Recital May 5!
Alex
I admire your courage and good humour in pushing through and having a productive lesson today. Excellent progress on your three pieces. Some small rhythmic things to pay attention to, especially the second quarter note in bars 2 and 4 and the staccato eighth note pairs of March Band, as well as the second eighth note of Bugle Call (hanging on to it for too long), we went over “The Riddle”, that’s your new song. There was some resistance to learning the Hanon exercises, but I think you would actually have good fun with them and they would help your technique a lot, so let’s give it a try next time. Please don’t forget to keep up with your theory!
Abi
We continued our discussion and observation today of the extraneous tension and need to control that gets in the way of a simpler and more natural approach to your singing, and we made good progress today, good job. Remind yourself continuously to relax and not overthink your vocal production. Excellent high notes during your warmup, we need to apply that simplicity to your (not so) high notes in June Magic and Frage. We’ve chosen Frage as the recital song, please memorize, and most importantly, practice it not by singing through but rather by speaking it with expression, following all markings, with proper pronunciation in a sing-song voice. Circle the words you want to emphasize to give the phrases more shape. Please remember your books for next week!
Ava
Please choose a piano piece you like for the recital on May 5, something later than page 36 (possibilities listed in your notebook). Warmup at home with that five finger scale, you were so good at it! Steps On the Staff is a helpful song for your piano and singing! Have fun singing along, really making an effort to sing the same pitch that you play. This will be good ear training for you. The Dance Band is almost there, practice the second line twice a span much as the first and count carefully (out loud?) We have chosen My Favourite Things for the recital as well, listen to your recording often and practice those jumps and the section where you sing “These are a few of my favourite things”, especially the third time. Good work!