Vienna

Vienna’s Playlist

Goal

29 Aug

continue with this, this is on the right track

make sure everything

start if you have time this week

Etude

focus on keeping the same beat for entire song
start a bit softer, but otherwise dynamics are pretty good.

22 Aug

Etude

main two aims here are speed and dynamics
parts that are not up to speed sectional practice

List B changed to Allegro, this might be a bit more appropriate for you

Sonatina

second half needs a bit more work
try to have sudden dynamic changes, like in bar 13, subito p, suddenly soft

15 Aug

fingering is still not right here!

good

Scales

C# melodic minor is a bit weird, but we got it correct when we read the notes
try Ab major this week

Sonatina

we got to the end today, generally good reading today
rhythm, dotted rhythm goes long then short
fingering is really important throughout most of this song
try to get some of the basic loud and soft dynamics

Romanze

we want this to be heaps softer and gentler

8 Aug

Sonatina

great RH reading this week
listen to recording for rhythm
13 onwards is difficult in LH, do this hands seperate

Etude

check where notes are bar 33
bar 43-44 RH is wrong
bar 51 RH is wrong as well
listen to recording for rhythm here as well

1 Aug

Cruel Summer

this is going pretty good. to get the rhythm right, play right hand seperately and keep the beat, then add the left hand after

Romanze

this is going okay, but there are a few wrong notes slipping through. this is just usually when we don’t read, so just be careful
try to get the end if you can

New piece: Sonatina, you don’t need to start if you don’t have time

Etude

main focus this week should be the dynamics, some of them are pretty hard
make sure to start soft before going louder
don’t go faster when you get louder

25 Jul

check all fingering!
notes are getting better

Scale: C# harmonic minor

Etude

make sure all F#s are there!
bar 23-24 notes are getting better, but check coordination. slow practice helpful here
start practicing from 33 onwards, this is where need to improve them most

Romanze

the reading here is quite good. there’s a good chance to reach the end
feel free to go hands together straight away

18 Jul

Etude

good start here
watch for ties in first 8 bars
in the hard bits 23-24, you’re going to need to read a bit more carefully, maybe hands seperate
f sharps everywhere!
try to finish this week

New piece: Romanze

you need to follow fingering
need to be much more careful with flats

Start 4C this week

13 Jun

watch accuracy of dynamics

don’t go too slow here

30 May

Exercises: mostly good but can run faster

Scales

you need to prepare scales

Banjo Tune

don’t start slower and get faster, start at a normal speed and keep that normals speed

Sonatina

again this one started too slow
last page needs slow practice

La poupee

mental memory also poor here
dynamics generally too small esp in 3rd line
ending improved though!

23 May

Banjo Tune

evenness is a big issue that leads to mistakes
similar issues in other pieces

Two challenges

challenge 1: can you record all three pieces at home and create a good recording?
challenge 2: can you practice all of the pieces slow, 50% of your practice (hint: this will help challenge 1!)

16 May

La poupee

practice without stops
exaggerate dynamics
accuracy in last line

Sonatina

practice methods here, all about accuracy

9 May

still a bit inconsistent here, needs slow practice

same as above

this was pretty good this week

Scales

it is disappointing to see massively wrong fingering across all the scales. we started learning them correct many months ago but through careless practice slowly introduced many fingering mistakes.
Bb major cont needs to be fixed
be conscious of when a scale is not perfect, actually try to fix it. when was the last time you checked fingering?

General Knowledge – generally okay this week

La Poupee

sometimes speed changes half way (gets faster)
needs more dynamics 2nd page
do line by line perfect practice, esp last line

Sight Reading – really good this week 🙂

Sonatina

start steady, but not too slow
bar 6 RH is in the wrong spot
rest bar 8!
generally consistency got a bit worse, are we practicing accurately or inaccurately at home? do you do slow practice?

2 May

Exercises

a lot of it is out of time. the rhythm matters. we are changing speeds halfway and a lot of the good rhythm from before has gone away

all notes need to be legato, no disconnections
wait on quavers

Scales need to be prepared before you start. Also a lot of fingering has evolved over time to be incorrect. In future grades you’ll really need to make sure this doesn’t happen, but it’s too late to fix. It’ll make your scales harder to play, but assuming you don’t make mistakes it doesn’t make you lose mark generally.

Gavotte

don’t go too fast here for an extra list, just relax
some incorrect rhythms in 2nd page, not a big deal for extra list, but just listen to the recordings for this

Song with a sad ending

this has its weird moments but its mostly okay except 11-16, go super slow. it’s just a practice accuracy issue here nothing else

La poupee

bar 2 RH staccatos
ending slows down a bit too early

25 Apr

Banjo Tune

confident rhythm and dynamic at the start (a bit louder, don’t changed speed)
pause the last note for very long
bar 7 triplets not rushed
mf softer a bit
bar 10-16 definitely needs slow practice (and probably the entire piece as well)

Sonatina

don’t start too slow, or too fast
always count 1-2-3, tendency to speed up around 9-16
this improved a lot this week
get the f and p dynamics in

La poupee

this one also improved quite a lot this week
still needs a bit of work on last section
keep dynamics tight

18 Apr

just needs dynamics now

check LH fingering bar 3
needs some dynamics (hands switching dynamics)

3C – okay

Watch the memory in exercises, sometimes forgetting

Make sure scales are practiced hands seperate as well!

Make sure you only give yourself one chance!

Bb major contrary needs to be revised

Banjo Tune

this is not bad for this week

Sonatina

needs basic f and p dynamics
2nd page still needs to be 3 beats in a bar
rest in bar 8
don’t speed up in bar 9!

La poupee

not too fast in this one
we need to focus more on the dynamics (starting soft, then getting louder in 3rd line)
notes are not correct in the last bar
need to slow down in the last bar
staccatos are not correct throughout the piece

Gavotte and Sad ending

main issue is accuracy

All pieces need slow practice for accuracy and memory

29 Mar

this is mostly well done

LH rhythm weaker than RH, also needs more dynamics

this is not technically secure as it should be
make a better effort to swap dynamics

a bit fast, slow down!

Scales

need to stay the same speed for the entire scale
fingering mistakes have increased. this is a shame as

Banjo Tune

rhythm in middle section is out of control!
bar 25 wait for the rest

Sonatina

counting is still the most important thing here
if its too fast, start a bit slower

La poupee

21 Mar

Banjo Tune

sometimes rhythmically stopping on ocassion, with triplets uneven
- are we going at a speed that we can manage?
- do we practice slow and try to get it correct, or do we always practice
maybe perform slower!? 10% slower can really give us some space to breathe and if you can go faster later then do it.
main aim is to be correct!

Sonatina

good attempt to start slower, but we go faster straight away at 9!
bar 7 rhythm incorrect
main thing is to keep a solid beat. we are very good when we do this

La Poupee

this one is a bit rushed, and we change speed in 3rd line and the last two bars
this should go a lot slower to allow us to be correct

Gavotte

take this one slow, because its extra list
rhythm in the 2nd page is wrong, you’ll need to listen to the recording for this

Song with a Sad Ending

middle section improved but not 100% correct. may be passable for an extra list

14 Mar

dynamics!
don’t get faster halfway!

this was quite unstable today
probably needs slow practice for both notes and dynamics

don’t get faster halfway! unhurried!

Scales

F# harmonic minor descending notes dodgy!
you only get one chance!
don’t do scales in the same order, we get them asked out of order in an exam

Gavotte

bar 5 check RH
don’t start so fast so we can keep the same speed for the entire piece
this got better this week

Song with a Sad Ending

go slower here as well. this works well as a slower piece
bar 10 is still wrong!
bar 12-16 is practiced very wrong! be careful here

7 Mar

Gavotte

cause this is extra list, its okay to go slow, but just keep the same speed for the whole song
needs to purely focus on poor sections, instead of just running through it

Banjo Tune

solid beat needs to kept throughout, no gap between 4-5
- don’t speed up and slow down
rests in bar 9 11 13 15 important!
bar 16 check, last note accented and short

Sonatina

bar 6 RH wrong spot
listen to recording for rhythm
bar 14 no D#

La poupee

memory in general in poor, are you practicing slow?

29 Feb

Gavotte

good job practicing it but it seems like there’s more mistakes than before! are we checking notes even at a quicker speed
make a reasonable effort to have staccatos short
because this is extra list, its okay to go slow, but just keep the same speed for the whole song

Sight Reading

check key signature before you start

La Poupee

bar 4 semiquaver rhythm not correct (fixed during lesson, but refer to recording if forgotten)
ending is still lacking a lot, needs to be bar by bar practice
generally lacking in quality as well, beat not kept
attempt at dynamics in commendable

Aural

generally tests were better attempted this week

22 Feb

could do with more dynamics

check left hand second last note
we would get more points with different dynamics for different hands

this is quite good

Gavotte

respectable effort today
it’s slow, but correct

second page misses many F and C#s, be careful!

Song with a Sad Ending

bar 10 left hand is stil wrong
there was some improvement here this week. remember, it’s an extra list, so the standard can be lower, but we still want to have it decently learned
bar 13-16 is still very incorrect, try to do two bars at a time

Banjo Tune

do a bit of phrasing in the middle section for interest
a bit unstable sometimes, we need to improve our memory. slow practice!

15 Feb

a bit rusty today
rhythm needs be correct, need to wait on crotchets
need phrasing here

this is similarly rusty, also with no attempt at dynamics. this needs work

this is also rusty!?

Scales

scales are generally good, but remember you only have one chance in an exam

Gavotte

this needs more work, assign more time to this

Song with a Sad Ending

bar 10 notes wrong
bar 4, wait on the crotchets
bar 11, there’s a difference between the dotted and non-dotted rhythms (you can listen to recording for reference here)
- from it’s generally a bit inaccurate, it’s a hard bit but go through it slowly instead of fast
would recommend practicing last section by itself, condition is similar to bar 11 here

8 Feb

Gavotte

very accurately read this week!
luckily 2nd page is easier, 3rd page same as the first
key signature change 2nd page, be careful
continue to learn this week

La poupee

this needs to be softer!
3rd line has most dynamics, but needs to start softer
last line needs bar by bar practice

Sonatina

bar 14 LH check, bar 30 also has same mistake
beat is generally much closer today, but always keep a solid 3 beat count especially in first page
check dynamics, quite simple in this piece

1 Feb

Exercises were mostly well executed today

Banjo Tune

there’s some bits that are not the same speed as the others
- line 3 and 4
- last line
keep a solid beat, also don’t go faster in the easy bit

Song with sad ending

a few adjustments to rhythm today, keep listening to recordings
add pedal if possible
watch for accuracy if you are struggling in a section, don’t bulldoze through it!
difference dotted rhythms and straight rhythms

Final Grade 3 piece: Gavotte

try to get a page done this week
continue to improve our reading by learning this piece

23 Nov

Better this week

Song with a Sad Ending

has to get to the end of the first page this week
make this a priority

Sonatina

always 3 beats in a bar
we’ll work this in lessons, but also helps to listen to recording

16 Nov

A bit inaccurate this week, check reading

Song with a Sad Ending

don’t do hands separate too much, doesn’t have much use
try hands together first page this week

Banjo Tune

the notes here are mostly good, but not fluent yet
RH bar 16 is incorrect
slow practice may help inaccuracy

9 Nov

aim for a lighter

Scales: fingering on minors a bit suspect, be careful when practicing you know when it’s wrong!

La poupee

check coordination in bar 10
probably slow down a bit, or else the last bit is too fast and hard
sectional practice at the end, check fingering

New song: A song with a sad ending (used as extra list in a possible examination)

26 Oct

make sure quavers are straight

notes long, avoid short notes
remember F#s, notes need to be reviewed here in general

Sonatina

still quite far off rhythmically, working incrementally towards correct rhythm here

La Poupee

accuracy here was quite careless, need to watch for general reading. When fairly accurate, we’ll move on to next song

19 Oct

3C: start this week

La Poupee

a few notes wrong today, see written in notes on page
would be better if it was quieter
finish this week

Sonatina

improvement in fluency, we’ll fix rhythm bit by bit. however, don’t start too fast or else the rest of the piece will need to be fast
can be helped also by listening to recording, but rhythm is quite hard in this piece

Banjo Tune

still needs swing in bar 5
middle section is getting better, but could improve with some slow practice

12 Oct

do dynamics based on how high the note is

watch out for flats in this one, but good start

start this week

Sonatina

three beats in each bar, this is the main challenge of the piece!
listening to recording can help, but we’ll work on it the next few weeks

Banjo Tune

bar 5 needs a swing rhythm

bar 26, no gaps between triplets

5 Oct

Sonatina

check position in bar 6
check fingering in bar 7
check number of notes bar 13
check LH bar 14
check notes in bar 23-24
check notes bar 32

Banjo Tune

keep swing rhythm in bar 5-6
generally accurately read, continue to slowly increase speed

New piece: La poupee

Exercise for this week: 3B

watch out for all the flats
make sure all fingering is correct

14 Sep

Scales are amazing!

B harm, check 4th fingering
continue with contrary motions, but check fingerings

Sonatina

get to the end!
check fingerings, especially in scales

Banjo Tune

Cb, same note as B

7 Sep

Ex 3A

keep in mind key signature

Scales

mostly correct, some issues with fingering on Eb major and C minor
if can’t do contrary first time, go hands separate first

Sonatina

did you check the fingering in bar 7
push forward, don’t go line by line in a week. master rhythm later.

Banjo Tune

watch accuracy, are you correct?
if a part is hard, are you doing sectional practice?
check right hand notes bar 7

31 Aug

Sonatina

be careful of fingering
is our fingering correct?

are we connecting all slurs

Banjo Tune

try to get rhythm swing correct
get up to 3rd line

Scales

focus on eveness

5 Aug

Technical

before each exercise, make sure you prepare
exercises rhythm and dynamics way better today

scales good today, when prepared well. aim for even

Dragon fly

mp can be softer
well played today

Petite Piece

second half of the piece, focus more on dynamics, and not speeding up

Tango for Two

well prepared today with dynamics

Troll in the woods: just be careful of starting rhythm

Sight reading

Go slow
check the key signature, what note changes

3 Aug

rhythm is wrong even when you know it
dynamics are not great

staccato is not correct but unlikely to be fixed by exam

dynamics are inaccurate

Scales

you need to prepare before starting scales

List A

a very inaccurate first playing but the second time is fine? are you preparing the piece?

List B

this was mostly well played today

List C

same issue as list A. Don’t have times at home where you’re messing around, this makes the piece worse.

General Knowledge

if no one can help you, ask the questions to yourself. please have a go at memorising them

27 Jul

dynamics

go slower for stability

Scales great today

Dragon fly

generally good effort today. good and appropriate dynamics
slow practice will help stability
practice only starting piece once, starts tend to be weak

Petite Piece

piece gets faster halfway
make sure that loud does not mean fast

Tango for Two

dynamics are great
try to get 2nd half of right hand legato
rhythm still a bit loose in places

20 Jul

listen to rhythm carefully
incorporate dynamics

LH staccato!
go slower

listen to rhythm carefully
incorporate dynamics

Scales

following have careless mistakes
- D major
- F major cont
4th finger rule applies

List A

this needs to start at a quick speed and be maintained for the whole piece
dynamics better today
keep all staccatissmos (wedges in LH) short

List B

don’t slow down at 21
to clarify, you can aim for a quicker speed if you are correct. This is quite correct now.

List C

listen to recording here for rhythm
bar 11 RH incorrect
exaggerate dynamics

Extra lists are generally satisfactory for now

Sight Reading

read key signature first
1 minute reading
don’t play notes multiple times
be careful of clefs
go slow!

13 Jul

Scales

fluent and even, but 4th finger issues are common. stop and fix 4th finger problems

rhythm sometimes doesn’t stay the same, flow on triplets, swing on quavers

go a safe speed, slower
still need to watch all staccato and slurs
this needs slow practice

watch ti tika rhythm

Dragon fly

accents are overdone
play at a quicker tempo now it is mostly correct
hairpins most important feature
need to do staccatisimo in LH

Petite piece

make sure every dynamic is correct
don’t change speed halfway

Tango

hairpins
rhythms sometimes inconsistent
note bar 10 RH

22 Jun

Tango

go slower
pay attention to <>

15 Jun

Scales

accuracy and ego an issue, refusal to practice slow
see underlined scales, are they good
always get a scale right before getting fast

Dragon fly

is it consistent
faster doesn’t mean louder
slow practice for memory and accuracy. don’t have an ego and ignore this advice

8 Jun

workshopping rhythm today, have a listen to recording

same as 2A, watching quavers

same as 2C but watching semiquavers

Scales

mostly good
G harmonic minor LH 4th finger was wrong
aim for scales to be perfectly even (like a clock)

Dragon Fly

evenness is not bad today, but dynamics are too small. start softer, then get louder
can go faster when perfectly
LH divots mean staccato

Petite Piece

pretty good dynamics here

1 Jun

Petite Piece

get that last little bit perfect
we can do this through sectional practice

Dragon fly

where are the dynamics?
quality is not too good yet, are you doing slow practice?
need the hairpins (louder to soft)

Troll

check rhythm at the start (listen to recording if you forget)

check left hand 9 onwards
cresc at bar 9 then get very loud
pay attention to hairpins

25 May

Allegro

look at notes carefully, try to be aware of mistakes
bar 13-14
ending check carefully

Troll

we checked all notes today

Petite Piece

consistency is great! can you do dynamics and consistency at the same time? then it will be awesome.

18 May

Dragon Fly

looking even closer at quality of practice
no slow practice is being done!
sectional slow practice, aiming for perfection

Petite Piece

11 May

Scales

good condition today

on the right track, just be careful with notes

Allegro

accuracy suffering a bit in practice here, it’s a very precise piece
practice ‘perfectly’ do a speed where you can get it nearly perfect

Tango for Two

good notes, but slight adjustment to rhythm

bar 11 onwards, RH needs to be legato
this is hard, but the main point of the piece

Petite Piece

your louds are a bit loud, think about dynamics

Dragon fly

we’re practicing, but how come it’s not good?
are we practicing carefully
does practicing in sections help

4 May

Troll at the edge of the woods

check for Bb key signature
check for clef changes
check for repeated accidentals
all notes fixed in lesson today, this is a difficult read

Petite Piece

slow practice for mental memory, is it still okay or have you forgotten?
sometimes notes don’t come together when they should, this can fixed by slow practice
the hard part is still not perfect, keep working on this
maybe don’t start so fast

Dragon Fly

this should also be the same speed for the entire piece
slow practice and slowly increasing is the key
also practicing by section, which parts need more practice?

27 Apr

try to get rhythm correct

Scales

mostly okay today, but if you feel like there’s a mistake, it’s probably wrong

Allegro

tie in bar 16
try to get the main dynamics correct, most of the piece is soft

New extra list: The troll at the edge of the woods

check positions in bar 9

Petite Piece

bar 21-24, still needs speed

6 Apr

Exercises: not enough practice on 2A, B and C this week.

Allegro

possible to maybe finish during holidays

30 Mar

Scales

pleasing this week
sometimes speed is prioritsed over accuracy, aim for 100%!

developing
ocassionally LH is incorrect, watch carefully

2C: new exercise

follow fingering, otherwise this should be easy

Tango for two

rhythm improved, slight improvements done in lesson today
phrasing markings <> last piece of the puzzle, starting soft, getting loud, ending soft
bar 8 LH is wrong
bar 11, RH needs to be legato. this is difficult

Petite Piece

frustration at 21-24! poor reading, you let a mistake turn into something

Start extra list: these pieces don’t need to be played to a high standard

Allegro

23 Mar

Scales

F major cont, inaccurate moving inwards, pay attention to 4th finger rule
be careful to assess whether is right or wrong

Tango for Two

good effort to read notes, watch coordination between hands
begin to get LH rhythm (listen to recording for this)

Petite Piece

coordination at bar 8 please fix!
bar 20 new mistake!?

on the right track for this one, one more week

Dragon fly

practice on this one is inaccurate, please be careful, do hands seperate if required
F# LH bar 5
new mistake at 6

16 Mar

Scales

D harmonic minor cont, inaccurate today, be more careful
new scale: F major cont, be very careful

on the right track. combine very carefully this week

do it in small sections

Tango for two

sometimes inaccurate, watch reading
try a bit hands together
goal: bar 9

Petite piece

start practicing from 17-24, make an effort to just practice this bit
other bits, don’t go too fast, stable, medium fast speed is ideal
coordination

9 Mar

Scales

new scales: E harmonic and D harmonic minor contrary

New exercise: 2B try this hands seperate

watch fingering

Dragon fly

some F#s missed
bar 3, make sure D# is repeated in RH
last line, be careful!

New piece: Dragon fly

after this, we need two extra lists (pieces with little marking weight)

2 Mar

Scales

good this week
new scales: G melodic minor and G major contrary

Ex 2A

please do bass driver this week

Petite Piece

LH inaccuracy still an issue, likely a lot of guessing during practice
- often a practice speed issue, reading is usually fine but playing too fast to pick up mistakes
- vastly improved after one slow careful run
bar 16, LH in wrong spot

Dragon fly

watch for sharps in bar 3-4, F#s and D#s
generally RH done to a high standard, well done

add LH and combine as much as possible, key is going slow as usual

23 Feb

Scales

accurate this week
new scales: G natural and harmonic minor

start left hand 2A
accurate this week

Petite Piece – try to listen to recording regularly, instead of just when you need it

improved notes this week, well done.
bar 17 onwards, LH might need to go seperate.
bar 16, LH octave too high
bar 18, check LH
21-23, check LH
21-24 is the hardest part! practice this seperately, a few times in a row, to see improvement

New song: List A Dragon fly

all Fs turn into F#
check where your notes are, are they above or below middle C?

16 Feb

Scales

you should do scales that are not as good
like Bb major. This should be hands together this week

Ex 2A

okay, but needs more practice. Continue with right hand
generally need more time on tech work this week

Petite Piece

check notes RH bar 7
in general, great effort to read by yourself at home. occassionally inaccurate, but having a genuine effort to read and play at home. continue to encourage this.
bar 21-24, read bar by bar, combine bar by bar

9 Feb

Scales

new scale: Bb major
watch 4th finger

New exercise: exercise 2A, right hand

Petite Piece

continue to listen to recording for rhythm
rhythm, tika tika ti ti in bar 1
a lot of LH notes are staccato
RH error in bar 5
RH error in bar 7
learning goal: can finish this week possibly

2 Feb

Twilight

aim for good reading habits this week

Let the good times roll

aim for a slower and steady practice approach

Scales

15 Dec

Scales

good fingering today
main issue is keeping a constant speed
can I find what’s wrong with my scale?

Rainy Saturday

are the dynamics good for this type of music?
am I keeping the same speed?
- start faster
hold last note long

Mazurka

try slowing down overall slightly
more dynamics

8 Dec

Scales

watch E harmonic minor
aim for ‘clock’ speed when everything is correct.
new scales: d harmonic and natural minor

Rainy Saturday

sounds all too soft, see where cresc
- gradually get louder, not all at once
what are the notes at the end? do i get them all the time right?
also don’t start too slow

Mazurka

RH generally too soft. phrase, but get louder in the middl
check LH bar 12
consistency in 2nd half improving but not perfect yet. large gaps between lines
watch for consistency in tempo

Minuet

bar 8 missing LH note
count carefully bar 9-12
check LH note bar 12

1 Dec

Scales

G major, where’s your 4th
is the scale even like a clock?
try to curve upper finger joint (sometimes young age is a factor, but it doesn’t hurt to try)
other scales other than G major, very incorrect! follow 4th finger and read every finger number
when trying scales for the first time, super slow motion practice, always checking all finger numbers

no new scales, existing scales to be mastered

Rainy Saturday

good rhythm forming 🙂
check rhythm/coordination in bar 10
larger dynamic range, even if it is just mp, because mp is max dynamic
is there an extra bar on last line!!?
a fluent performance with dynamics would get a tick. this is very close

Mazurka

great attempt phrasing today
good attempt to fix notes as well, but maybe not 100% executed correctly in practice.
- important concept: get the note right the first time, instead of one time wrong and then fix it
last line practice with many errors however!
practice methods improving, but listen to recording here, still very wrong!

Minuet

great opening 8 bars
RH articulation something to look at. won’t be enforced hard this time, but for future examinations
- when there’s no slurs, detached, notes not connected
- when slurs, connect notes
- this actually takes concentration though 😦

Mazurka

24 Nov

Scales

curved fingers an area of focus during scales

Mazurka

check LH bar 8
fluency, are you hearing and setting the right expectations
bar 4, crush notes, try to curve fingers avoid accent
slow practice improves our brain memory
- more likely to be consistent
- more likely to be able to perform under pressure

Minuet

same practice methods as above
watch 9-12 LH, combine carefully

17 Nov

Scales

much better, aim for even scales now
see selected scales for new homework

Minuet

errors in 9-12, but fixed in lesson. try to get all fluent next week

Mazurka

phrasing per slur, graceful ending is important
RH melody over LH. LH light
watch for errors in last two lines

10 Nov

Scales

fingering concentration a hurdle
please have a good look at first two scales again 🙂

Minuet

decent progress but focus on hands together this week. Goal is bar 10 hands together

A rainy Saturday

phrasing, reacting to the height of melody
also following dynamic markings
to go loud, you must first start soft
can you hear how it made the music more expressive?

3 Nov

Scales

4TH FINGER RULE, 4th finger must be correct, then the rest of the scale will be correct
DON’T DO 5th FINGER UNLESS AT THE START OR END OF THE SCALE
then your scale should be correct
don’t do hands together until seperate is correct

Mazurka

mostly correct notes
have a moderate speed with uninterrupted LH crotchets
bar 7 watch fingering RH
bar 9 dynamics, start soft

Minuet

bar 4 LH G#
goal

27 Oct

A rainy saturday

LH is still not right at the start 😦
this is a mostly quiet piece, LH is super quiet, RH is a bit quiet
main aim now, can you get it flowing and consistent. This means the LH has no gaps and always the same speed.
- this is easier to do if you go slow

Mazurka

great first two lines
next two lines have LH wrong, read carefully
same as above piece, make sure that LH is consistent where you can
- have a listen to this recording. We can hear big gaps right now!

Please do/bring scales!

New piece: Minuet List A

watch for ties! when there are ties

20 Oct

A rainy saturday

LH bar 1, check your first note
bar 5, watch RH position
remember, key to combining is to go slow, and in small sections (4 bars at a time)
should be finishable this week

Scales: please do them!

13 Oct

Mazurka

bar 9, we have repeated sharps
3rd line we’ve circled notes that have important finger numbers
easiest to do hands separately and master before combining
bar 15-16 might need to be practiced RH seperate, hardest part!
bar 4 check left hand

Scales

scales are just getting the letter with the correct finger number
important to look up and check if you are doing it for the first time and no guessing!
do G major and E natural minor this week, hands seperate

Rainy Saturday

master LH first, then RH
careful reading of fingering would help
try hands separate this week

6 Oct

Mazurka

combine carefully this week
watch for finger numbers in right hand

New song: Rainy Saturday

28 Sep

Walzer

lesson to learn: how to fix things by yourself

Little flowe girl of paris

can you apply dynamics
can you find repeating sections that shouldn’t be repeated

Let’s Sing a Duet

can you apply dynamics
can you apply a steady rhythm

Theme

can you apply dynamics

15 Sep

Theme

general practice
- avoidance of mistakes is most important
- can adjust speed to get it right
- once it is correct, feel free to go faster

Walzer

watch the last line, same attention to detail

Little flower girl of paris

Try to present all four pieces next lesson 🙂

8 Sep

Theme

try to say letters before playing if unsure
keep eye contact up, read before playing, especially when combining

Let’s Sing a Duet

bar 6 RH A

1 Sep

Let’s Sing a Duet

watch fingering in bar 4 and 12
articulation, how long or short a note is
- staccato – dot, short and not attached
- slur – line, connected together
dynamics, start soft, bar 9 loud
rhythm, needs to be constant quavers, start slower and then larger

New song:

18 Aug

Little flower girl of paris

make sure ties are not played twice
try some dynamics

New song: Let’s sing a duet

Goal: 3 ticks for three songs

11 Aug

Walzer

avoidance of mistakes key to quicker learning process
- feeding brain correct notes like feeding healthy food

be careful in the seperate hands stage

Little flower girl

LH legato (smooth)
RH soft if possible
possible to finish this week

4 Aug

Walzer

don’t restart too much, always try to go forward
line by line, or smaller sections if needed

New: Little flower girl of Paris, try left hand up to bar 18

28 Jul

use note chart for reading
noterush app

Walzer

all F turn into F#
right hand, left hand, together

Scale: C major