Hello Everyone!

Excellent start to the school year so far!

Georgia:

The last two weeks we have been reviewing Georgia’s progress in the  Alfred’s Method Book so far. Georgia has been explaining and demonstrating concepts she is familiar and comfortable with, and together we have reviewed any unfamiliar notes, symbols, and concepts we’ve come across. Today we reviewed Time Signatures – including 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 time, the difference between Legato and Staccato markings and playing technique, and the symbols for sharp and flat notes. We have started “The Clown” in the Alfred Piano Method book. We learned the first phrase together in class. Georgia’s challenge this week is to not write the note names in the book. This will take more time, but when given the starting note Georgia can assess the distance between each note and find the answer without having to read the letter names. Should she get stuck when sight-reading, ask her if the next note is higher or lower than the previous note and by how many steps on the staff/piano. Encourage Georgia to review the first phrase we learned in class (her starting notes are D in the left hand and G in the right hand) and to try reading the second phrase on her own at home. Remember; this song has a B flat! We will review and learn more of “The Clown” next class.

Noreet:

Noreet is starting Unit 3 of her Piano Adventures 2A method book! She can continue to warm up with “My Daydream” from Unit 2. Unit 3 starts with “Ode to Joy”! In class we learned both the right and left hand for the first two lines. Encourage Noreet to review these hands separate before practicing hands together. For the rest of the song Noreet can practice hands separate. We read the right hand in class together. Challenge her to sight-read the left hand at home on her own! We also reviewed the concept of “The Phrase” as indicated by the legato markings in “Ode to Joy”. When practicing the first two phrases hands together, Noreet should pay attention to where each Phrase starts and ends in the song, making sure all notes are fluid and connected from start to end of the Phrase. We will continue more of “Ode to Joy” next class.

Eva:

I’m sorry we missed you today! Continue to encourage Eva to practice “The Haunted Mouse” at home. You can remind her that this would be an awesome song to play around Halloween!

Benji:

Today we reviewed the notes on the staff and corrected Benji’s Notes on the Staff worksheet! We also learned more about Time Signatures, Note Values, and Rhythms. Benji has been given a new fill in the blank worksheet this week that covers these concepts. Paying close attention to the Time Signature (4/4, 3/4, or 2/4) Benji needs to fill in the missing note, or notes, in each bar using either a quarter note (1 beat), a half note (2 beats), a dotted half note (3 beats), or a whole note (4 beats). Remember, the top number of the time signature tells you how many beats belong in each bar (4, 3, or 2). We also reviewed “Little River” from the Piano Adventures Song book. I’ve uploaded “Little River” to the google drive, here! When practicing “Little River” this week, encourage Benji to use all 5 of his fingers as the notes walk up and down the staff/piano. “Little River” is in C Position on the piano. Please help Benji find C Position by asking him to put his thumb on Middle C and line up the rest of his fingers with the next 5 notes on the piano (D, E, F, G). Each finger should have its own note to play! The first note of “Little River” is Middle C! Benji should play this note with his thumb and use his index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers (his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th fingers) as the notes get higher on the staff/piano. Use the same technique for the second phrase in the left hand; start on G with the thumb and walk down the keys to C, which should be played with Benji’s 5th finger. Focus on pressing one note down at a time with each finger! We will review playing in C position and “Little River” next class.

Please also note; the piano method book Benji currently has is a theory book. We can still use this in class as it is a companion book for all the songs, but it would be helpful if Benji also had the lesson book. Here is link to the Piano Adventures 1 Lesson book.

Clara:

Today we reviewed “The Ladybug Waltz”. Clara demonstrated that she can play this song hands together at a manageable tempo with accurate notes and consistent rhythms! We then recorded this song so that Clara could focus on listening to her own performance. She was encouraged to listen for one thing she liked about how she plays “The Ladybug Waltz” and one thing that may benefit from more practice. When practicing songs at home, encourage Clara to record herself so that she can appreciate her efforts and maybe identify areas where she wishes to improve. We also reviewed “The Giraffe” together. As this song has large leaps, we examined the Intervals in the piece to help make it more clear how big each jump is from note to note. Using the C Major scale as an example, Clara learned all Major and Perfect intervals including a Perfect 1st, Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Major 7th, and a Perfect Octave. We then compared these Intervals to their Solfege syllables (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do). For this week, Clara is encouraged to not play this song with the pedal for now and to continue identifying the intervals between each note. We will review the use of the pedal in “The Giraffe” next week when Clara is feeling more confident with the notes in the song.

Thank you everyone for a great start to the school season!

I look forward to seeing how everyone improves in the next coming weeks!