Abigail

Student of the Week

Youtube Playlist

Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxU_OGndc5q8aFchejbOpalVsfxNRi1u9

Recording Guidelines: www.isaacchok.com/recording

Long term goal

Finish Grade 6

Abigail’s Amazing Aural Assessment Advice

5 Dec

Mozart

  • dynamics, some is written, but a lot is interpretation. see page for recommendations
  • accuracy today is generally pleasing, some improvement made
  • get to the end of first page hands together, first section of next page RH seperate

21 Nov

Nuvole

  • pedal main issue at this stage,
  • some tempo changes in bar 21 that are not according to previous tempo
  • bar 29 tempo change, straight into mistake! avoid tempo changes, can you feel the speed of the quaver
  • slow down at 34
  • hold last note for longer

Comptine

  • this is 3 pages, can be uninterrupted by page turn
  • LH is often too loud
  • phrase endings too loud
  • bar 5-8 RH rhythm inaccurate
  • phrasing, focus on softs
  • bar 24 check number of notes?

Goodbye

  • phrasing sometimes overdone in soft bits
    • another factor is that LH often is too loud
  • tempo probably to fast for safety and for expression
  • listen to recording, obviously too fast and loud!

Fix You

  • LH sometimes dominant
  • wait two beats bar 5
  • polyrhythm in bar 8, if it could be fixed that would be great
  • sudden dynamic change at 14, slight speed change
  • big tempo change halfway, metronome practice? BIG dynamic and tempo change is inappropriate

Overall

  • softs too loud
  • pedal changes need to be much cleaner

14 Nov

Fix You

  • bar 5 waiting correct rest? wait two beats
  • bar 8, fix polyrhythm if you can, otherwise, you can leave it
  • speeds up massively 14 onwards
  • put extra speed energy into phrasing
  • metronome at 62, most important

Nuvole

  • too loud too early
  • too fast too early, only from 35 onwards can you be fast.

Goodbye

  • p dynamics general too loud, esp 2nd page
  • some phrasing is really good. be very intentional with phrasing
  • slow down towards end earlier

Comptine

  • phrasing can’t be heard because base volume is too loud
  • good tempo

7 Nov

Fix You

  • start as soft as possible
  • pedalling in bar 3-4
  • generally too loud
  • generally tends to speed up
  • try metronome at 62

Goodbye for Now but not forever

  • slower tempo
  • bar 17 much softer
  • bar 20 top RH note is tied
  • 25, much more phrasing
  • metronome at crotchet = 120
  • 29, much quicker on broken
  • allargando – slower and louder and very slow to end

Nuvole

  • bar 5 missing notes in both hands!?
  • start bar 5 as soft as possible
  • bar 21, don’t speed up too much, focus on phrasing
  • control tempo in general, tendency to get too fast
  • missing notes LH bar 44
    • more RH pinky here would great
  • remember, save energy for 43, don’t get too fast/loud at 21
  • opening 4 bars and last 4 bar super slow and relaxed

Comptine

  • LH much softer if possible, try to not to involve LH in phrasing ideas of RH

31 Oct

Fix You

  • generally too fast and too loud
  • pay attention to dynamic ranges
  • add phrasing as appropriate
  • bar 4 check LH note
  • bar 7-8 check RH notes
  • bar 14-17 excellent time to demonstrate phrasing going up and down
  • watch pedalling bar 22
  • careful rhythm bar 28
  • watch LH note bar 29 (same as bar 4)

Recording review:

  • not soft enough bar 20
  • slowing down bar 22

Nuvole

  • watch 25, suddenly went quicker
  • phrasing opportunities from 21 onwards
  • remember, main idea is to get louder throughout piece
  • watch for overpedalling, are your lifts clean?
  • bar 43 LH incorrect

Goodbye for Now

  • 17 needs to be soft
  • are pedal lifts clean?
  • good phrasing 🙂

10 Oct

Fix You

  • not on track
  • 22, speed is lowered, bar 31, far from performance standard
  • significant concern going into examination

3 Oct

Fix You

  • this has improved, but not enough
    • all about sectional practice
    • this practice is boring, but most effective

Comptine

  • aim for lightness rather than heaviness. are you playing soft on the light sections?

Goodbye for now

  • aim for 100% accuracy
  • focus on softs

28 Sep

Fix You

  • getting better, much more accurate. Needs to be practiced to consolidate
    • focus on new sections

Comptine

  • watch your coordination at 17

Goodbye for Now

  • all about phrasing and dynamics
    • end phrases quietly
  • ocassional wrong note, listen out carefully

5 Sep

Comptine

  • this is on the right track, keep learning and be careful

Nuvole

  • bar 43, practice from there
  • this area has issues, but can be fixed with careful work

Fix You

  • getting there, but generally inaccurate even in easy bits. Needs to be practiced with near 0 mistakes or else this will continue to be difficult to learn
  • baffling that there is no forward progress this week, need to have a look this week

29 Aug

Nuvole

  • watch pedalling
  • phrasing
  • think about how you layer dynamics as you get louder

Goodbye

  • this is pretty good, except for the errors

Fix You

  • focus on bar 31 and above

New song: Comptine

22 Aug

Fix You

  • slight improvement to accuracy this week
  • don’t read quickly and try to memorise, read slow and play hands together
  • 2 bar chunks
  • good work this week in lesson, aim to improve speed and accuracy
  • wrong notes
  • left hand bar 4
  • left hand bar 23
  • perfect runs practice required from bar 22
  • check octave position bar 25 RH
  • wrong note LH bar 29

15 Aug

Goodbye

  • 2nd page below standard for today
  • practiced with far too many wrong
  • be proactive! write down notes that you get wrong

Fix You

  • check LH bar 4
  • inaccurate practice method, practice one mistake per 8 bars maximum
    • actively challenge yourself to only one mistake

8 Aug

Goodbye

  • complete this week
  • accuracy improved throughout lesson, but still far under Grade 6 level.
    • errors in which octave
    • which letter
    • whether there’s a sharp?

Fix You

  • useless if practiced inaccurately

1 Aug

Goodbye

  • goal: bar 28
  • reading is a bit inaccurate, try hands sep, combine, line by line

Fix You

  • watch coordination in first page

25 Jul

Fix You

  • a lot of errors in revision from holidays
    • this can be remedied by careful practice, but I’ll give you this week to do this.

Goodbye For Now

  • new song
  • remember, all sharps except B
  • approach systematically, can finish first page this week if approached properly
  • take bottom note of RH out if octave is

13 June

Fix You learning tips for holidays

  • no excuse for not knowing how to read. You have to trust that your reading is correct.
  • Read forward every practice session, never just revise.
  • Sectional practice helps, but always be careful for errors (general improvement in this area already)
  • Reading needs to improve dramatically, may be falling behind. This can be done by reading forward (new bars) every practice session, or else, there are many days that there are no reading. When there are many days with no reading, your reading gets worse. When your reading gets worse, you learn less, which means your reading gets worse, which means you learn less etc.
  • finish fix you, completely possible! One student learned the entire piece in A WEEK!
  • also listen to the recording