Jadon
You’re working on My Heart Will Go On, with emphasis on the chorus and tricky spots we went over in class. Play the upper voice only in the octaves for the melody.
You’re also working on Pumpkin Boogie as a quick study. The most important part is that you “get” that off beat rhythm. 1 2 3 4. 1 + + 3 4. are the beats the RH plays on for the main theme. I would tap it to secure it first before you start adding the notes in.
You can continue to practice your B Major scale from last week. The only white keys are B and E, where thumbs go. Fingering for RH is 123 12345. LH is 4321 4321.
Practice time: 20-25 minutes
How parents can support: Prompt him on Pumpkin Boogie. This is an easier level piece so the challenge is how much of it he can prepare for next week.
Grace
You’re working on Playful Snakelets with focus on the LH this week, hands seperate. Some parts are parallel motion to the RH part you learnt, some are contary motion, but they’re always related in some way. All white keys remember.
You’re also working on Melancholy Reflections. Explore the LH blocked to notice the harmonic motion (like the opening LH descending line). Use the fingering I have written in to keep the RH melody smooth.
Practice time: 20-25 minutes
Isabella
You’re working on Old MacDonald. This piece has half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes. It is very important you only play this piece as fast as you can play the 8th notes in time!! Find how fast you would like to play the “here a moo, there a moo” part, and that is how you find your pulse for the Whole Piece. Keep your proper hand shape when playing this piece, don’t hang off the edge of the piano like a cliff.
You’re also working on C Major and minor pentascales. These make the shape of a rainbow – up and down. RH will play 123454321, make sure you’re pressing on your fingerTIPS and your pinky is tall. LH will play 543212345.
Practice time: 15 minutes
How parents can support: I have noticed she tends to play on the very, very edge of the white keys – this is a bad habit because later when we need to play a black note, we have to slide our hand “in” and reach for it – a better habit is to play in the middle of the white keys, near where the black keys meet. You will notice how this benefits her when plays the C minor pentascale (which has just 1 black key). Remind her to move her hand “in” and play with a rounded hand.
***I would like to work through this book with her.***
Shelton
You’re working on C Major pentascales. These make the shape of a rainbow – up and down. RH will play 123454321. LH will play 543212345. The goal here is not to have the notes overlap and blend. Think of your fingers like feet, and they’re walking on the keys – when one foot touches the ground (the key), the other foot lifts up (the previous key gets let go). Pay attention to finger 4 as it’s not used to this kind of work and might be lazy!
If you remember the first “song” we played today in the book, it had 3rds played with fingers 1 and 3. Practice playing these around the keyboard with each hand and a bouncy wrist – remember my baseball swing metaphor? The energy doesn’t just stop once you hit the ball/or the keys, there’s got to be follow through.
Practice time: 15 minutes
How parents can support: If he’s looking for more stuff to play around with at the piano other than the C Major 5 finger scale, encourage him to try and play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” starting on C! It will only use white notes. This is not necessary but is “extra” credit :)
***I would like to work through this book with him.***