Hi everyone! Another awesome week thanks to you all <3

Grace

Sonatine Bureaucratique 1st page – Hands separate be very picky with articulations. This is a parody of Clementi’s Op36 no 1. Listen for the individual voices and ensure each phrase is fully fleshed out. A proper fingering plan is mandatory; mark in your chosen fingering on the iPad or the paper.

Liam

The Snake – be aware that this key signature isn’t “real”, as in, you will never see a key signature notated like this ever again. It is simply telling us to use the D harmonic minor scale. Bbs and C#s. Practice it hands separate first, because each hand needs a huge level of independence to execute this. Notice that the hands don’t “wait” for the other to finish, and instead interrupt and overlap each other.

In the Hall of the Mountain King – great job! Recording this one would be really fun! You can do that on your own, or I can next week!

PARENTS: *NEXT POSSIBLE BOOK: Here’s some ideas,* Also, I will continue to supplement whatever book we choose with other fun resources and pieces.
Piano Pronto Movement 4 
Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop Studies 2
RCM Level 3

Jadon

Blues on the Bayou – The concept presented in this piece is syncopation, which means placing accents on weak beats. Most of the accents in this piece come on the “and of 2” (an 8th note after 2). Play through the entire piece hands separate first.

REMINDER ABOUT $16.50 PAYMENT FOR BOOK

Katarina

The Spook – great job with both hands!! I’m very proud.

Parents: For other pieces/worksheets for her to do this week, I noticed in her folder there are some assignments/pieces that were never explored at home. This week, either print this piece OR practice The Snowglobe or My City as I never got to hear them. If possible, fill in the magic wand story worksheet with the correct note names. There is also a reverse side to that teaching notes DEF. They are fun ways of learning, and I saw it just sitting in her folder :)

Sara 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thanks for coming to class on your special day :)

Happy Grasshopper – nice! Isolate the tricky bars hands separate until you know the notes a lot more fluently, then put it back together. Notice the 2 note slur in the LH, and do a nice loose down-up checkmark motion with your wrist on those notes.

A Frightening Experience – accelerate, rather than slow down, in second and 4th lines. Look at the circled spots to fix them. Go even crazier with the accents and dynamics and tempo changes to create a truly frightening experience.

Maple Leaf Rag – now it’s the RH’s turn to learn! Begin playing your RH by itself super slow, and if there’s places where you “need” the LH to bounce of of/get the rhythm correct, then tap what the LH is doing. You have been so successful with how we have broken down this piece into manageable chunks so far, so let’s keep making smart practicing choices to stay successful! Don’t rush into hands together :)

Marco

Next piece in Fearless Fortissimo Visiting Hour = this will be an awesome opportunity to flex your music learning toolkit! I’m so excited to see what you prepare for me. Set a nice challenging, but reasonable goal for yourself this week.

Zum Gali Gali – practice counting yourself in, and going really steady. Compare with Daniel’s part, and notice when you have the more exciting part, and where you are the backup. It is helpful to be aware. This is how the complete duet sounds.

Totoro whole first page hands separate – great job with the RH reading and rhythms! Now keep going until the bottom of the page, I have circled the finger numbers where you change positions or put thumb under. Regarding the LH, today we were noticing which notes stay the same as the chord changes, and which ones change. This is a very helpful way of making chords less overwhelming. Please practice the LH just as much as you do the melody :)

Daniel

Entree in A minor – A little more LH practice, and then hands together! Great attention to detail in the RH articulation! LH you can detach a lot more, unless there are legato markings, detach it. Not staccato, still thick full value notes, but with a tiny gap in between. This is the Baroque way.

Passionfruit – I would love to hear you play the chords while playing the melody as soon as you can :)

Zum Gali Gali – I was very happy to see you change your tempo to match Marco’s today while playing. **The issue we kept running into today was when we counted in 1234, some people felt those as half notes (you, primarily I think), and some people felt them as quarter notes (Marco, primarily). This made it so you were effectively playing double time. Make sure whoever is counting in sings a little of the piece at the tempo they’ve chosen so it is clear which level of beat we are counting in.**

Rhythm exercises:
Match what you hear 
Tap the rhythm with the spacebar/screen

Marita

Breezy – first 2 lines. This is another awesome jazzy one that is similar to Crazy Comics in rhythm. This however has grace notes and more cool accents. You can listen here.  Within these first two lines, there are two melodic ideas that both hands will get to take turns playing.

Haunting – first page. The first three lines are at a moderate tempo, flowing, beautiful and haunting. Then when the LH octaves join in, you get to speed up until reaching a faster tempo in line 4. Watch your key signature and accidentals. (Also perhaps there is a copy of this with the correct two pages kicking around your house, I swear I taped it together correctly at least once, but maybe not haha).

Greta

Bouncing Ball – nice work! Watch the direction of the notes on the page. For example the last line goes up the keyboard, but the second to last line descends. Also, play at a slow enough tempo that there are noooooo hesitations between bars, otherwise it’s not in 5/8 anymore :) Here’s a recording for you to reference.

Andante in G Minor – detach notes (not staccato. Full value, thick notes, just with a tiny gap in between) unless marked legato. Notice the key signature, Bs and Es are flat. I marked them in for you for the first phrase. Practice hands separate first until both hands are fluent. If you can’t get hands together this week, that is totally okay! The important thing is you are finding success and working smart.