Have a great week everyone <3 Enjoy the snow!

Liam – please register for exam, teacher number 130747

Melody in F by Rubenstein – all. Nice work, check out the written fingering because it will make legato playing much easier. Keep working through the B section as it goes through different key centres.

*New* At Night at the River – Listen to this beautiful performance of it. The LH has many tied notes, and also specific fingering to make the legato smoothness possible.

Jadon

Canon x Beautiful in White – Break the melody into 4 bar chunks so it’s easier to make progress rather than trudging through it all the way each time. Isolate the final two chords C to G of the RH 8th note part and get the LH changing chords in time.

Katarina

Bear Hug Brunch – both pieces. I would like to play the game with you next week so bring your book :)

Contrary motion C major scale – Place both thumbs on C and perform your standard scale fingering of 123 12345 going outwards from each other to the pinkies and back in. You will notice the same finger is playing on each hand at the same time.

Sara

Maple Leaf Rag – Very nice! We will record again soon. Great dynamics and tempo.

*New* Satin Doll – Listen to Duke’s Orchestra play it here. Have a very laid back feel to your swing.

Take the A Train – Nice! I like the thicker LH and I LOVE THE 3RD PAGE! You sound so cool and confident playing the solo.

March in D major by CPE Bach – great work! Be sure to observe the rests in the LH of the B section. You can use the LH notes as a roadmap of where the sequences appear and can get louder each time. Very nice steady tempo.

Same intervals link as always.

Marco

Minuet in C – All HT. Very nice job. Be sure to count quarter notes in the opening line. Watch your tied notes and great job with the fingering!

Indiana Jones – Woohoo! Do some extra practice on the last two lines of the piece, where it goes to Ab major.

Grand Day Out – add in LH root notes. I didn’t hear this today.

*New* Superman Theme – Learn melody HS. For the opening when you have to do an octave, be sure to use finger 3 for the G in the middle. If there are 3 8th notes beamed together with a small 3 in the middle above them, they are triplets (3 notes that fit in quarter note, blue-ber-ry). Play the top notes right now to create the melody, and it’s totally okay to understand the rhythms through listening, as long as you understand its relationship to the main pulse.

Now you know all your technical requirements, keep them sharp, I will ask for any of them randomly from now until June.

Daniel

Pierrot Skipping – All. Practice in phrases, as you suggested. Staccato will make it easier as you won’t have to stretch your hand, just bounce to the next location. The notes with a tenuto above them (looks like a dash -) are accented by being long and thick. There should be a big contrast between the light staccato and the thick tenuto.

Formula pattern – today was the most accurate fingering of this I’ve seen from you, very nice job! Now put it in G major, watch for F#s.

Atacama Dessert – All. This one can also be practice in 4 bar phrases. You will notice that the same shapes are often used, just in different keys

Marita

Prelude V – We did an awesome improv using this as inspiration. The beginning has a C major key center, but later D major is the new key center and the melody is repeated with those notes. Great counting with the dotted rhythms.

Greta – please register for your exam, teacher number 130747

Red Satin Jazz – Nice work! Your swing feel is very natural and pleasing to the ear. Great job with the 6ths as well. Fix some counting.

*New* The Snake – This is an “invention” which is like a Canon, where the hands copy each other and overlap. This week, have the hands take turns playing their melodies, but don’t worry about overlapping them. Just play the melody with the RH, pause, and play the same melody with the LH. Pay attention to fingering.

Now you know all your technical requirements, keep them sharp, I will ask for any of them randomly from now until June.