Hi everyone! Glad to hear you all had a safe and fun Halloween :)

Grace

Sonatine Bureaucratique – m17-18 use finger 2 on the B whole note and finger 1 on the D# whole note for legato. Same thing when it appears in the recapitulation. Do more hands separate practice.

Liam

Sonatina by Clementi – nice work! This week we will add on the development section. At the top of page 2, when RH has the repetitive octaves, the LH is the melody and should be louder. Watch which notes are staccato.

*New* Heroic Symphony by Beethoven – page 1. This is in 2/4 (count 1 2 1 2) and also both clefs are treble. We wrote in the rhythms for 2 16th notes attached to an 8th note (“but-ter scotch”/1 e +). Ensure your RH is still the louder one.

Major triads from your chart. Bb, D and F. – do these both broken and solid with both hands separately. They will all use the same fingering, even though they are all built with different combinations of white and black notes. For broken triads, prioritize a consistent triplet feel over speed.

Jadon

Shadow Walker – this piece is in D minor, but uses it’s relative major (F) to create some major moments. Count yourself in, otherwise it’s hard to get into the feel when the first note is 3 beats long.

Gravity Falls theme – this is super exciting! Keep working at it. I’d love to hear.

Sara

Maple Leaf Rag – try tapping rhythms hands together. You can also simplify RH into just top notes to get hands together coordination. This is awesome!

*New* Gavotte – more RH solo practice especially in the B section. Remember to be aware of your phrases (especially since the 2 beat pickup shifts everything over 2 beats). When a phrase is ending, you can taper off slightly, and really announce when you are beginning a phrase. Nice work being aware of the 2 note slurs.

Yaya Sonhado – Listen to it. Counting and accenting beginning of phrase will be very important here, even though it doesn’t start on beat 1. The A section has a very subdude melancholy feel, but when the 16th notes come in, it gets a lot more whimsical and louder.

Technique – solid triads more practice. Try practicing them hands separate with a metronome. Hands together you can also try just going between root position and 1st inversion a bunch, and then between 1st and 2nd.

Marco

Totoro – all. You’re making great progress with this! Definitely begin putting more hands together. I know these triads can be tricky, but you actually *know* what triad you are playing, rather than just reading notes, and will pay off IMMENSELY! This piece alone has taught you so many chords, and your fingers how to play them! Keep it up:)

Lunar Eclipse – First 16 bars. Evenness is the goal here (think Goblin Party even 8th notes). Also the LH notes (whether they are above or below the RH) is the melody. Those should be the loudest notes.

Daniel

Entree in A Minor – the opening of this piece does not need to be so loud. Think harpsichord volume. Take a good look at the fingering too, there are more efficient ways to finger many places than what you played today.

Breezy – great job! Now let’s add in the remaining notes to make it truly hands together.

*New* Invention in C – hands separate first so you can hear what melody is being passed back and forth.

***App to check out*** “Chet” on the Apple store is an ear training app that also has a guitar riff section where it will play a small recognizable riff or bass line and you play it back on the onscreen keyboard. I think you’d really enjoy this.

Greta

New Shoes – nice! Your project this week is to imagine your LH has sticky glue on it and can only play the most beautiful legato rocking back and forth notes. There should be *no gap* between the LH notes. Like when someone’s walking, the first foot only lifts once the other has made contact with the ground. (be aware that sometimes when getting used to this feeling, we press hard into the keys which creates tension in the hand, watch out for this, and mentally relax your hand, or stop! Tension is bad).

*New* Raptors – page 1. Most all notes are staccato. The collection of 2 notes that have a slur marking over them are called 2 note slurs and require a specific down-up wrist movement to execute. It feels like bringing a yo-yo back up, or drawing a check mark. The down on the first note accents it, and the up creates a light staccato second note.