Enjoy the long weekend! Happy Easter <3

Liam

*New* March of the Triplets – Triplets are when you make 3 notes fit into one beat equally. All 3 of the triplet notes should be exactly equal. Learn the LH part seperate first and be sure to play it lighter than the RH melody, or it will drown it out! (3 notes vs one note!)

C Major and A minor broken triads. We are doing these this week to further cement your feel of triplets. Think “blue ber-ry” for each triad grouping. Remember to keep playing the same 3 notes in different orders and that the shape will change! CEG EGC GCE all make different shapes but they’re all C major.

Microjazz 1 – HT practice of the real song now. You’ve got the rhythm and articulation down, now put it together. Amazing determination on the ending too :)

In regards to Reign, we discussed the physical approach to playing long pieces without pain. The key points to take away are:
-Use arm weight. Leting your whole arm and gravity do the work (you just need strong fingers to land on)
-Relax your hand whenever possible. Do not keep it extended or contracted for longer than absolutely necessary
-For repeated notes, combine arm weight and a loose, knocking wrist (like knocking on a door)
-Channel your inner concert pianist that makes playing piano look like the easiest thing you’ve ever done. Be loosey goosey and have no tension in your body. My cues to look for are 1. Am I breathing? 2. Do my forearms feel tight? 3. Have my shoulders risen to my ears?. The answers should be Yes, No, No.

Fiona

*New* The Party Song – New concept = flats! This piece uses Eb and Bb. It has a bluesy sound and uses triad patterns. There are lots of skips so be sure to look for skips vs. steps. This is in thumbs share middle C position but the LH thumb does not need to play. This one is soooo fun to play, enjoy it! You can use this video to play along with if you need.

Sara

Keep plugging away at the 5/4 jazz tune. I can hear some of it next week:)

Sunset at the Beach – Louder louds especially at top of page 2, you can do a bigger mezzo forte as I think this is the climax of the piece prior to the coda. Larger, more dramatic ritarando at the ending.

Sonatina mvt 2 – no faster than 66 bpm. Fix high G in m.10. Ensure timing is accurate in m17 where I drew the bubbles by accenting the biggest bubble as that chord falls on beat 3. I think playing that one louder will help you get the timing accurate as well because it’s now a target both in timing and volume. This is sounding really great, trust the process of memorizing and go easy on yourself.

Clowns – no faster than 104 bpm for now. I would practice hands separate with the metronome until LH chords are in time at m13-16. Great work! Your dynamics have improved!

Sina

Movin’ On – This is a bluesy style piece that uses the minor and major version of chords to sound jazzy. It begins in G position with both hands, and later the LH will move to C position for 2 bars, but return. Things to pay attention to are: tied notes (when a curved line connects the same note, and adds the note values together, like whole note tied to quarter note = 5 counts), and flats/sharps/naturals.

*New* D Major scale. This scale has the same fingering as your other ones. RH 123 12345. LH 54321 321. It begins on D and has two black keys = F# and C#. You can refer to this chart for help. Great work today!