Anaya

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day

What to practice: C and G position warmup (hands together), What Can I Share (in C and G positions), and Wishing Well. Please also complete as much as you can of the worksheet on page 35!

How to practice it most effectively: For your warmup, play using both hands from the bottom notes to the top notes then back down. Do your best to connect and make all notes even lengths. In What Can I Share, remember that LH starts first – say the letter names as you play to help you. When transposing to G position, the finger numbers you play with stay the same, so use these to guide you. For Wishing Well, remember that the melody is entirely moving step-wise, so you just have to watch the direction notes are moving in. Note the 1-2, 1 rhythm with the half notes followed by quarter notes.

 

Saskia

Recommended minutes to practice: 10 minutes a day

What to practice: Siren warm-up, Doe a Deer, and Dynamite (by BTS)

How to practice it most effectively: As a quick vocal warmup before you start singing, try doing a few sirens. These are where we start at the bottom of our range with an “ooh” vowel, then slide up really high (not on a specific pitch, just gradually getting higher) and transition to an “ah” vowel as we then go back down low. For your first siren, go medium-high, then the next ones can reach higher and then highest. The two songs we will start next week are Doe a Deer from the Sound of Music and Dynamite by BTS. You can search these up on Spotify, but I also suggest using lyric videos from YouTube so you can see the words and sing along: (Doe a Deer has the intro/verse part as well but you can focus on just the chorus – where “do, a deer” starts).

 

 

Gianna

Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes a day

What to practice: and G major scale warmup, Billie Jean, Life is an Adventure, Shake it Off

How to practice it most effectively: When we play a G major scale we use all white keys except for F# (the black key up from F). Still sing the letter names up and down this scale (it’ll be a little tricky since it’s a new order compared to the C major scale we’ve been using). For Billie Jean, sing the “who will dance, on the floor…” parts up the octave so it sits more comfortably in your range – if you want to know the notes, they are F# and G# (the bottom two notes of the group of 3 black keys). Continue getting familiar with the verse lyrics, but since you know the chorus well please start practicing your enunciating (really pronouncing all your consonants so the words are very clear). Now that you have all the notes for Life is an Adventure, practice singing it from beginning to end – we will start with this one next week. You can start listening/singing along to a lyric video for Shake it Off by Taylor Swift since we will start working on this one next week too.

 

Ken

Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day

What to practice: A major scale (hands separately), Kitch-iti-kipi, Our Detective Agency

How to practice it most effectively: The A major scale uses the same fingering as other scales, only now we have G# as well as F# and C#. For Kitch-iti-kipi double check RH’s triads (some are diminished, and some are C major) RH starts by playing a chromatic scale – please use the written fingers (you can take this up all the way to the top of the piano if you’d like! For LH, thumb still starts and finger 3 plays all the black keys, but finger 2 comes before 1 when there are 2 white keys in a row). For Our Detective Agency, rhythm is the #1 priority – we need a clear difference between eighth notes and quarter notes. Remember that flats last for the whole bar. Please also play all the staccatos since they  contribute to the sneaky, detective theme of the piece!

 

Steve

Recommended minutes to practice: 15 minutes a day

What to practice: I am the King, Moonlight Melody

How to practice it most effectively: In I am the King, please go line by line, focusing on the rhythm/counting. Quarter notes need to be twice as long as eighth notes. Remember, the whole piece should be one tempo so don’t rush through all the “I am the King” rhythms – keep them the same speed as the two bars before. LH double check notes in bars 11-12 (they are all skips!). For Moonlight Melody, go slowly hands together. Watch out for LH’s accidentals (flats and naturals), and please hold long notes through the full amount even when the other hand is playing.

 

Gabe

Recommended minutes to practice: 20 minutes a day

What to practice: Canon (from the RCM book), Habanera

How to practice it most effectively: For the Canon, try the first line hands together – remember the hands play the same melody just at different times – watching where the notes line up. The second line should still be played hands separately for now, but if you’d like to try it together, go for it! In Habanera, focus on the first page, hands separately. RH’s notes are slightly different between the first and second times through the melody. Pay close attention to the G# versus the G natural the second time around. LH please play staccato – think sneaky for this first section! In the intro, RH can take the F.

 

Isaac

Recommended minutes to practice: 20 minutes a day

What to practice: Blinky the Robot. Please also complete pages 62-63 from the theory book.

How to practice it most effectively: Blinky the Robot has a lot of what we call parallel movementwhere notes move up or down but their intervals stay the same. In these longer parallel movement phrases make sure you are carefully watching where you are since it’s easy to get lost and go too far. Try the whole piece hands together! It is less intimidating than it looks once you find the patterns. Please be sure to do all the staccatos – they are very important to the character of the piece.