Welcome to what is hopefully truly Spring! Enjoy the sunshine folks :)

Liam

*New* Royal Procession – Play the melody louder than the accompaniment. Think of what chord you are playing as you go, I’ve written most of them in. A nice round robust sound is ideal for these “royal” pieces so play deep into the keys.

*New* Microjazz 1 – Work on however much you can! The exercises are very helpful, so work on them all at a comfy tempo. When you do put the piece together, it’ll be like doing a really easy puzzle :) Count nice and slowly and accurately.

New minor scale family = E. E natural minor (just F#), harmonic minor (raised 7th), melodic minor (raised 6 and 7 going up, lowered 6 and 7 going down). Same fingering as always, R: 123 12345, L: 54321 321

Fiona

Russian Sailor Dance – You’ve got this! Keep your LH finger 3 on the G# key. Make sure there’s a big difference between your bouncy staccatos and your smooth legatos. Go nice and steady, it is a dance after all.

*New* Top Secret Agent – This introduces a new concept = the flat! It has the same rules as the sharp does, but it lowers the note. This means a black key could be called a sharp or a flat, like F#/Gb.

Marita

*New* Microjazz 1 – Practice the first 8 bars of this one, counting carefully. The exercises on the back give you all the puzzle pieces to a successful performance, so it’s worth looking at them. The LH is always exactly on the beat nice and steady, the RH gets to have some offbeat fun. The articulation (like the connected vs detached notes) make the rhythm easier and flow more naturally.

The Snake was amazing today! Great work, proud.

*Please practice Heavenly Blue this week so I can hear it next week, all the way through :)

Sara

Today I heard your etudes:
Arabesque – great quiet at the beginning!! Start thinking about the crescendo AND diminuendos in the B section where the LH gets the 16th notes. Dropping onto the pinky using your arm weight and then rolling your wrist (and therefore arm energy) upwards will help to execute this diminuendo.
In the Spirit – Explore the tempo range, perhaps a little slower will help it to swing and sound more laidback and “cool”. Emphasize the diminuendo at the bottom of the page more. Great accents and pedalling.

*New* Three plus Two Blues – Have fun with this one! Do as much as you can this week. Count 123 12. Use the 1-4, 2-5 LH fingering (or else it’s very tricky). Ensure you’re counting so you don’t turn it into 6/4, and enjoy the sound of constant dominant chord sounds! *Jazzy*

Sightread any of your old books – playing through ANYTHING is amazing sightreading practice. Look at the time signature, key signature, what’s the fingering, general shape of the melody, any hand position changes, articulation etc. before you begin playing. Count yourself in! Subdivide if you need to (ex. 1+2+3+4+ to make sure you play 8th notes the right speed).

Sina

Homework – D position. Spend some more time getting this one fluent. Make sure the 8th notes are half the length of the quarter note, ex. 1and2and. Great work !

*New* Movin’ On – This piece is a 12 bar Blues form. It spends 4 bars in the home position of G, then goes to C for 2 bars, back to G for 2, then D, C, G G to finish off. This means our hand LH moves twice, once to C position, and back again. Notice there are both sharps AND flats AND naturals in this piece. Sharp = raise, flat = lower, natural = neutralize (white key). Also notice the ties in the RH (for example that initial B is held for 5 beats). Have fun with it!