Hello everyone! Today was an awesome day of lessons – here’s to an awesome week of practicing too! Also a reminder that I use they/them or he/him pronouns :)

Liam – It was amazing to meet you today!

You’re working on Saturday Night Boogie. This piece uses the 6th of each chord to make that “boogie” sound. We discussed how most of this piece follows the same patterns, but moving around the I, IV, and V keys. When you are playing think “C” and then think “F or IV” then “G or V”.

First practice the bar leading up to a position change, and practice arriving in the new position without missing a beat. Then you can add bars in on either side of the position change until you can do entire phrases with a steady pulse. Practice this in chunks – there is no need to play the piece back to front while practicing. I already love your habit to break something down to hands seperate when it is tricky – keep this up!

You can warmup with your C and G major, and A minor one octave scales hands seperate.

Fiona

You’re working on Runaway Rabbit. This piece has a melody that is first played in the RH, then in the LH with slightly different endings each time. Then the last line of the piece is something new that uses both hands. Pay special attention to the dynamics markings and also the legato/staccato markings.

Keep playing your C Major one octave hands seperate scales and next week I’ll teach you a new scale :)

Marita – So happy to have met you in person!

You’re working on Lunar Eclipse. For this piece I would begin each practice session with the last 8 bars. The LH intervals are 7ths each time so get used to how that feels. Play this section lots with a steady 1-2-3 pulse. Then you can play the beginning C minor triad part at the same steady speed.

You’re also working on Young Ludwig Exploring, the first 4 bars. The point of these “inventions” is to become used to how it feels when Both hands are playing melodic lines. Until now the pieces you’ve played have one hand doing the melody and the other hand just doing some accompanying notes – but in inventions, each hand copies the other and the melodies overlap. This week play the first 4 bars in steady time. Notice how each hand starts immediately after the other has finished – that’s why I wrote in 1 AND 2 and etc.

Keep warming up with your scales and triads. C, F, G major.

Sara

Harlequinade, awesome! Keep going with the rest of the piece now. Watch your Ds versus Dbs. Pay close attention to the RH articulation and when to disconnect the phrase. The LH, as a rule, is all detached, but not staccato. Still thick, just not connected.

Sonatina Mvt. 2. Think of the triads you are playing whenever they occur. I’ve written in several of the chords for you. Remember the concept of V or V7 ALWAYS resolving to 1. Great work reading this one – trust yourself even when it sounds crunchy! It’s still right, just dissonant on purpose.

Do your sightreading book each practice session :) I’ll hear your technique next week – awesome job staying on top of it.

Sina 

Au Clair de la Lune. In this piece your RH has two positions to move between. The only phrase that is in a different position starts at measure 9. The LH thumb is on middle D for this whole piece. The most important thing about this piece is doing the crescendo and dimuendo (getting louder and getting softer). All the phrases (except the one at measure 9) start quiet, get louder in the middle, and then end quietly. The one at measure 9 starts quiet and gets louder right until the end. Play with a listening ear and make sure you’re changing the volume of your playing.

You are also working on C Major one octave scales hands seperate. RH fingering is 123 12345. LH is 54321 321. The thumb under motion is like a bunny (your thumb) running into a log (the rest of your fingers) to hide, and it shouldn’t be a big movement that involves your whole arm. Take this slow and steady.