Long Term Goal
- grade 3
3 Jun
Fable
- many gaps
- slow practice
- expression is good
Gavotte
- all about gaps as well
- maybe reduce speed
Banjo Tune
- gaps, quality
- ending needs practice
- maybe reduce speed
La poupee
- watch bar 2, there’s sometimes an extra note LH
General:
- needs slow practice for consistency, biggest issue!
- even in performance, always choose a more careful speed
27 May
Recording review:
Fable
- slower for more accuracy
- don’t stop in middle of 2nd page
- soft can be softer in 2nd page
Gavotte
- slower for more accuracy + dynamics
- 2nd page softer overall
- wrong note bar 29
- aim for 100% consistency during practice
Banjo Tune
- bar 11, notes should be short in LH
- bar 14 right hand, check chord
La poupee
- this should be a lot slower
- practice carefully, this one is not known, can drag down the entire exam!
- wrong note last bar RH
- watch out for extra LH notes
- bar 11 LH
- this should be mostly soft
20 May
Fable
- LH phrasing more accurate and large at 9-18
- watch RH articulation at all times
- allargando, slow down at the end
- hold the last note for longer
Gavotte
- much better to be safe here for recording
- dynamics are usually good, but there’s a lot of quality issues. are we actually practicing slow or just thinking about it?
Banjo Tune
- check 2nd last LH chord
- can be quicker
- don’t hold notes over rests in LH bar 11 onwards
- slow practice for last line
La poupee
- this is never loud, should be light
- if possible, LH stays always soft, mostly getting louder in RH
- this could benefit from some slow practice
- you should slow down towards the end
13 May
Fable recording- this
is generally pleasin
Banjo Tune
- can go faster for performance – but still practice slow
- bar 14 check RH chord
- more phrasing in middle section
- recording this week
- after this, we will try full recordings
La poupee
- too fast! focus on dynamics and correct notes right now
- practice ending seperately and slow
6 May
3A
- okay
3B
- practice to be a bit quicker
3C
- F# in key signature
- keep working on this, good for chord accuracy
Fable – recording
- consistency problems, we can fix this through slow practice
- bar 9-16, phrasing is too small
- was our articulation correct (also slow practice)
- SLOW AND CAREFUL PRACTICE APPLIES TO ALL PIECES. 慢慢练习很重要!
- 钢琴考试有多难? you need to be accurate. remember, 4 pieces in a row
Same applies to Banjo tune
29 Apr
Fable
- keep the same speed
- start doing accents
- make the accent loud, other notes a bit softer
- much more hairpins in left hand bar 9
La poupee
- check last bar notes
- articulation in LH important, short long, repeating for whole piece
- also try to keep left hand quiet
Gavotte
- pay attention to articulation here as well carefully, some staccatos sometimes are missed
- bar 4 for example LH
- bar 7
15 Apr
3B
- okay for today
3C
- all about wrist flexibility, wrist up and down on each chord
Scales: good progress
La poupee
- good notes today
- keep softs softer, only get louder
- check position and notes of last two bars
Fable
- effort on articulation and dynamic much better today
- bar 9-16, can you keep LH always legato?
- continue to practice slowly for detail and consistency
8 Apr
3A
- okay for today
3B
- slow but accurate, keep practicing to increase speed
3C
- please prepare for next time
Scales
- progress steady, please continue to focus on this
Banjo Tune
- do more phrasing in the middle section
- when you practice this, aim for consistency. doesn’t need to be perfect, but at least focus on this
- practice slowly for this
Gavotte
- this has improved a lot, but keep a constant speed. choose a good speed at the start, not too slow, then don’t speed up
Fable
- still need to seperate slurs in RH. this is the main issue
Big focus on scales this week
25 Sat
3B
- on the right track today
3C
- check fingering
- check all Fs turn into F#
Scales
- okay, but still a bit slow. Increase speed slightly
- please bring sheet next week
Fable
- bar 6 check LH notes
- bar 9, rhythm incorrect today, should be perfectly even quavers
- phrasing as well
- soft at 19 missed
- subito f means suddenly loud
Gavotte
- starting speed was still too fast and inaccurate. Pick a medium speed, better for expression as well
- 2nd page, dynamics not always correct
18 Mar
Fable
- bar 9 legato LH, but short RH
- hairpins as well, this is phrasing
- bar 1-8 can be louder, big accents
- articulation in 1-8
3B
- on the right track, watch your slurs though
Scales
- see scales sheet, do A major and F# natural minor this week
Gavotte
- slow speed here is good for accuracy today. we can slowly increase speed from here
- larger dynamics overall, even if speed is slower. especially when getting louder
- check articulation bar 4, bar 7
11 Mar
3A
- satisfactory
3B
- check LH fingerings carefully, otherwise on the right track
3C
- put hands together this week
- check scales next week
Remember, main 3 pieces are Banjo Tune, Gavotte and Fable, practice these the most
Gavotte
- starts too fast and inaccurate still! slow this down
- slow practice for first page required, then transition to medium speed practice. try to avoid going very very fast
- bar 30, check RH
- articulation in 2nd is okay, but sometimes slurs are held too long
25 Feb
La Poupee
- going good for extra list
- last bit, needs most practice. check last bar left hand
3A
- rhythm, wait two beats on crotchets
3B
- good effort
- i’ve written down flats to help us. you can also do this by yourself in the future
New exercise: 3C
Banjo Tune
- critical to revise correctly a bit, avoid creating new mistakes
- try perfect practice, can i get through 2 lines perfectly? can i get through a page correctly?
- revise slowly
18 Feb
La Poupee
- great reading
- most of the piece is soft, you don’t need to be loud
3A
- make sure you have E flats
- accuracy is key rather than speed
3B
- this needs to combine hands this week
When practicing, play old pieces at least once a week so you don’t lose it, including Banjo Tune
11 Feb
PLEASE DO TECHNICAL EXERCISES
3B
- this needs to combine hands this week
New side piece: Hedwig’s Theme
La poupee
- this is on the right track 🙂
Fable
- seperate slurs in first two lines
- connect slurs in LH from 9-16
4 Feb
Study
- mostly accurate
- as this is an extra piece, focus on just getting notes right first
Last extra: La poupee
Fable
- watch left hand bar 6
Technical Work
3A
- on the right track
3B
- aim to do hands together this one, this is the main challenge of the exercise
- watch for missing flats
17 Dec
Gavotte
- practice of very poor quality this week, did you try to make sure that it was correct? was it slow and steady?
- avoid careless practice!
10 Dec
For concert: Gavotte
- speed unstable and too fast
- causing a lot of mistakes
- go at a comfortable speed
- once we have stable notes, it will be easier to do dynamics
- sectional practice AT STABLE SPEED
- bar 7-8
- bar 9-12
- bar 15-16
- piece taking longer to learn because of bad practice methods
- 2nd page dynamic much softer. check dynamics carefully
Scales
3A
- watch for E flats
- wait on crotchets
3B
- try to combine hands this week
3C: start this week
3 Dec
Banjo Tune
- lift LH crotchet in bar 11
- check bar 14 RH chord
- generally good standard though
Fable
- check LH bar 7-8
- bar 9, LH should be perfectly legato
- lift at the ends of slurs bar 1-8
New piece (extra list): Study
- check ALL fingering for this one!
- extra list are non-assessed pieces, but are desgined to have wider breadth of pieces
19 Nov
3B
- focus on coordinating hands together, watch all fingerings, watch for flats in LH
3C
- do hands together this week. focus on loose wrist and light pleasant sound. notes lightly seperated
3A
- a little bit inaccurate today, watch for flats and fingering
Gavotte
- first page needs slow and secure slow practice, becoming more inaccurate
- likely to get worse with current practice. strong warning!
- 2nd page be accurate with dynamics and staccato and slurs
Banjo Tune
- for greater control in RH, have curved fingers
- bar 11 staccatos
- eric figured out half way that it needs to be more accurate, so he went slower by himself 🙂
- fingering LH bar 27
Fable
- lift at the end of slus
- bar 6-8 LH notes
- bar 9, connect notes in slurs in LH
12 Nov
Scales
- good progress, continue on same path more scales hands together
- practice 3A, start 3B hands separately
Banjo tune
- aim for absolute RH evenness, swing should always be the same
- LH missing bar 9
- bar 14 RH Db chord
Fable
- articulation in RH
5 Nov
Gavotte
- dynamics, to be accurate, plan them out (see marking on page)
Banjo Tune
- ending, make sure there are no gaps
- for stability try at a slower speed
Great progress through first two pieces. New piece: Fable.
Scales
- good progress through scales
29 Oct
Gavotte
- bar 9-12 a danger zone
- keep quavers even
- avoid mistakes in bar 11-12
- staccato 11-12 LH
Banjo Tune
- check LH bar 3
- decent flow going on 🙂
- check Db right hand bar 14
- are you doing the last note in bar 16 RH?
- bar 26, triplets should come directly after one another
- maybe try slower this week
Scales
- fingering very dodgy 😦
- just do hands seperate this week
- even scales are when the notes come one after another. Is this even?
22 Oct
Gavotte
- still make sure all staccatos are separated, not joined
- watch rhythm bar 7-12. quavers should be even, should sound like they come equally after one another
- second page, make sure slurs have gaps if they are seprated. is every staccato short?
- lift at the end of every slur
Banjo Tune
- first two lines solid forte
- phrase LH parts based on how high the notes are (see LH hairpins)
- try to finish this week
17 Sep
We got our final tick 🙂
- good effort, can focus on Gr 3 now 🙂
Gavotte
- first page all about articulation
- dots staccato
- lines, tenuto (long note)
- slurs
- watch articulation, fingering and key signature second page
New song to try on holidays: Banjo Tune
Scales: try as many as possible
10 Sep
Meandering
- dynamics
- tick today 🙂
March
- slow, then slowly increase
- try for tick next week
New song: Gavotte
27 Aug
Meandering
- when doing sectional, also try to do perfect runs, instead of just running through them
- when trying for a tick, choose a medium speed rather than a fast one
- maybe one more week!
March
- this is really good!
- just need a bit more work focusing on line 4 and 5
- maybe next week as well :)?
20 Aug
Meandering
- ti ti quavers at the end of lines too slow (bar 3-4, 7-8)
- clap rhythm then play
- bar 9 onwards, issue is technical, get rid of gaps
- seems to be caused by left hand, practice separately
- getting much better overall 🙂 very close to being done
March
- listen to which parts are going wrong, see below for self-reflection
- are we going too fast?
- what bits need to be practised separately? what bits are fine?