Have the best holiday season ever! Once again our Winter Break BINGO is happening! I sent you each a BINGO sheet home and if you complete a line of 5 (vertical, horizontal or diagonal) or go crazy and do a full board “blackout”, you will receive a prize in the new year :) Take a picture of the completed sheet or bring it back to the lesson to submit it! HAPPY HOLIDAYSSS!

If you would like to see a video of me playing an RCM grade 10 level Bach Prelude and Fugue while wearing a Santa hat, click here!

Katarina

Keep your C scales playable :)

Read as many notes as you can and identify them by name and on the keyboard.

I will find Mary Poppins pieces for us to play in the new year.

Marita

I gave you a simple jazzy groove (#12) to play around with for the holidays if you like.

Play some scales and triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are G, F and Bb MAJOR, and E, D, G minor.

If there is any music (pop/movie etc) that you would like to learn, just let me know :)

Liam

I printed out Lightsaber Dance for you. It is simple note wise, but will need to be even and precise to work as a duet. Don’t go for speed, go for accuracy if you tackle this. Use the written fingering.

If you want to maintain one of your pieces, make it Walk the Talk. I have drawn arrows where syncopated notes come “between” the bass notes. Listen here. 

In the New Year, we will restart the Piano Pronto Russian pieces :)

Jadon

Endgame Portals theme – We are looking at this arrangement. See below:
The chord progression is usually E minor / E minor / A Major / C C D D / as a 4 bar cycle. If you count to the 19th measure of this excerpt, you will see it goes to B Major unexpectedly rather than C and D.
You will notice that certain notes are doubled in a chord to make a thicker orchestral sound, you can omit certain notes for ease if the sound created is still strong enough :)

Sara

Keep your technical requirements alive and in your fingers.

I printed out Jupiter for you. It is by Gustav Holst and is by far one of my favourite melodies ever, it is so beautiful. The arrangement has each phrase having its own line which is convenient. Have fun with it and add pedal :)

Marco

Play some C, G and F major scales and triads every so often. And some A, E and D harmonic minor scales and minor triads. Hands seperate. Just to keep them in your fingers.

I printed out On Your Mark! and here you can watch the composer himself play it. Both hands are in G minor position.

Daniel

Play some scales and triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are G, F and Bb Major, and E, D, G minor.

I printed out Home Run for you. This piece is super fun and relies on off beat notes. The opening groove can be practiced without any pitches, simply by drumming with the hands. The accents above the RH notes are super helpful in showing you what sticks out and what we want to draw attention to. L R R L R *R* R is the groove of the first measure. The bold RH note is the only quarter note in the measure and it is the accented note too, E! The 2nd measure is much easier because both the last RH notes are quarter notes (3 4), less syncopated. LISTEN HERE, though this is the composer performing, I think it sounds more happy-go-lucky slightly slower. 

Blink 182 I Miss You – primarily uses the B major 5 note scale.

Greta

Play some scales and C triads at the keyboard every few days to keep them in your fingers. Keys for your level are C, F and G Major. Fingering is RH 123 12345 (exception F major 1234 1234). LH fingering is 54321 321.
C Major triad pattern can be played solid or broken (one note at a time). CEG EGC GCE CEG. Always finger 1 and 5, and then 2 or 3 whichever makes most sense.

I printed out Swan Lake themefor you. Try and keep the LH quieter than the RH so the melody isn’t overshadowed. Today we tried one hand playing softer than the other on a simple repetitive set of notes. We did the same thing with staccato and legato sounds. Try this at home.