the keyboard before playing the song.  If she has both hands ready, even if one doesn’t come in for several bars, the transition between two hands will be a lot smoother and there will be less hesitation between sections.
  • Ask Chantal what note her right hand plays first, and then ask her to show you on the keyboard.  Do the same with the left
  • Chantal should keep counting out loud as she plays.  Make sure she does not rush through half notes and whole notes.  The beat should be as steady as possible.

Tanishq

Warm Up: Double thirds, ascending and descending, legato and staccato.
C melodic minor, formula pattern. As usual, practice this scale without the pattern to make sure the notes are solid, and then try to play it as the formula pattern.
If you have extra time, review the scales we have already looked at so far (A melodic minor, D melodic minor, and G melodic minor)

March in D: This is sounding great! The rhythm is nice and precise and it sounds confident. Now that the notes and rhythms are solid, it’s time to add dynamics. Practice the hairpins we pencilled in, and add your own if you see a specific spot that could benefit by more dynamic contrast. Experiment with the extremes of the dynamics. The softest the pieces gets is piano and the loudest it gets is forte. See how loud and soft you need to make them to make sure the mezzo fortes and mezzo pianos sound different.

Hakuna Matata: Review pages 1-3, one day at a time. For example, on Monday focus on page one, on Tuesday focus on page 2, and so on. Practice page 4 hands separately nice and slowly. Keep counting out loud (one and two and…).

Take a listen to your Level 5 CD and select your top 4 favourite pieces. We can select which piece will be next to learn at the lesson.