Chant Arabe HT

The end of the B section in Chant Arabe is difficult for anyone and needs to be carefully choreographed. If careful hands-separate preparation has been done, this shouldn't take long or be too frustrating. Here is a demo of how this should be choreographed for the young student:

Last Clementi in Book 3

A daunting passage appears on the third page of the Clementi Sonatina Op. 36, No. 3 in Suzuki Book 3.

Here is Evan, working through the RH chords. He is doing three at a time, and then putting them together. Here, he is working through measures 42 and 43. This method will continue until measure 45 when it is merely a descending scale.

The Chicago Piano Lesson Weekly

For those of you who have expressed interest in the music psychology articles and local events I share with you regularly, you might want to check out my newsletter on those very topics!

The Chicago Piano Lesson Weekly comes out twice a week and can be accessed here, from my website, and highlights are posted regularly on my FaithSlaker Music Facebook page and Twitter.

For today, please enjoy this article on Parents as Engaged Partners in Music.

Work for Beginners

Hello New Suzuki Families!

One of the things you'll find us doing in group classes is using the body as a music staff. See BodyStaffBasics for the basics!

Jingle Bells on the body staff:




And you might be working on the airplane song! Here is one of my Suzuki mom's playing it with beautiful legato touch:

Allegretto 2 Endings

A group class activity helps students recognize the differences in the endings in Allegretto 2 and is a good introduction to form.

Chopin Waltz Pedaling

Encountering the pedaling in the Chopin Waltz in Suzuki Book 5 might be a little difficult at first. It is similar to the pedaling used in the Beethoven at the beginning of the book. However, there is more clarity if the cadence pedaling is not the same as what is used previously. I like to wait and pedal LATE on the downbeat of the cadence.

See below:

Finding your Tempo

One of the hardest things to practice at home by yourself is keeping a steady tempo.  You slow down for the hard parts, you rush through the easy parts.  I get it!  However, your first step to playing a piece at one tempo, is to find the tempo of your hardest passage.  Figure out how fast you're able to comfortably play that, and then start the piece in that tempo.

Here is an example of Adrian playing her toughest passage, and then starting her piece in that tempo. I bet her Sonatina is going to sound so steady in lesson next week!

Counting at the end of Hungarian Folk Song - Suzuki Book 2

If you have mastered the down-ups - the slurred chords, the accents and the coordination needed to play this piece, congratulations!  There's just one more thing - the counting in the last line of the piece!

Here is the last line - it looks easy!  But make sure you count.  (The beats are written in for you here.)

And here is a student practicing it:

Staccato Practice for Beginners

Many students have trouble acquiring the crisp sound of a good staccato.  Usually it is because they are playing down towards the keys instead of up and away from the keys.  Here is a brief example of a child just learning how to play a bouncy staccato:

Body Staff Overview

By now, your children have been working all year on using the Body Staff to understand pre-reading Suzuki pieces.  Below is a quick overview of the beginnings of each of the pieces.  This is a good way to practice how to start each piece and understanding the differences between then when we finally start reading on the staff.

Basic Music Concepts

Here is a quick review with a few of my students of some of the basic concepts they learn at the beginning of piano study.

Piano, Forte, Largo, Presto, Bass and Treble.

 

Beethoven Sonatina LH, Suzuki Book 2

At this point in music study, the melody of a new piece is very easy for a student to pick up.  I always get them started with the LH so that they feel comfortable moving on with the piece.  After the slide up into the black keys in m. 1-2 of this Sonatina, it is measures 3-4 that pose the bigger difficulty.

The top line of the LH chords is going to be legato, while the bottom line needs to lift in order to repeat the same note.  Here is how it is done:

Little Hands Learning to Play with Good Technique

Using the whole hand and keeping the point of contact with the keys narrowed to just the finger pads ("pillows").

Beethoven Sonata, Movement 2 - Suzuki Book 4

Congratulations!  You're now working on the second movement of your first Sonata!  This is one of my favorite pieces and you now have all the skills you need to be able to play such a beautiful work! You've worked hard in the first movement at switching from duple to triple meter and as much as you may love to use that skill, you don't need it outside of measure 40 in this movement (make sure those are triplets!).

It IS tempting to use those triplets though - especially when you get to measure 114.   This rhythm is the same sort of thing we worked so hard on in the Minuet in Book 3, so you've got it!

Here is the portion we're looking at:

If you find you're having particular difficulty here, or your teacher has brought this up in your lesson, here is a quick tip for how to practice it so that you have the correct rhythm in your ear:

Happy Practicing!

Melody, Suzuki Book 2

Melody, while simple in sound, has its moments of complication!

Measures 7-8 and measures 11-12 have finger switches and movement that takes practice!

The finger switch in measure 8 is the one that students forgo quickly, which causes a tense stretch between fingers 3 and 4.  The last three beats of measure 8 should be practiced on their own first.

Measures 7-8:

The finger switch in measure 11 insures that the melodic line will remain legato.  It feels symmetrical in the hands since the LH is also inching down the keyboard by placing the thumb on treble G.

Measures 11-12:

And there you have it!

Grouping and Gestures

Once a student has learned how to distinctly play each key, the next step is to learn how to group them together to make a fluid phrase!

Suzuki students learn this in Honeybee.  Here is an example of a student practicing two groups of four notes by using a gesture to keep them controlled and even.


This is best taught by rote as groupings is pretty personal in terms of style and is not indicated in the score.

Ready..... Play!

From the very beginning, we're working on getting a feel for the keyboard, good tone, and the ability to play from the keys instead of hammering into them.

Here is a quick video of a beginning student as she works on this concept:




You might also find useful:  Working on the Variations and Body Staff Basics.

Working on the Variations with Your Little One

So you've been working on labeling finger numbers, and you've been playing the copy game.  You've been practicing clapping the Twinkle Variation rhythms, and you've been working on finding C.  Your son or daughter is finally comfortable with "ready-play" and springs from the note instead of hammering into it.  Congratulations!

Let's move on from one note now to starting the A section (first part) of the Twinkle Variations.  This video shows how one might go about practicing with a child at this level at home:



This child is able to keep a rhythm in his head for the entirety of the exercise.  If he were to play an incorrect rhythm (or go back to Variation A, which often happens), I would simply demonstrate for him on the note we're on and continue in the same manner.

You notice we're finding his finger number by turning our hands over - this keeps his hand position relaxed for playing.  This is the A section of the Twinkle pattern.  You probably have the finger numbers and keys notated in your notebook in the following manner:

We'll use this same pattern over and over again and your child will pick it up through the repetition and reinforcement of the sound through the CD, your playing, and his practice with you every day.

Little Waltz - RH B section

By Book 3, Suzuki students are very comfortable with larger gestures to create groupings of notes.  After all, they've been doing it easily since Little Playmates in Book 1!

Little Waltz though, has a B section that is often awkward for students who approach it in the same manner as the A section.

Practicing the gestures that will group these notes together will make the section much more fluid:

Go Tell Aunt Rhody - RH

In Go Tell Aunt Rhody, students are faced both with a finger switch and multiple repeated notes in the melody.  To keep the melody fluid, from the keys, and relaxed, I have students practice their repeated notes as follows:


Practice Variation B for the same feeling.