B.Mus (Humber) in-progress
Adina is a singer-songwriter based in Toronto completing her Bachelor of Music degree at Humber College in vocal performance. Trained classically in piano since the age of 5, she has branched out into pop and jazz as well.
Vocally she is well-versed in many genres including jazz (she loves to scat!), musical theatre, pop, singer-songwriter, country, R&B, and acappella. She has 7 years of choir experience in both chamber and jazz styles. Adina has been writing and singing original songs since the age of 12, and has two singles as well as an EP out on all platforms under the artist name Adina V.
She has performed all across southern Ontario singing with the Toronto All-Star Big Band, as well as at various venues in the GTA with her own jazz duos and trios. As a member of the Cawthra Park Chamber Choir she performed at Roy Thompson Hall with the TSO for two years in a row. At Humber College she is part of the Vocal Jazz Ensemble led by Lisa Martinelli; this group performs advanced repertoire at events like the Ontario Vocal Jazz Festival.
Adina has been teaching music for the past 7 years and loves helping students meet their personal goals while fostering a love of music that lasts forever!
Get to know Adina…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: reading, puzzles, video games, painting
Musical Influences: Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Doris Day, Joni Mitchell, Taylor Swift, John Mayer
Favourite Food: Pad Thai
Least favourite food: eggplant
Favourite music: Indie rock and folk
Favourite song: All I Need by Jacob Collier ft. Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign
Favourite movie: Matilda
Favourite movie music: The Pirates of the Caribbean theme
Favourite Musical: Dear Evan Hansen or The Last Five Years
Best Quote from your teacher: “It’s an amazing and wonderful experience to be able to be intentional about, in the moment, making music”
Favourite Quote: “Even as we are, we are becoming”
Favourite Book: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy – Stieg Larsson
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Sharing and fostering a love of music with students of all ages
Latest Homework from Adina
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Sunday, April 25th, 2021
Nathalia
Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day
What to practice: Runaround Sue (specifically the A sections)
How to practice it most effectively: Today we decided that for Runaround Sue we would just play the 1st A section then directly into the 2nd A section. LH’s staccatos are important for timing and feel in bar 8 and again in the second last bar. Please watch out for which octave LH is meant to be playing in: in the first A section we are up near middle C, but in the second A section it’s an octave lower. This will help distinguish the two. The most important part of any song or performance is the ending – practice getting to your final chord multiple times in a row so it becomes a familiar shape you can land on confidently.
Sina
Recommended minutes to practice: 10 minutes a day
What to practice: 2 warmups, Batter Up, My Clever Pup, The Zoo
How to practice it most effectively: In the thumbs on C and C position warmups, please connect between the notes. Keeping your fingers bent will help with this. Remember that C position has RH finger 1 on C, and LH finger 5 on C. For Batter Up, My Clever Pup, and The Zoo, the hands are in thumbs sharing C position. Continue to say the letter names out loud while you play. Please watch the stem directions and “RH”, “LH” labels to know which hand’s turn it is to play. The double bar line with the two dots at the end of some pieces is a repeat sign, meaning we go back to the start of the piece and play it one more time.
Tuesday, April 27th, 2021
Anaya
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day
What to practice: A Happy Song, Gee We’re Glad, and Up to the Moon
How to practice it most effectively: Please focus the most on Gee We’re Glad this week, paying extra attention to repeated notes. Use your LH to help you point along on the page so you can really see the directions. You can also continue saying the letter names as you play them. Remember that middle C for RH is always floating under the staff with a line going through it.
Saskia
Recommended minutes to practice: 10 minutes a day
What to practice: 2 warmups, Do a Deer, listen to My Favourite Things
How to practice it most effectively: The first warmup I’d like you to do is, on a single note, sing “woo, woo, woo”, using the “w” to keep your tone light and avoid any crackling. The second part of the warmup is going from a C to C singing the major scale on do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do. Also try saying these syllables backwards, as if you were going down. For Do, a Deer, you are definitely ready to try singing with just the karaoke backing track. I’ll link that down below, as well as a lyric video of My Favourite Things:
Gianna
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day
What to practice: Warmup, Life is an Adventure
How to practice it most effectively: Please always do a warmup before your start your practicing! You’ve got a few to choose from (C scale, G scale, skips warmup, etc using either letter names or the syllables “na” or “ya”). For Life is an Adventure, here are some performance tips: Before starting to play, position your hands and take a couple of deep breaths. Look over the music once, then give yourself your starting note (the LH Bb – you will play this once and listen). Only after taking these moments to prepare yourself should you begin playing. This will help you feel more calm and confident. The biggest thing musically is that you really pronounce your lyrics – be really clear with the consonants so we can understand what you are singing!
Ken
Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day
What to practice: Changing Moods warmup, The Queen’s Royal Entrance, Aardvark Boogie, and Whirling Leaves
How to practice it most effectively: The Queen’s Royal Entrance and Aardvark Boogie are our recital pieces; especially in Aardvark Boogie please be careful with your rhythms. The eighth note tie in bars 2, 4, 6 etc. is no faster than our eighth notes in bars 1, 3, etc. Good work holding through those ties, though! Whirling Leaves uses an eight-eight-quarter (1+2, 3+4) rhythm in the LH. The whole song is in our new A position. Pay extra attention to bars 7 and 8 – both hands are doing a step then a fourth, using only fingers 1, 2, and 4 of both hands.
Steve
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day
What to practice: This Old Man (RH and LH), and Spring
How to practice it most effectively: This Old Man is our review/warmup song this week. Remember that D position will always use F#. Try to be really precise with your rhythms. In Spring, the correct counting is written underneath the melody for the first half – in your head please do this counting with “ands”. Please play hands together from the start, since LH is just holding down through the tied notes. Once notes and rhythms are comfortable, add articulation and dynamics!
Gabe
Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day
What to practice: Canon, Porcupine Dance
How to practice it most effectively: Canon is our review song this week. Please try playing it with a piano dynamic – this song is a slow lullaby, so it should be played nice and quietly. For Porcupine Dance, let’s continue to play only bars 1 to 4, but this time adding in the staccatos – imagine touching a porcupine’s prickly quills! The starting notes (on beat 1) for each hand are labelled. Remember that the pattern for rhythm is 1+2+, then 1+2 (rest).
Isaac
Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day
What to practice: Relay Race, Pyrenese Melody
How to practice it most effectively: Please focus on Relay Race this week. You are ready to put bars 3-4 and 7-8 hands together with the rest of the song. Notice how RH and LH’s thumbs are always one step away from each other. Since the song is in 6/8 time, the quarter notes always get 2 counts. For Pyrenese Melody, only play the first half of the song hands separately. We are in A major, meaning the song has F#, C#, and G#. Always double check RH’s intervals, since it’s very likely there will be a sharp! Please distinguish your legato parts from your staccato parts, since this is part of the song’s character.
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021
Dvorah
Recommended minutes to practice: 10 minutes a day
What to practice: C major scale (left hand), Grandmother
How to practice it most effectively: For the C major scale, please play it with LH from bass C to middle C. The fingering is 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1, with finger 3 tucking over the thumb between G and A. See if you can play it as connected as possible. For Grandmother, in the second line LH holds whole notes while RH plays it’s melody over. Please watch your steps versus skips, as well as the melody directions over the barlines. In the last bar, the hands are both moving down, playing in harmony.
Diya
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes a day
What to practice: Classic Dance, Young Hunter, singing along with lyric videos for Happy/Princesses Don’t Cry/Loyal Brave True
How to practice it most effectively: In Classic Dance, let’s try adding the dynamics (louds, mediums, and softs), as well as the staccatos. You can play the full form now, including the repeat! For Young Hunter, there’s a new note for RH – second space A (think FACE in the space). RH has very long tied notes while LH plays underneath. Line 1 and 3 are exactly the same! Since we are in a new position for both hands, make sure you stay in position and use the labelled finger numbers to help you find notes. Please use lyric videos to sing along to Happy/Princesses Don’t Cry/Loyal Brave True – we will pick one to focus on at the start of our summer lessons.
Marco
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day
What to practice: Rainforest, Lightly Row
How to practice it most effectively: Rainforest is a short warmup song that introduces fifths – these will be either space-space or line-line on the staff. The hands are in two different positions for this song. Please make sure you hold all notes their full value, and watch the difference in distances between skips and 5ths. For Lightly Row, try to play it once hands separately before putting the hands together. Careful that the first 2 bars are not the same! They are both skips, but the first bar goes space to space while the second goes line to line. LH can use the finger #s to help you with which interval to play. RH, please try to connect below all slurs. Feel free to revisit your past favourites from this book. Thank you for all your hard work and have a great summer!
Alice
Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day
What to practice: Come On Tigers, Princess or Monster, Let Me Love You (karaoke)
How to practice it most effectively: Come on Tigers and Princess or Monster introduce us to quarter rests (1 count of silence). As always, watch your steps versus skips, and continue holding notes – and now rests – for their full amount of beats. Feel free to read ahead on Bugle Boys this summer – you’ve got all the tools to finish this book! For Let Me Love You, you can do this with the karaoke version (I’ll link the good Sing King one below). Remember to give yourself your starting note (G above middle C) before beginning, and continue singing through the “na na na”s without breaks. Thank you so much for your hard work and have a great summer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP5ODDPUpcE
Emet
Recommended minutes to practice: 20 minutes a day
What to practice: Haunted House, Rock Around the Clock
How to practice it most effectively: For the last two lines of Haunted House, play hands separately a few times first, then put it hands together, noticing that RH and LH often play the same letters together. Please add in the staccatos as notes and rhythms become comfortable. Eventually you can try the whole song and form hands together! For Rock Around the Clock, please make sure your long-short eighth notes still fit into the 1+2+3+4+ counting (it helps to say all these beats in your head as you play). On page 2, RH make sure you really hear the difference between the bars that are all quarter notes versus the ones that are quarter-eighth-eighth. As you read ahead, page 3 will use RH’s E-G-A-C 4 note chord with very subtle variations. LH can look at the chord symbols to know which bass note to play. We wrote in the counting for the main rhythm this page – go slowly, especially when trying to line up the hands. Have fun with this one! Thank you for all your hard work and have a great summer!
Kollel
Recommended minutes to practice: 25 minutes a day
What to practice: A Faded Letter, The Entertainer
How to practice it most effectively: For A Faded Letter, try to think of RH as playing triads in each bar. You can also try separating the melody voice (stems up) from the lower voice (stems down) for a few times through the piece. Between LH’s intervals, see if you can find a common note that stays. When it comes time to play hands together, use pedal and try playing with emotion (using dynamics and slight rits where appropriate). For The Entertainer, keep looking ahead into the C and D sections – watch out that in the C section the key signature is F major! LH is always doing some variation of the same chords from earlier sections. Please try to make the RH melody throughout the song as legato as possible. As long as you watch out for accidentals and intervals you will do a great job learning this piece. Thank you for all your hard work and have a great summer!
Preferred Books for Adina’s Students
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Alfred's Basic Piano Library Lesson Book 1A
This easy step-by-step method emphasizes correct playing habits and note reading through interval recognition. Lesson Book Level 1A begins by teaching basic keyboard topography and fluent recognition of white key names in relation to black keys. It focuses on simple rhythms and prepares students for intervallic reading with entertaining songs that focus on “same,” “stepping up” and “stepping down.” It then introduces lines and space notes in treble and bass clefs, melodic and harmonic intervals of 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5ths, and graduates to reading on the grand staff. It also introduces the flat and sharp signs. This course is most effective when used under the direction of a piano teacher or experienced musician. Songs Include: Balloons * Batter Up! * The Donkey * A Friend Like You * Hand-Bells * A Happy Song * Horse Sense * Totem Pole Song * It’s Halloween! * Jingle Bells! * Jolly Old Saint Nicholas * July the Fourth! * Just a Second! * Love Somebody * Merrily We Roll Along O’er the Deep Blue Sea * Mexican Hat Dance * My Clever Pup * My Fifth * My Robot * Old MacDonald * Old Uncle Bill * Play a Fourth * Raindrops * Rain, Rain! * Rockets * Rockin’ Tune * Rock Song * Sailing * Sea Divers * See-Saws * Skating * Who’s on Third? * Willie and Tillie * Wishing Well * The Zoo
Alfred's Adult Basic All-In-One
Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course is designed for use with a piano instructor for the beginning student looking for a truly complete piano course. It is a greatly expanded version of Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course that will include lesson, theory, and technique in a convenient, “all-in-one” format. This comprehensive course adds such features as isometric hand exercises, finger strengthening drills, and written assignments that reinforce each lesson’s concepts. There is a smooth, logical progression between each lesson, a thorough explanation of chord theory and playing styles, and outstanding extra songs, including folk, classical, and contemporary selections.
The Brown Scale Book
This essential resource includes all major and minor scales, triads, arpeggios, dominant sevenths, and chromatic scales organized by key. A favorite for decades, The Brown Scale Book belongs in every student’s library.
The Real Vocal Book
The Real Vocal Book has many of the selections from Volumes 1 and 2 of the instrumental Real Books, but now with complete lyrics added to the pre-existing melody line. This edition features 300 essential songs arranged for low voice, including: Alfie * All of Me * Autumn Leaves * Bewitched * Bluesette * Don’t Get Around Much Anymore * Fever * Georgia on My Mind * Misty * Moon River * My Funny Valentine * Satin Doll * and more. Looking for a particular song? Check out the Real Book Songfinder here.
