Jaron
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and watching for intonation on 3-2-1-0 coming down the scale), and Allegretto (watch out for leaps in phrases, such as 3-1-0, 1-3-2, 0-3-, etc.).

Olivia
– Reminder: send me audio of the Pirates arrangement, or have it on your phone ready to listen to together next time!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering patterns for each scale, and focus on fourth position shift for E-Major, and we will look more into F Major next time), Pirates arrangement (watch out for accidentals and count closely for the rests – it’s faster than you think).

Amaia
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and watch out for the space between your first and second finger – the space can be a little bit bigger), O Come Little Children (prepare for final play-through next class – try to play through the song without stopping and without mistakes), and May Song (make sure to hold out half notes for two beats).

Thea
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1 octave, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), G Major scales (2 octaves), Gavotte (watch out for fourth finger notes, practice the passage with the sixteenth notes and make sure you’re not slowing down too much at the quarter notes), and Concerning Hobbits (practice saving the bow and setting yourself up for success by having the bow at the tip or frog).

Grace – hope you feel better soon!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2 octave Major scales (with focus on new scale F Major – second position to fifth position shift), and Gavotte (experiment with contrasting short and long bows, staccato and legato, and look out for bowings at the end and accidentally doing down-down on big string crossings).

Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, F, and G Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, with focus on intonation and listening while playing), D minor scale (1 octave, natural, harmonic, and new minor scale melodic – sixth and seventh notes raised going up B and C#, and back down going back down B-flat and C-natural), Bouree (now that you have the pitches, focus on the rhythms and make sure the quarter and half notes sound longer and different than the eighth notes), and Catharsis (make sure to shift higher to third position in the sections we talked about, and keep focusing on high third finger for C# in the D Major sections).

Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!