Declan

Goal Grade 8 session 1

5 May

8A

  • don’t go too fast

Scales

  • 3rds and 6ths coordination

List A

  • more interest, strong ideas

List B

  • metronome at 126
  • control excessively loud levels

List C

  • always hear the melody. is it right volume + right rhythm?

28 Apr

Prepare for tech work!

8A

  • watch coordination

8B

  • watch pedalling

List B

21 Apr

List A

  • make the tempo singable
  • make phrasing more tangible, start softer, get louder, know what you are doing

List D

  • bar 13 14, accent LH first
  • bar 14 top note clear

Technical Work

Scales

  • coordination biggest issue today
  • 8A, make sure all notes are confident

List C

  • bar 7, don’t lose momentum!
  • check rhythm bar 21
  • metronome and momentum 33
  • quaver or dotted note?

List B

  • dolces are often too aggressive, be gentle
  • don’t slow down 76!

9 Apr

List B

  • well controlled tempo

Technical

8A

  • slightly stronger and confident

8B

  • go a bit faster

8C

  • more phrasing

Scales

  • sometimes coordination
  • some scales still need to speed up, 6ths
  • chord progressions, memory
  • dom 7s a weakness

Manage gen knowledge by yourself

List D

  • bar 23 not too long notes, staccatos
  • bar 10 don’t dim eary

24 Mar

Mazurka

  • feel 3 beats in bar
  • 27 risolotu, also in very in time
  • practice difficult bits slow, without restarts
  • 63, softer

List B

  • 106 not too loud
  • be more brave in expression and phrasing
  • GENERAL KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEK

Aural

  • do more two part next time

17 Mar

Technical

8A

  • too fast!

8C

  • phrasing needs to be more obvious

Scales

  • slow
  • seperate
  • soft
  • rhythm practice
  • do more extra types of practice
  • be serious when executing the scale

Mazurka

  • louds generally need to be louder
  • keep clear melody
  • be dramatic!

Sacro monte

  • make sure even soft chords are clear
  • voice melody when melody is high and soft

List A

  • don’t play too slow
  • express main melody
  • phrasing!

10 Mar

Mazurka

  • melody stronger, melody based piece
  • check all dynamics
  • check some notes in general

List B

  • playing can tend to be a bit flat. we might need to have more downs before ups. think about what notes could be played softer
  • evenness got a lot better

Check List C General Knowledge next week

24 Feb

8A

  • play louder and clearer

8B

  • slur endings are meant to be short
  • we want more phrasing

Scales

  • soft still needs to hit the bottom of the key
  • slow practice for 7ths

List C

  • expression here needs to be exaggerated
  • we need to further improve this a lot

List B

  • bar 17 watch LH carefully
  • we need to focus less on raw volume and instead

10 Feb

List B

  • scales are still not the right speed and fully even
  • keep going with rhythm practice and metronome practice

List C

  • watch repeated accidentals
  • make this a priority

List D

  • make sure start is in time
  • sfz bar 3 only affects LH
  • still have a problem that note quality is not always consistent
  • last note not too long
  • 14 soft except top note
  • keep speed at 40, while keeping things clear

3 Feb

List B

  • expression is good generally
  • sometimes, think about layering dynamics
  • most mistakes have to do with evenness, coordination, speed
  • metronome would be good for speed, maybe anywhere from 100-126
  • generally we seem to be struggling with scales

27 Jan

8A

  • don’t go too fast, prioritise evenness

8B

  • exaggerate dynamics

8C

  • not too fast, focus on phrasing

Scales

  • do rhythm practice for evenness
  • check tempos

List D

  • important to watch for all articulations
  • no markings mean non legato
  • bar 23, watch exact note length

25 Nov

List A

  • still go faster!
  • much softer at dolcissimo at the end
  • expression changes at this speed

List B

  • finish this week
  • think about what needs to be loud, and what needs to be softer
  • accompaniments softer
  • watch coordination

Scales

  • watch for quality in 3rds and 6ths scales

18 Nov

List A

  • go faster
  • needs sectional practice on bad sections
  • don’t put rubato yet

List B

  • expand to bar 90-100
  • keep 4 beats in a bar

Scales

11 Nov

Scales

  • be careful of accuracy of C# minor

List A

  • go faster
  • more phrasing, but LH not too loud
  • follow melody in last two lines

4 Nov

Scales

  • keep going

List A

  • aim for perfect balance and phrasing
  • sectional practice bar 29
  • ending needs to be very soft, but still phrasing the main melody

New piece: Firement

14 Oct

List A

  • more on ff and mf

List B

  • peaks not too loud
  • softs softer

List C

  • pp softer
  • pause properly towards the end

7 Oct

Aural

  • chord recognition, you need to know where the gap is, no top bottom, root first second
  • singing, find the bottom note straight away

List A

  • go a bit faster
  • never have LH too loud
  • pay attention to soft sections

List B

  • never get too loud

2 Oct

Scales

  • rhythm practice for everything

List A

  • LH evenness, rhythm practice for this

List B

  • 10 non legato
  • all about mental memory

List C

  • 15 keep loud
  • 29 softer, stronger dotted rhythm

16 Sep

List A

  • evenness
  • subtle changes in dynamics in first half

List B

  • more up and down phrasing

List C

  • keep basic timing, not too out of control

List D

  • rhythm bar 35 tighter

9 Sep

7A

  • slower would better
  • more dynamics in RH, esp in RH soft

7C

  • get a difference between flat accents and staccato
  • count properly bar 4

Scales

  • generally evenness is something to always watch out for + coordination

2 Sep

Etude

  • everything is just a bit too violent! tone the entire performance down a bit
  • if consistency is an issue, can go slower

List B

  • slow practice again please!

List C

  • slow down bar 24
  • 29 fix rhythm

26 Aug

Exercises

  • all about control
  • slow practice!

Allegro

  • slow practice!

19 Aug

Allegro

  • be accurate with articulation
  • try to get to end this week

7A

  • start with appropriate dynamic
  • make sure RH has firm touch

7B

  • watch notes
  • too fast slow down

7C

Scales

  • not too fast!

List D

  • more speed changes, can be done according to phrasing as well

29 Jul

Scales

  • 7A, not too fast
  • 7B add dynamics
  • scales continue to focus on quality, only start once

Scottish Poem

  • start very, soft, gradually get louder
  • exagerrate slowing down more
  • bar 29 softer

Beethoven

22 Jul

Scales

  • still all about quality

Etude

  • this is expressive but too loud!
  • remember molto means very soft

Tempo Di Valse

  • needs more detail in dynamics
  • slow down!
  • generally softer in LH

15 Jul

7A

  • okay

7B

  • need to work on legato, not enough attention here

7C

  • count rests here
  • don’t rush

Scales

  • you need to be watching for quality here

Scotch Poem

  • bar 29 melody needs to be legato
  • count at all times, keep beat constant
  • soft can use soft pedal

Beethoven

  • this is the same thing

24 Jun

Etude

  • much better this week

Tempo di Valse

  • aim for evenness of RH at all times
  • watch pedalling

17 Jun

Etude

  • this got more stable well done
  • improve balance between hands
  • slow practice of difficult sections

Scales

  • need improvement

Scotch Poem

3 Jun

Scales

  • do diminished this week
  • dominants are below standard!
  • needs proper practice

Rondo

  • needs to be kept softer and quieter at the start
  • slow practice is key for evenness

Etude

  • watch molto p bar 24

27 May

Moonlight Sonata

  • try to get end of 2nd page

Etude

  • play this for concert
  • slow practice for accuracy

20 May

Moonlight: on the right track

Scales

  • dom 7 fingering needs to be correct

Tempo di valse

  • LH softer
  • don’t slow down crotchets on 2/4
  • pochiss riten slow

13 May

Scales

  • do dom 7 arpeggios this week

Scotch Poem

  • dynamics need to be more vivid
  • how are we going to get to speed?
    • small sectional practice
  • middle section much more voicing

New Song: Moonlight sonata for extra list

Etude

  • good ideas here
  • keep the accompaniment softer
  • work more on last page

6 May

Scales

  • do arpeggios this week

Etude

  • phrasing
  • balance
  • speed
  • sectional practice on ending

Scottish Poem

  • check pedalling length

29 Apr

Scales

  • don’t rush scale aim for evenness
  • this week do chord progs

Scottish poem

  • bar 29
    • watch pedalling
    • hold top note
  • don’t always start from the start, start from other places
  • practice later sections more

Tempo Valse

  • most important thing is to

22 Apr

Scales

  • all chromatics

Scotch Poem

  • get to the end this week

New piece: List D – Tempo di valse

  • all about reading expressive markings

15 Apr

7A

  • dynamics

7B

  • this is 80% correct, but can we get the last portion correct?

7C

  • not bad

Scales

  • contrary motions

Scotch Poem

  • get up to bar 28 this week

Beethoven

27 Mar

Etude

  • notes well known, but needs more vivid phrasing

Beethoven

  • all about having softs softs and appropriate phrasing amount

11 Mar

7A

  • needs more confident RH touch and more dynamics

7B

  • watch key signature

7C

  • on right track

Scales

  • B harmonic minor this week
  • avoidance of mistakes during practice

Etude

  • this is all about phrasing and balance
  • if finished can start

4 Mar

7B

  • further improvement, make sure legato is adhered to

7C

  • start this week

Scales

  • D major grand scale
  • optional B harmonic minor

Beethoven

  • middle C minor section should have strong syncopation
  • buildup and contrast essential elements

Etude

  • can add pedal and basic phrasing in RH

26 Feb

Technical

7A

  • phrasing key here

New exercise: 7B

19 Feb

Beethoven

  • expand forward into 5th page

Etude

  • expand into 2nd page

Technical

  • start Ex 7A