Abigail

Youtube Playlist

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

Google Drive

Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10s-HHQdLYSNM7DwPIMubef4GSWRT_Cbs?usp=sharing

Long term goal

Finish Grade 6

Abigail’s Amazing Aural Assessment Advice

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

6 June

nuvole

• 21 and 30 still need to be counted carefully
• 42, is LH number of notes correct?
• phrase at every opportunity

Fix You

• learning still really slow
  • avoidance of mistakes, too many mistakes in practice slows down process by a lot

30 May

Nuvole

• many issues from last week are still there, but general improvement
• main focus should be fix you. Good enough for Eisteddfod

Fix You

• generally improving as well
• habit to break: don’t go faster in RH

23 May

Nuvole

• too many mistakes for performance
• tighten notes, notes should come together when they need to
• NEEDS SLOW PRACTICE
• expressive sections good, technical parts LACKING

Fix You

9 May

Nuvole

• keep light for whole piece
• bar 15, add extra RH note
• 21, dont’ slow down
• check for extra notes in RH bar 26-27
• don’t slow down bar 30 and 32, bar 32, check coordination
• pause bar 33 and 34
• keep LH soft bar 35
• bring out top note bar 43

FIX YOU START SERIOUSLY THIS WEEK

2 May

Nuvole

• 1-4, bring out melody
• 5-12, do a bit of phrasing, watch pedaling
• 13-20, missing the chord, not too soft. keep even and stable. same speed going into 21
• 21 onwards, check rhythm, do phrasing
• 35, not too loud, bring out top note
• 43, fast, bring out top note

28 Mar

Fix You

• see learning goal

7 Mar

Nuvole

• starting too loud, be very quiet
• bar 21, check rhythm, both hands must be the same
• check notes in all other sections
• bar 35, all rhythm should be the same

Fix You

• START NOW – start with RH

28 Feb

Nuvole

• poco cresc main challenge in this piece

21 Feb

Nuvole

• finish all this week
• bar 21, all notes should be the same speed (quavers)

Scale: B major (compulsory)

Fix You

• LH pattern, repeat for practice
• goal: bar 10

14 Feb

Nuvole

• 43 HT
• finished reading all today

Scale: B major

7 Feb

Nuvole

• practice might not be ideal here
  • too many incorrect repetitions
  • focus on slow, correct repetitions

• to get better flow, play a lot softer
• poco accel : getting a bit faster
• poco cresc: getting a bit louder
• next week: finish hands together bar 38

31 Jan

Nuvole Bianche

• hi

6 Dec

Prelude

• good improvement to learning!
• balance
  • LH as soft as possible
  • RH slightly louder

• rubato
  • back and forth of tempo
  • sometimes, RH and LH don’t have to align

• phrasing
  • feel the flow 🙂

22 Nov

Prelude

• further improvement to independent learning needed
  • think whether you can do this correctly
  • does it need to be simplified
  • is it correct
    • what are my expectations for reading

• is this the correct sized section?
• am I repeating this section enough (correctly)?

15 Nov

Prelude

• focus on independent learning for remaining sections.

Queen Alice

• lots of missing sharps in 2nd page
• 2nd page needs more phrasing
• 3rd page, what happened to dynamics?
• ww

8 Nov

Prelude

• in learning process
  • A LOT LESS HANDS SEPARATE
  • A LOT MORE READING

• finish notes by end of week.
• a good indicator of whether reading/learning is up to standard for Grade 6, good piece to finish on.

Also finish

25 Oct

Scales

• C minor homework + improve C# melodic

Chopin

• feeling developing
  • phrase chords, but SUBTLE
  • RH balance must always be more no matter what LH phrasing

• sight reading past halfway point still weak.
  • section by section as usual
  • read sharps and flats with the actual notes, not after
  • just read the letters maybe?

18 Oct

Prelude

• excellent rubato (wow)
• speed of learning not bad, but could be enhanced with more targeted section, more push forward attitude

• in octaves we can take out the top note LH, bottom note
• goal: get to end hands separately

C# melodic minor: hands separate first

Queen Alice

• reading just colossally wrong bar 49 onwards.
  • bar by bar hands sep then combine

11 Oct

Scales: new scale C# melodic minor

Prelude

• how to do expression
  • reflective
    • phrasing? (amount depends on the section, how passionate it is)
    • texture and balance (how much LH? how much RH?)
      • we want more LH when we want a lower sound
      • can use soft pedal for SUPER soft LH
    • rubato (freedom in rhythm)
      • first beat delay, speed up in 2nd and 34d to make up for time

Simplifications

• don’t do turn in bar 16 yet

Queen Alice

• bar 25 onwards
  • missing F#
  • quavers are NOT dotted

• bar 41 has exactly the same rhythm of bar 1, copy that
• ENDING IS WEIRD

4 Oct

Queen Alice

• watch rhythm in bar 41, should be the same as bar 1
• phrasing in bar 25, softer softs

Prelude

• write down wrong notes
• needs to be more accurate
• listen to the recording

Scales

• first 3 scales

29 Sep

Queen Alice

• bar 25 is NOT a dotted rhythm
• bar 25, MASSIVE PHRASING
  • follow haripins, one bar loud one bar soft
• bar 27, check LH C#. Also F# in general.

• piu mosso – more movement
  • go a bit quicker

• bar 1-24, bigger dynamics

Prelude

• use pedal
• expressive elements
  • rubato
    • putting in delays
    • usually before first beat
  • phrasing
    • just do it
  • balance
    • RH louder
    • LH SUPER SOFT

13 Sep

Queen Alice

• watch for F# and C# 2nd page
• rhythm, dotted RH from bar 1

• LH soft, for an overall light sound
  • needs to be much softer
  • LH ‘gides’ on piano

• bar 13 pp una corda, soft as possible
• finish whole piece: holiday homework

Prelude

• bar 12 hands together
• combine roughly two bars at a time (or just little by little)
• think about balance (look at recording)

30 Aug

Queen Alice

• learning methods
  • doing it correct once is better than five times incorrect
  • 80% allocation of time to new material (if you’re seriously learning)
    • larger percentage of time sight reading – improves sight reading
    • helps you learn faster

• set ambitious goals
• phrasing
  • any opportunity to get soft, must be soft as possible

• balance in LH is soft

• una corda means soft pedal

Scales: Eb major this week

Ins and out Part 1

23 Aug

Things to learn in Grade 5

• how to read
• how to look at detail

Reading

• push the ‘reading barrier’
  • read larger sections
  • don’t backtrack too often
  • memory happens naturally, reading doesn’t (for you)
    • spend more time of your practice reading rather than backtracking
    • don’t worry about quality yet, it will happen later

• goal Queen Alice: bar 40 hands together (ambitious goal!)

Overall aim for Grade 5: three ticks

• ticks are given out for B level performances
• halfway through term 4 – late term 4
• 2022, start Grade 6

Cadences

• grand, 5-1, perfect
• calm, 4-1, plagal

9 Aug

• rit missing bar 18

• cresc, start softer
• no slowdown bar 50
• accompaniment never louder than melody (careful bar 42)
• Bb bar 41 LH
• difference between p and mp, p softer, mp okay
• more precise dynamics at the end (dim to <)

Twilight

• slow practice
• RH drives dynamics
• is there a clear difference dynamics
• LH too loud for entire piece. LH should not decide dynamics
• don’t lift pedal at last bar

New York

• bar 32, missing A in LH

Good Times

• think about speeda

26 July

Spinliedchen

• second page slow practice recommended
• be careful to get all accompaniment all soft

Twilight

• we’re looking for overall touch instead of individual.
• prioritise RH
• PHRASE A LOT, be expressive

Let the Good Times Roll

• bar 13-20 dynamics
• dynamics last line
• check dynamics boundaries

19 July

PLEASE LOOK AT ALL GUIDELINES ON www.isaachok.com/recording

Let the Good Times Roll

• might recommend 5% slower
  • rhythm not super accurate, try not to be ‘loose’
• softs in bar 13-20 not great

Twilight

• consistency very poor
  • seperate hands
  • start from EVERY FOUR BARS cleanly
  • DON’T FEED BAD HABITS (don’t repeat mistakes)
  • 3 times perfect practice

• generally too loud, especially in LH. Should have a ‘floaty feel’ even in the loud sections

New York

• this is pretty good, expressive. Sometimes soft dynamics incorrect in bar 5

Spinliedchen

• speed change 42, then in 3rd page again

• some dynamics too loud, accents in soft bits, too loud
  • some dynamics not planned well

12 July

Spinliedchen

• no cresc. in bar 3-4 to accent. ONLY accent
• bar 14 hit accents HARD

• can softs be ANY softer overall
• learning on 2nd page should be fast tracked
  • no mistakes challenge
  • practice small chunks

• watch 2nd page dynamics carefully
• watch slurs bar 43

Twilight

• needs more dynamics

21 June

Spinliedchen

• dynamics most crticial
  • most of it is really straight forward, what’s written on the page
• take a moderate speed
• important that dynamics are planned well
• also think about melodic balance
• staccato, to be soft, don’t lift off high
• accents in soft sections, small, accents in loud sections, big
• 27, make RH very soft

• suddenly soft bar 42

• 79 rit must be carefully planned

7 June

Spinliedchen

• learn this week
• be careful of coordination
• be careful of Bb

1-2 weeks Abigail, 3 weeks Isaac’s prediction

Recording: send audio of all three pieces

24 May

Scales

• Bb chromatic, make sure it is 4 octaves
• G harmonic contrary, make sure both hands have the same fingers
• Make sure recovery is good

New York

• ff can be louder
• doesn’t need to be too slow

Twilight

• all about balance, if you are able to fix in this short period. RH slightly louder, LH slightly softer.
• good speed choice

Let the good times roll

• more accents
• softs softer
• don’t get faster (if possible)

22 May

Scales

• all about 5 second preparation
• recover if mistake, don’t start again. Okay for one or two mistakes

New York

• bar 44, not too fast, just original speed
• some coordination issues in 41

Twilight

• slow down metronome 80
• focus on being delicate
• hold last note longer

Let the good times roll

• a bit rushed, don’t get faster
• metronome 120

General

• try not start from the start after a mistake

17 May

Scales

• need to mentally prepare before starting
• check speed of similar motions

New York

• ff can be more
• check coordination 41

Twilight

• should be a lot slower and delicate
  • think slow motion
• balance STILL not correct.
  • very little LH, a lot of RH

• needs some consistency work (see consistency notes below)

Let the Good Times Roll

• precision of dynamics
• keep same speed
• metronome at 120

10 May

Consistency

• start fluently from any where
• can play fast or slow
• can play LH seperate and RH seperate

3 May

Scales

• need to be faster for similar motion and chromatic
• DO NOT land on thumb hard
• you need to think for 5 seconds before playing
• chromatic needs work
• arpeggio check

Theme From New York

• bar 7 LH wrong note

• difference between p and f is in the wrong
• many notes wrong last week are still wrong, NEED TO REVISE

Twilight

• loud section is too loud, too fast. makes mistakes happen
• LH can always be softer, don’t include LH when getting
• might help to go slower overall, compared to other pieces

Let the Good Times Roll

• softs need to be softer
• this is too fast, needs to be more relaxed

Notes 26 Apr

Scales

• similar motions too slow
• arpeggios need to be memorised
• chromatic needs to be exam quality

New York

• clear difference between dynamics
• CHECK ALL LETTERS ON PAGE
• when it is loud, get very loud, when it is slow, get very slow
• if slurred, check if legato

Twilight

• treat entire piece lighter, especially LH.
  • go two dynamics
• don’t rush, don’t go too fast

Let The Good Times Roll

• DYNAMICS
• not too fast
  • also gives more time for accents

Notes 19 Apr

Scales

• good quality!
• similar motion: loud or soft
• start chromatic, see three rules on paper
• make sure you memorise all scales

Twilight

• we need to hear melody a lot more all the time. LH must generally be really soft RH controls the dynamics
• 21-24, all notes LH need to be fixed

New York

• keep listening to recording
• needs consistently desperately
  • practice slow
• some notes are wrong past bar 30

Can you play:

• slow?
• hands seperate

Notes 29 Mar

Scales need to be

• memorised
• consistent
• fast
• correct fingering notes

Scales to check

• both contrary motions
• G melodic minor 4 in LH

Let the good times roll

• still very inconsistent
  • start from the start of every two bars
  • slow practice
  • perfect 2x practice
  • seperate hand practice

New York

• Listen to recording a bit more
• be careful with dynamic barriers
• STILL INCONSISTENT
  • start from the start of every two bars
  • slow practice
  • perfect 2x practice
  • seperate hand practice

Notes 22 Mar

Scales

• ALL scales should be exam speed/standard
• also must be from memory
• all fingering must be memorised for fourth finger rule
• arpeggios need improvement in general

Let the good times roll

• time to carefully relearn stronger!
  • play slow
  • start from the middle
  • read carefully
    • each relearn will make it stronger

• don’t jump so much. There are some notes that are not staccato, like accents >
• needs dynamics

Notes 15 Mar

General Twilight notes

• always more RH and less LH
• consistency needs to be careful
  • slow practice
  • sectional practice
  • must be w

• phrasing makes it expressive
• try your best 🙂

Notes 8 Mar

Scales

• still 4th finger rule
• Arpeggios need to be 4 octaves

Twilight

• balance between LH and RH needs to be lighter
• do dynamics as well
• for memory, LH should be able to played all by itself
• for memory, slow practice
• don’t do too much normal practice
• try your best for performance

Notes 1 Mar

Scales

• slowly improving, but still need lots of work
• 4th finger rule is wrong in EVERY scale 😦
• speed needs to be up in every scale
• scales need two things
  • speed
  • accuracy

Twlight

• severe fluency mistakes can be fixed by being hyper aware of mistakes, practicing in small clusters and
• metronome practice is also recommended, at speed 70-80
• balance between two hands is sometimes not great, LH has to be a lot softer

Notes 22 Feb

Scales

• improved, but still need to speed up good scales
• C# harmonic minor needs a lot of work
• please, 4th finger rule

Twilight

• bar 1-4, voice melody more by making LH softer
• please stop for mistakes and read
• for greater consistency, practice hands seperately
• main issues here are speed, balance and consistency

Notes 15 Feb

Scales

• well known and correct scales need to be played faster
• scale to work on slow and seperate: G melodic minor
• scale to work on slow: Bb contrary motion
• SEVERE and URGENT practice required. Must be accurate

Let the Good Times Roll

• Overall, speed needs to be more ‘slow and cool’
• articulation is good
• dynamics need to REALLY careful!
• rhythm needs to be fixed slightly, but we’ll do that next time
• for memory problems, practice slow! VERY slow. Read while going slow.
• also helps to go hands seperately for memory

Twilight

Notes 8 Feb

Scales

• need to be 77bpm per 4 notes
• correct fingering, use 4th finger rule and don’t skip fingers
• MUST be 4 octaves
• refresh arpeggios

New York

• bar 3 LH watch this note

• legato bar 8, with correct fingering

• clear diference in dynamics bar 13

• 18, use pedal for legato

• 24, legato

• add pedal, helps with big sound and articulation

• poco rall, getting a bit slower
• molto rall, getting really slow

Notes 1 Feb

Twilight

• watch pedalling carefully, don’t BLUR different chords
• pedal exactly on the marking to make sure there is no gap
• For the entire piece, we need to work on getting the speed all the same. Would help to listen to recording.

• bar 7 check this note

• bar 8, rhythm is TI TIKA

• LH missing in bar 11?

• 25, check if everything is in the correct spot, bar 27, check LH notes

Notes 15 Dec

Scales

• 4TH FINGER RULE PLEASE
• in general, need to increase speed as well
• melodic minor, do brackets on the way down
• scales are starting to become careless. please be careful this holiday!
• if the scales are going to be careless, do not do them at all

Twilight

• in general, very good. Keep practicing in small bits and READ that notes are correct. Present in good condition in 2021.

New York

• STILL be careful about articulation, especially staccato.
• after bar 30, for some reason there are suddenly a lot of wrong notes. See music for markings on page.
• add pedal when marked

Let the Good Times Roll

• bar 1-4, watch articulation
• still, dynamics need greater exaggerated. accents are good though! rem
• in 2021, we have a look at the detailed rhythms

Summary

• in 2021, we will look at details. details and attention

Notes 7 Dec

Scales

• generally, keep working on them

Twilight

• last line, very similar to before but just check where you are.

• bar 21, watch out for when LH stretches past 1 octave

Notes 30 Nov

Scales

• overall need to check fingering on ALL scales. Quality of fingering is poor.
• Present the three scales in the weekly goal next week with correct fingering!

Twilight

• reading here is good, however again watch out for fingering.
• bar 20 hands together, bar 24 hands sep

Notes 23 Nov

Scales

• look carefully when doing Bb major arpeggio/contrary
• E major fix fingering. 4th finger rule!
• Scales might need to pick up pace

Twilight

• all note learning today. See goal on weekly goal

New York

• with articulation (dots and slurs), don’t get into bad habits. Try being very careful
• Also be careful with dynamics, especially difficult ones
• 1st page needs careful work, 2nd and 3rd pages are pretty easy