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
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Thursday November 9 Lessons – Erin P
PROJECT FOR EVERYONE: Dozen a Day exercises
Exercises can be found here and memorized. The point is not note reading, but technique. These should be played with confidence and without mistake, choose a tempo that you have a great success with.
Look at your section to see which group you are assigned, and work to prepare all 12 this week. A completely steady tempo is your main goal here. Group II on video. Group III on video.
Liam
Sonatina – very clear and even, nice work. Add in legato connection between octaves in m9 and 11 (and when it reoccurs in Recapitulation). Also in m13 fix the second half of the melody. When putting HT, use a slower tempo.
Heroic Symphony – great rhythms! Go slower when hands together. All the phrases have an 8th note pickup. Try to lighten the LH, so that the melody can float above it.
Dozen a Day group II
*Bonus* “Pronto Prep” for upcoming Gershwin piece Solace.
Check out the app “Chet” on the app store. It does ear training but even includes famous melodies and riffs from jazz, pop and rock. It is a super awesome resource!
Katarina
*New* Goodbye Halloween – in this piece the thumbs share middle C. There are parts that sound like Deck the Halls and Angels We Have Heard on High. Use your direction skills as well as asking “step? skip? or repeat?” when reading lines.
C Position “Walking” exercise from Dozen a Day. LH pinky on C, RH thumb on C. C up to G and back down in steady quarter notes stepping, then just step up to E and back. CDEFGFEDCDEDC. Hands together, slow and steady.
We will learn the other exercises of the group next week.
Sara
Maple Leaf Rag – 1st page wow!! Great work. Continue exactly how you have been. On page 2, notice which notes are 8th notes and have them be your main targets. Almost everything else is a 16th note, and therefore won’t be accented.
Yaya Sonhado – nice! Watch this video and use it for phrasing inspiration, you’ll notice how the pickup and use of syncopation gives it the illusion of being swung. Use the written fingering to get it as legato as possible before pedal.
Gavotte in F – today we did some harmonic analysis of the B section. Noticing the constant V-I progression throughout multiple keys will hopefully make the repeated sequence come out more. Break the B section into 2 bar phrases and work on fluency both HS and HT that way.
Dozen a Day group III
Marco
Totoro – great progress! Our new HT goal is 2 lines into the second page. This peaceful tempo you are doing is very appropriate, keep it up.
Lunar – Entire piece. The B section uses an interval of a 7th for dramatic effect on three occasions. Evenness is your goal here, we talked about feeling 1 big beat per measure rather than 3 little ones and how that feels nice for this piece. Even 8th notes will help propel you to the next bar.
Dozen a Day group II
Check out the app “Chet” on the app store. It does ear training but even includes famous melodies from movies. It is a super awesome resource!
Daniel
Entree in A Minor – nice!! Keep your eyes on the page to notice details like which notes are connected (if not marked connected, they are detached!) as we further polish this. Remember to restrain your volume and play at a moderate level.
Breezy – great HT. In measures 6 and 8 there are some particular breaks in the legato marking. Ensure to lift and break the line where it says to (I drew arrows). Extra isolation practice in the last line where the voices overlap.
Invention in A Minor – great reading. We noticed the use of root position E Major triads in line 2, and then 1st inversion of it too immediately after. Put HT this week.
Dozen a Day group III
Marita
Breezy – this week let’s add in those few extra notes to make it HT. In measures 6 and 8 there are some particular breaks in the legato marking. Ensure to lift and break the line where it says to (I drew arrows). I circled the tricky overlapping part, so run those 2 beats extra times, ensuring to play both Es together.
*New* Bird in the Bebop – first 8 bars. We labelled recognizable major triads. It is the combination of legato and staccato notes that make this have so much attitude, so include details right from the start.
Dozen a Day group II
Greta
New Shoes – great work getting LH legato! Now apply it to line 3 as well (the descending scale). If possible, detach the RH notes more too as they should be completely staccato. Watch this video as inspiration.
Raptors – all. The natural symbol cancels out whatever changes have been made to that note and makes it a plain white key. Ensure you are playing staccato, light and detached almost always (the 2 note slurs are the only exception).
Dozen a Day group II
Saturday October 21 Lessons – Erin P
What a great day seeing you lovely people! Have an awesome week :)
Maria
Etude in D minor – practice playing one measure at a faster steady tempo and landing on the next measures new position and stopping there (right on beat 1). The goal is to build fluency connecting the measures together. Once you can transition between two measures in time, connect two different measures.
Etude in D Major – nice! Watch the difference between your 8th and 16th notes. The opening note to the piece is Not beat 1, it is a “pickup” measure, it’s like taking in a big breath before beginning reciting a poem/speech. Put the first 8 bars hands together. Explore the next 8 bars hands separate.
*New* Arctic Voices – opening line. The notes in your RH will start fast and gradually get slower. The LH notes should be equal speed to each other, but still very slow loud and dramatic. Then the RH quietly echoes above the bass. Here is a recording for inspiration.
Harmonic minor scales. Raised 7th.
Shakira
This book uses a “pop staff” in the LH to get you playing chords quicker. The note name in the circle is the note your LH pinky will go on, and put your fingers so they each get a white note, your thumb will play the note it is resting on. (If the chord is C, then you’ll be playing C and G).
Your RH is learning how to read music n in the treble clef. For the “technical exercises” play through them first with just your RH, then play through the LH chords alone, and Then you can try combining them. Be sure to count a steady 1234 for each bar.
Session 32 – I have written out the three chords this song uses. You can listen to the recording to hear what rhythms to play them in. I know these black-white-black triads are interesting to get your hand used to, but try your hardest to have your thumb and pinky play the outside notes of the chord, for the C# and G# chord. For the 3rd (diminished) chord you can use fingers 532 or something, because it is a smaller chord.
This 4four exercise will review the 5 RH notes that your papers use this week.
Please ask your Mom if she is able to pick up a keyboard around the city if I find a free one :)
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.
Piano Safari
