See you THIS Sunday at 12:30 or 1:30, if you’re signed up :)

Liam

Sonatina in G major – Sounding great! 3rd line is what we want to give the most focus this week, getting those little sequences down. As they go higher and higher, we can get louder and louder, and then quiet back down to re-enter the A section beautifully.

Walk the Talk – Great. Fix the 3 quarter notes I put in square boxes. They should be at the exact same time as your steady LH quarter notes, right on beat 4.

Minuet in G – I’ll ask my mentor if we can do *some* of the ornaments. Eliminate the “coffee break” in the second half between the repeated A’s

Witches and Wizards – Beauty! The middle is sounding super even, likely because you’ve focused a lot on it. Now let’s make sure the beginning is also even and not collapsing into some rushed moments. The G minor/Eb major ascending triad part you should practice “beat to beat”, meaning play a full group of triplets and then stop right on the first note of the next collection, it should be very precise and metric.

Prelude VII – BIG improvement!! Keep doing what you’re doing, you fixed all the rhythmic issues. Remember this is like a soundtrack song, so tell a beautiful story through your performance.

Technique – B minor harmonic scale – RH fingering is normal 123 12345. Resist the urge to put thumb under on D!!!!

Katarina

Wunderkeys “Hide and Seek” unit – all 4 pieces. Today in lesson we read the 1st one. We identified that they are ALL in C position with both hands. The 3rd one is in 3/4 time (count 1-2-3) and all the rest are in 4/4 (count 1-2-3-4).
When practicing, you don’t have to play from beginning to end, you should repeat 1 line of a piece until you can play it correctly 5 times in a row, and then do that to another line of music.
Pick 1 of these pieces each day to repeat until you can play it 1. STEADY 2. CORRECT NOTES 3. CORRECT DYNAMICS (piano = quiet, forte = loud).
I will ask to hear all 4 next week :)

Warmup with your C and G major scales, both hands seperately. Then do your C major triads, both hands seperately.

Parental support: Sit in on the first lesson session of the week to ensure she knows what pieces to practice and is counting steady. “Hollow” notes (half notes) are worth 2 beats, and she tends to short change them.

Marita

Sunset in San Pedro – up until the star *. Watch your Bbs! The LH rhythm is very repetitive but sooooo important to creating the Latin groove. The RH uses an A minor triad to start, but then all the other triads are major (Ab, G, Gb, F). Count slow and steady for HT.

Before playing, play A minor, Ab major, G major, Gb major, F major root position triads solid descending with the RH to get used to them.

Parental support: Ask that she has the Sunset in San Pedro paper before beginning her first practice session this week.

Sara

Air in Bb – Bigger forte! Use your crescendos to “go TO” a target note that is the peak, always know what your peak is.

Sonatina in C – Bigger forte on the opening repeat. Stay bigger after the F in the final line, we don’t want to drop off and have the climax be unsatisfying.

Nighttime – Really nice. I like the crispness of your staccatos. Bigger dynamic range yet again.

Cloud Dance –  Next week.

Ballade – Next week.

https://www.rhythmrandomizer.com?s=34020608403010205060d0e10

Marco

Minuet – Before playing, hear the 8th notes inside your head. This is so lovely and steady, just you need to “know” what the 8th notes will sound like before you get to them. 6th measure of the A section you hesitate before playing F in the RH, work to eliminate this coffee break. Practice m6 vs. m14 and getting in and out of those both seamlessly to ease your confusion.

The Snake – Lovely dynamics!!! Steadiness and fluency dropped off a bit in the 2nd to last line, up until there was perfect. Give the ending some more love.

Song of the Dark Woods – Great dynamics! Do not bump the last LH note of each descending line, it should feel and sound just like the others, not be staccato just because it’s the “end” of the line. This piece is smooth and mysterious and beautiful, staccato or bumpy notes have no place here.

Morning Fanfare – When the hands begin to overlap, release your RH pinky on G a little sooner so you can easily replay the two G 8th notes without rushing to catch up with the LH. Great work!

Superman – SO PROUD! For the ending, use the C found within your R 6th, and you can use the C that’s already under your LH.

Technique – Minor scales need more love, though you know which is the relative major super easily which is AWESOME! Here are some resources.

Daniel

Periwinkle – Very nice! Bigger forte where written. I know you can play loud ;)

Breezy – Great 2 note slurs. Nice progress on the overlapping 8th note ending!

Entree – Loop beats 3 and 4 of the 2nd to last bar of each section, where the mordent (trill) is. The issue is not the trill, but getting the LH octave on beat 4 *on time*. Listen to it here, you’ve got this!

The Wind – This piece is soooo fun to get to use the entire keyboard, whole dynamic range + time signature changes. It really paints a picture. Ensure your muscle memory learns the 1235 LH fingering that lets you play the triads legato. Listen to it here.

Technique – Great! Big improvement! Good careful fingering.

Greta

Minuet in F – Nice! Watch your B flats. Make sure the rhythms are even 1 + 2 3/run-ning walk walk. Give the RH some solo practice while keeping your eyes on the page.

Follow the Leader – Listen to it. Keep your eyes on the page to notice all the staccato quarter notes. Mostly, only 8th notes are smooth in this piece.

Red Satin Jazz – Really great! Again, watch the page for staccatos. For example the opening RH melody, bounce off the G, and then the next two notes are also staccato. Really nice staccato 6ths.

Detectives – Sounding good! Watch the key signature. No B and E naturals!! only flats! Continue getting used to it hands seperature. The scale at the end is Descending and is a C minor scale (Bb and Eb).

Technique – We didn’t do scales today, but this still rings true:
A minor natural and harmonic – relative major is C. Natural will be C scale notes, but starting on A. harmonic will be that PLUS a raised 7th note.
D minor natural and harmonic – relative major is F. Natural will be F scale notes (including Bb), but starting on D. harmonic will be that PLUS raised 7th.
E minor natural and harmonic – relative major is G. Natural will be G scale notes (including F#), but starting on E. harmonic will be that PLUS raised 7th.