WOW today I heard some lovely music! I’m very proud of the work each of you is putting in.

NEXT WEEK MY COLLEAGUE EMMET WILL BE TEACHING YOUR LESSONS. I am very excited for this opportunity for another set of ears to hear your work and share fresh opinions.

Liam

Minuet in G –  Amazing progress for 1 week! Be sure to notice the LH differences between phrase 1 and 2 in the opening section. This week, explore the rest of the piece.

Sonatina in G major – Notice the rests and be picky, notice which note in the other hand is being played at the exact moment the rest stops and think “when this note goes down, this hand lifts up”. Be sure the LH Alberti bass 8th notes do not drown out the RH melody, also be very aware of your physical approach to this section to minimize any unncessary tension and leaning away from the piano. Be sure you are sitting far enough away from the keyboard.

Walk the Talk – Love love love the texture of your LH and the balance between the hands. Be sure that any of your beat 4 quarter notes are truly full quarter notes, not 8th notes.

Witches and Wizards – Use a metronome with the clicks falling on beats (1) 2 3 (4) 5 6. Evenness is the point and is sounding solid.

*New* Prelude VII – Listen here. The LH must be very understated and quiet, watch that your thumb does not thump down heavy. Ensure to hold down the whole notes with finger 4 or 5 as well.

Technique – Big improvement in confidence! Keep focusing on fingering for your scales.

Katarina

The Honey Tree 

If There Were No Bees

C Major triad – “crab” (broken) style. CEG EGC GCE CEG, you are improving tons! RH fingering 135 125 135 135. LH 531 531 521 531.

Marita

Lonely Shepherd – etude book. Even though this piece changes between many key signatures, the steady pulse of the 8th notes Never changes. You can count aloud based on how the beams of the notes are connected, (example 1-2-3 1-2) rather than 12345.

Sara

Air in Bb – Great attention to articulation detail! Today when we played the LH independently, you noticed how beautiful its melody is – try playing it by itself and getting it “in” your ear, then put it back hands together and see if you can still hear the beautiful LH line.

Sonatina in C – Phrase endings are sounding so much more pronounced, great job. I would turn on the metronome and ensure you are not rushing, you are in the correct ball park for this upbeat piece, but sometimes it borders on hectic sounding. Be picky with rests.

Nighttime – in the middle of the piece, there are two RH chords marked with tenutos, rather than staccato, and I wrote “long” over them. Really nice groove, sounds very confident. Bigger dynamic range.

Cloud Dance – I really liked your two-note slurs today. Don’t slow down at the climax of the piece (where we drew the sunrise) and instead wait until the end of that line to get dramatic with the tempo.

Ballade – When it goes to C major, ensure you keep the RH legato within the phrases. On the second page, do not reach peak crescendo too early, instead milk the piano to forte growth gradually.

Technique is all great! Continue to prioritize dynamics and making all the technical skills sound truly beautiful and like they are a piece of music.

Marco

Minuet in C – dust this one off.

Song of the Dark Woods – dust this one off, be picky with the fingering.

The Snake – Fantastic effort! There are no rests in this piece, so when one hand finishes its line and the other hand begins, keep sustaining that note throughout. The dynamics are quite intuitive, think of the snake being charmed out and becoming louder as the notes go higher.

Morning Fanfare – Great work! More dynamic contrast for the opening echo please. M 17-23 make sure the last two 8th notes of each measure are going down at the exact same time and not sounding messy or split.

Technical skills – triads are sounding fantastic! Give the scales some extra love and pay attention to the fingering when you reach that second octave.

Daniel

Entree – the format of this one is play all the way to the end, go to the start and then finish at fine. You will play the piece “1.5 times” in the exam. Be sure you are not trilling more than necessary, and also begin on the note ABOVE the main written note.

Periwinkle Twinkle – Great attention to detail on fixing all the little spots! I also really like this more laidback tempo you’re using. Continue to spot practice m6, and make sure your LH is playing the Bb.

Breezy – Today you did awesome copying my demonstrations, specifically of the lifts in line 2. Copy her in your practice sessions!

The Wind – dust this one off. Prioritize evenness and remember not to add in extra beats when it changes to 3/4, simply float across the bar line.

Technique – nice improvement! Remember to keep a consistent blue-ber-ry feel for the triads.

Parental involvement: whatever you guys did worked great last week! Continue to push him to make effective practicing choices, through the lens of “being proud of a job well done is its own reward, and a job well done only comes from hard work.” Remind him there is no doubt of his passion, talent or love of music, but the experience he has in the exam room will be in direct correlation to the practicing leading up to it.

Greta

Minuet in F – Great job! Watch your Bbs in the LH. The second to last phrase ending is “the odd one out” that doesn’t have the bouncey 3 note descending LH, and instead just one held LH note. Add in bigger more dramatic dynamics.

Red Satin Jazz – dust this one off with careful counting and fingering. Listen here if needed.

Follow the Leader – Excellent work! All of your 3 note slurs are perfect. Now play staccato when written (95% of all quarter notes in this piece are staccato). Play them like a chicken pecking the ground.

*New* Detectives – First 2 lines. The LH bounces up and down triads, first G minor, then F major, then G minor, then Ab major. Do not worry about stretching your hand big because you get to bounce each note. The RH requires some finger independence getting used to in this key. 42, then 13, back to 42, then 53. You can practice this away from the keyboard on a tabletop, trying to have the 2 fingers hit the table at the exact same moment. Dynamics will be intuitive and important to bringing the story to life.

Technique – AWESOME improvement!! I like your way of thinking of 3 then 4 then 3 then 4 in the RH, for the fingers directly prior to the thumb under movement.