Happy February everyone! Happy to see you all :) Stay warm out there.
Isabella
*New Piece* Allegro. This piece is almost entirely skips, except for the phrase endings.
First 8 bars RH of Let It Go. Play with proper fingering, use your thumbs! This piece has F#s in its key signature (new concept), so whenever you see an F in the music, it will be an F sharp (the black note to the right of F). You’ve got this!
Jadon
Page 1 Becoming One with Neytiri. Work on beat to beat getting the coordination of both hands and when they line up. RH accented notes are most important, they must be loud enough that we know they are the melody and they mustn’t get lost in the sea of the other notes. This piece is beautiful and I’m excited to work on it with you!
Grace
Goldberg Variations. M9-12 is a descending sequence, so play it quieter each time. This is called “terraced dynamics” and is a baroque stylistic trait. Establish early on the staccato and legato feel of each hand’s lines and keep it consistent when the lines switch hands.
Cowherd’s Flute. Decide on phrase lengths in LH and mark them in. Once decided, break your phrases consistently in the same spots. There are 3 types of staccato (finger, wrist (for solid 3rds/6ths, that kind of thing) and arm (for big leaps or repeated octaves). This piece uses finger staccato. This feels like scratching a spot of the keys.
Marco
Page 1 Boat of Tai Lake. Good job keeping the melody connected across both hands. Use the written fingering for the LH in the bottom line of the first page.
Chorus of Never Gonna Give You Up in the RH. Continue working on the beginning: there are 4 LH notes in each bar, and the first one the RH plays at the same time = think Together. The next RH note comes halfway through the bar = think Between. Play this rhythm on your lap, Together L R L L.
E Major scale. Same fingering as your other scales (as written on the handout) and has 4 black keys. F#, G#, C#, D#.
Daniel
*New Piece* Detectives. Bouncy LH staccatos, and use the written RH fingering, it is very nice. Have fun with this one!
Ecossaise. Solidify LH fingering, your thumb never needs to leave Bb. Use the written fingering and practice the LH a lot until the fingering is brainless. Good job being picky with the RH articulations!
The Snake. Do the dramatic dynamic swells every time you play. Fix LH fingering in line 4, use 1-2 under. Practice this fingering correctly tons so your brain replaces any bad muscle memory.
Angelfish. Evenness! There are sometimes where the groups of 3 8th notes want to turn into triplets and we can’t have that – count 1+2+ consistently. Whenever you feel the rhythms start to slip and become uneven, break it down and play just 1 beat of notes over and over again like we did in class. This technique is called “beat to beat” practicing.
Shelton
*New Piece* Sailor’s Tall Tale. The new concept here is ties. This is when the curvy line connects two of the SAME note, and it combines the value of them both. These LH A whole notes are tied together, making one note you hold for 8 beats. Hold it down while your RH plays. Keep your hands in the starting position and use the written fingering.
D Major scale. Same fingering as your other scales, but with two black keys. F# and C#. Great work!
Julian
*New Piece* My Detective Agency. You read this so well today! It repeats a lot, usually the first time is loud and then the repeat is a softer echo. Be picky with what notes are staccato and which ones aren’t, that’s what makes it sound sneaky!
D Major scale. Same fingering as your other scales, but with two black keys. F# and C#. Great work!