September 3, 2024

November/December 2024 Session

Registration Deadline October 16, 2024

Practical Examinations November 30 - December 12, 2024

2024-2025 (7th Grade / RCMCP Level 4)

💜RCM Technical Requirements Level 4 in Newzik

1. Chords: Start with solid and careful with broken that your 5th fingers don’t get stuck inside the black keys.

2. Arpeggios: remember to lead with your wrists. It’s ok to let go of the notes for now.

   1. No need to use metronome this week for arpeggios.

3. For each item:

   1. CLOSE LOUD @ m.m. 66 per tick (correct mistakes as you go)

   2. LEGATO @ m.m. 66 two notes per tick (focus is perfect form)

   3. SPEED-BUILD to m.m. 92

      1. Start at m.m. 76, 84, 88, then 92.

💜Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 5

1. PIck up from page 5 with Dustin next lesson.

💜Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 18

1. BEFORE YOU BEGIN: FOCUS

   1. Keep a pulse no matter what and no matter how slow.

   2. Don’t fix mistakes in realtime.

   3. Let notes go if needed and look ahead to the next landing point.

2. Paused:

   1. Bartok: Mikrocosmos, No. 61

   2. J.S. Bach, 6 Preludes, BWV 939-943, No. 4

3. Finished:

   1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

💚March in D Major BWV Anh. 122 C. P. E. Bach (L. 4, A)

1. Continue to practice with m.m. 112 per quarter note.

   1. Once with metronome

   2. Once without metronome.

2. Expression:

   1. Please work for contrast in sound. More dynamics are needed.

   2. LH is overall a bit too loud.

   3. Careful of accents when trying to apply crescendo. It’s easy to create a “poking sound” when trying to play loudly.

3. Memorize

💚Etude in E Minor op 65 no 42 by Carl Albert Loeschhorn (L. 4 Etude)

1. Find moments that are “expressive” and ask yourself about what you can do with the tempo (gradually slowing down / speeding up) to make it more expressive - or to HELP the dynamics.

2. Bring out the bass notes of the LH.

3. Pedaling: don’t need to go all the way to the bottom of the keys.

💚Masquerade by Linda Niamath (L. 4, Etude)

1. Play as written and focus on the expression now!

💜Ballade op 100 no 15 by JF Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

1. Finish learning the piece!

🖤The Avalanche op 45 no 2 by Stephen Heller (L. 4, Etude)

🖤Hanon No. 4 (start with this assignment every day)

1. Rhythms:

   1. Long, Long, Short, Short

   2. Long, Short, Short, Long

   3. Short, Short, Long, Long

   4. Short, Long, Long, Short

2. LEGATO: m.m. 100 two notes per tic. Your goal here it to play with a smooth, bump-free hand position.

🖤Four Star Sightreading and Ear Tests Level 4 (tests PDF)

1. Resume in July

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer No. 95 (slower)

1. Prepare nos. 108 and 110

2. Remember to clap the pulse for one measure before you begin.

3. Tidy up the beat’s subdivisions. They’re almost clear! :)

1. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

2. 💚Arabesque op. 100 no. 2 by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (1806-1874) (L. 3, Etude)

3. 💚Left Alone by Joyce Grill (L. 3, Etude)

4. 💚Sonatina in A Minor op. 94 no. 4 (L. 3, B)

5. 💚💚Sonatina in C Major op. 36 no. 1 by Clementi (L. 3, B)

6. 💚Musette in D Major BWV Anh. 126, attr. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) (L. 3, A)

7. 💚Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 114 by Christian Petzold (1677-1733) (L. 3, A)

8. 💚Minuet in G Minor, BWV Anh. 115 by Christian Petzold (1677-1733) (L. 3, A)

9. 💚Etude in F Major, Op. 190, NMo. 27 by Köhler (L. 2, Etude)

10. 💚Impertinence, HWV 494 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) (L. 2, A)

11. 💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

12. 💜💚Canon in A Minor by Cornelius Gurlitt (L. 2, C)

13. 💚Etude in D Minor op. 82 No. 65 by Cornelius Gurlitt (L. 2, Etude)

14. 💚Celebration by Anne Crosby-Gaudet (L. 1, Etude)

15. 💚Mist by Clifford Poole (1916-2003) (L. 1, B)

16. 💚Aria in F Major, BWV Anh. 131 by Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) (L. 1, A)

17. 💚Waltz Op. 39 No. 13 by Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) (L. 1, B)

Level 3 or Practical RCM assessment: May 29, 2024

1. List A: Minuet in G Minor, BWV Anh. 115 by Christian Petzold (1677-1733)

2. List B C Major

3. List C: Clowns by Kabalevsky

4. Etude 1: Left Alone

5. Etude 2: Arabesque