Hello Everybody:

I hope you’re all staying warm this weekend!

Georgia:

For this week, Georgia is to continue practicing “Waltz Time”. The song is in good shape, Georgia is playing the phrases smoothly and accurately, but sometimes needs clarification on certain notes. To help Georgia connect the names of the keys to the names of the notes on the page, please ask her to practice the song slowly and to name the notes out loud as she plays the keys. Practicing the song this way will also challenge Georgia to watch the sheet music as she plays instead of her hands. She also has worksheet on the page after “Waltz Time” that she is to fill out for class next week. The sheet asks her to assign a tempo marking to each line of music, add the missing bar lines to each phrase, and play all three lines. Georgia should reread the definitions of each tempo marking on the previous page to help inform her choices. We will review this next week.

Noreet:

This week we reviewed the rhythms in I Am the King. When practicing this song this week, please have her use a metronome to help clarify how the various rhythms fit into each beat. Encourage Noreet to review this song at a slow tempo so has time to hear and feel how the rhythms fit together. She can also record herself playing the song. When she is done, have her play the recording back and read along with the sheet music as she listens to confirm if all the rhythms sound correct. If she notices an error, circle it, and practice that section on its own before trying to play the whole song again. Noreet is also to continue practicing “Moonlight Melody” now that we have clarified where fingers start in the song. Please practice the first and third phrase hands together, and the right hand of the second phrase only. We will look at the left hand of the phrase as well as the end in class together next week.

Eva:

Today we reviewed the notes in the first phrase of “Young Tiger” and reviewed the definition of a tie, what it does, and where it is used in “Young Tiger”. Please encourage Eva to play this phrase for you at home and to count out loud as she does to help solidify her understanding of the rhythms in the phrase including the tie. Please also help her read the second phrase of the song. You can use the flashcards if Eva wishes. We will review this next week.

Benji:

This week Benji can continue to practice “Classic Dance”. Please help Benji by reminding him that this song is played in “C Position” where the thumb of his right hand and fifth finger of his left hand rest on C. He should review this song hands separately before attempting to play it hands together as there are some tricky fingerings at the end of the first and last phrase. When practicing hands together, please help Benji by reminding him that even though the notes in the right and left hand are different at the end of the first and last phrase, he used the same fingers on both hands to play them (4,3,2). Practicing this fingering will help Benji to play the two different phrases at the same time. He should also pay close attention to the dynamic markings he sees in the sheet music. Please encourage him to circle these.

Clara:

For this week Clara should continue to practice “Barefoot on the Beach”. In class we worked on brining the song up to speed. The tempo marking in this piece is 96-116 BPM. Encourage Clara to practice with a metronome this week to help increase her tempo slowly. Remember; this song is in cut time, which means metronome will be indicating the half note. Please encourage Clara to review the section we focused on in class before either adding onto the section or backtracking to the beginning. She should work on bringing the song up to tempo in sections to make this more manageable. Only when Clara has practice each section of the song and has been able to play these sections at her chosen tempo should she then attempt to play the whole song from start to finish. When she is ready, please encourage her to record herself playing at different tempos and to listen back to help her determine which tempo she likes playing at best, and which tempo she likes listening to best (these could be two different tempos). We also sight-read the A section of Andante in G minor from the RCM level 1 book. Here is a copy of Andante in G minor for Clara to review and read if she wishes.

Thank you everyone!

Looking forward to seeing you all next week!