ARCT • Teachers’ Diploma (RCM) in-progress
Trained Music Together Teacher
Erin Plank (they/he) is a passionate young piano teacher. For their professional development, Erin received the highest exam scores in all of Canada last year for “Teaching Elementary Piano” with the RCM.
Erin’s main goal is to turn students into lifelong music lovers, not just pianists. I seek to provide them with the tools to practice efficiently at home, sight read a song at their friend’s piano, learn the melody to a song off the radio by ear, and nurture a technical foundation that lasts a lifetime so it’s “just like riding a bike” to play the piano. And even better, they’ll want to.
Get to know Erin…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Piano, weightlifting, playing with my cat, and hanging out with friends
Musical influences: Ben Folds, Brad Mehldau, Edvard Grieg
Favourite food: Fried chicken sandwich
Least favourite food: snap peas, because I ate too many as a kid one time and threw up and now I dislike the smell
Favourite music: Romantic era piano music, Beach Boys and similar era music, math rock
Favourite song: “How Dare You Want More” by Bleachers
Favourite movie: Sing Street
Favouirite movie music: main theme for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or anything Star Wars
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Wozzeck
Best quote from your teacher: “Don’t show the audience you messed up, they won’t know! Keep going!”
Favourite quote: “That’s what life is, Happy Sad”
Favourite book: Recursion by Blake Crouch
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Getting to reach and connect with so many lovely people!
Latest Homework from Erin
Is Erin Your Teacher?
Sign up now to get your weekly assignments delivered, and never lose your homework sheet again!
Thursday March 7 Lessons – Erin P
Have a lovely March break everyone! See you on the 21st.
Liam
*New* Sonatina in G Major – For now, leave the grace notes out and just play the main melody. When doing the “Alberti bass” in the LH (where it goes bottom-top-middle-top), *rotation* of the wrist is your best friend. Think about twisting a door handle and let the rotation be what takes you from thumb to pinky effortlessly. Listen here.
If you have the time, explore the Ragtime medley that begins with Hello My Baby in Piano Pronto. It is not swung, just sounds jazzy due to the short-long syncopation. Count carefully!
Nice progress on the scales! Keep up all of your technique.
Katarina
Wunderkeys – Laundry Limbo – Move and Groove. This will be right after your pages with sticky flags on them. This pieces might not be in a position we are used to! You have to identify the starting note, then read the finger number written up above to learn where to place your hands.
Marita
*New* Nightingale – D minor. Look carefully at the LH, it typically has 3 different “shapes” of notes used. Whenever the RH goes up high into ledger line territory, it is typically playing a melody we have already played lower down, so look for repeating patterns and ideas.
Sara
Maple Leaf Rag – Here’s today’s performance. Absolutely killer, however we can get another recording where you nail the ending.
Desafinado – Use a 120bpm boss nova backing track on youtube to play the melody along with. Once you can feel an underlying beat, it will start to come to life.
Warsaw Session – BEAUTIFUL! Your phrasing and dynamics are lovely.
Marco
Superman Theme – WOW! I’m impressed. You can start learning the next section between the stars. Start with just the RH, but quickly add in the LH as a pulse keeper, it is mainly just constant Cs. Lots of triplets which I circled.
Song of the Dark Woods – all. Lovely! Give the 3rd line some extra love and ensure LH is doing the written fingering.
Cranky Cat – m1-8. Now HT. Great job with the notes and staccato touch. Now let the hands interrupt each other :)
Keep all technique prepared.
Daniel
Keep all technique skills prepared.
*New* Raiders in the Night – This is in 6/8 so feel two main beats per measure, the accents help to feel this. A minor key signature. Page 1 is the expectation, but feel free to continue onwards if you like.
Greta
Song of the Dark Woods – All. In the 3rd line, the LH fingering is essential to keeping it legato. Work on this phrase hands seperate so you can eliminate the “splitting” of the notes (we want them to be pressed down at the exact same time).
INTERVALS – so today I included perfect 5ths, but on the level 1 exam you are only tested on major or minor 3rds. I apologize for throwing 5ths into the mix, my mistake, however no harm in more learning and knowledge, but don’t stress over them! With this link you can practice identifying the types of 3rds ascending or descending.
Maintain all your technical requirements.
Saturday March 9 Lessons – Erin P
Have an amazing March break everyone!
*I WILL BE AWAY FOR EASTER WEEKEND. At our next lesson, PLEASE CONFIRM if you would like a lesson that day (saturday March 30) so we can line up a substitute if necessary.*
Hakim
*New* Dummy! – Notice the Bb and Eb, creating a G minor key signature. RH. Once you feel confident you can start adding in the LH walking bass line. It’s a lot like the Pumpkin Boogie one, just starting on G instead. These rhythms are more complex than we’ve studied, so use your ear, and know that the More beams (lines) there is on a note the shorter it is. (for example 16th notes have two beams, and 8th notes only have one)
Steampunk – Nice work!!! Keep practicing and counting steadily to get it fluent.
Science Blaster – play around with this using the Musescore copy if you like! You are certainly capable of reading it. I will learn some too and we can combine for a duet eventually.
Maria
Viva La Vida – Sounding awesome!! Now start thinking dynamics! Chorus should be louder than the rest. See if you can dimuendo at the end of phrases to add drama. I am happy with ANY dynamic plan you create if it feels musical to you, as long as the entire piece is not monotune :)
Shakira
Skylore – this piece is in D minor position (minor because it only uses white keys). This is what it will sound like when we play together, your part is the high part.
Noreet
*New* Kites in the Sky. This piece uses C major root position triads in both hands, then the LH crosses over to play a higher note. At the end you will use one hand after another, playing every single white key on the keyboard beginning on low C and continuing upwards to create a beautiful ending. You can listen and look here if you need help.
C Major Contrary motion scale – today you played a RH C scale with perfect fingering with your scarf as a blindfold! Great job!
C Major triads – Watch here.
Preferred Books for Erin Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
BOOK TITLE
COMING SOON
Faber Piano Adventures
The 2nd Edition Level 1 Lesson Book introduces all the notes of the grand staff, elementary chord playing, and the concept of tonic and dominant notes. Students play in varied positions, reinforcing reading skills and recognizing intervals through the 5th. Musicianship is built with the introduction of legato and staccato touches. This level continues the interval orientation to reading across the full range of the Grand Staff. The 5-finger approach is presented here in a fresh, musically appealing way.