Gergely Szabo

Hello All! Your lesson notes are as follows:

Eva

What we learned/reviewed in lesson: 

• Worked through composition/spelling exercises — played CAB, BAG, and our seven letter work, CABBAGE on the piano!
• Began looking through 10 second song

Recommended minutes to practice:

• 10-15 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week

What to practice:

• Finger number patterns (most recent version)
• 10 Second Song and Diving in the G clef; see if you can have these prepared for next week 
• Play through more of the spelling/composition exercises 

How to practice efficiently: 

• Focus primarily on note name recognition at the keyboard and hand position/fingerings (avoiding collapsed wrists, and making sure all fingers are on the keyboard and not curled into fists
  • Note recognition: practice having Eva name notes on the keyboard and make sure to recall anchor points (C and F; D) while doing so. Avoid counting from the bottom of the keyboard to figure out every note, jump to different areas of the keyboard for variety

How can caregivers support practice: 

• Posture/alignment: Eva sitting at the piano and hand position at the keys. Look for the Faber Primer pages from September 5th for a diagram of how to sit and play. 
• Balloon with paint imagery to prevent collapsing wrists. Even though wrists are elevated, make sure that Eva isn’t creating tension in her arms/shoulders, keep an eye for elbow “wings” and rising shoulders. We want to avoid tension while we play

Chris

What we learned/reviewed in lesson:

• Bartok sight reading
• Reviewed acronyms for notes on the clefs
• Minuet w/ duet, started Russian Sailor Dance

Recommended time to practice:

• 20-30 minutes 4 or 5 days of the week

What to practice:

• Bartok sight reading, new exercises are attached
• Russian Sailor Dance, Midnight Ride
• Additional pieces are also attached 
• 5 note scales with chords in C position and G position. Try in A position to explore a different tonality — we’ve been working only with Major (happy sounding)  keys so far. Playing a 5 note scale beginning on A with no sharps or flats will be our first exploration of a Minor (sad sounding) key.   

How to practice efficiently: 

• Exploring the extremes of concepts to find the middle ground: explore the range of legato to staccato articulation by moving through the spectrum
• If we’re noticing a lot of resistance with our non-dominant hand while playing, try leading some of your practice starting with your left hand (ex: if you’re sitting down to do scales, start with a left hand scale. Or if you’re learning a new piece, start by reading just the left hand). 
• If you have limited time, try focusing on broad ideas while practicing. (Ex: if there’s not to work on every single detail, try practicing a piece with some simplified ideas; if you can’t work on articulation, dynamics, hand shape, and notes during the time you have, choose one of those areas to work with. Then at the next practice session, focus on that previous area and combine it with another.