January 16, 2024

Spring Milestones:

1. January Recording Session for Competition

2. Level 3 and 4 RCM Theory

3. Level 3 or 4 Practical RCM assessment

RCMCP Scores:

Level 1: Score of 84

Level 2: Score of 96

Level 3:

Practice Journal

Write down in the comment section below every item you practice and for how long.

💚Czerny Op. 299 No. 1 in C Major

1. Speed-building:

   1. One measure at a time, starting at m.m. 50 and going up in increments of 4. Goal is 88.

   2. Complete at least mm. 9-12 and more if possible over the next week.

   3. If you get to a speed that is not working after three tries, STOP, and ask yourself what technical work you need.

      1. Use “accent practice” as needed: Accent every four 16th notes. Rotate them.

2. Review mm. 9 to the end with a very slow pace.

💚Czerny Op. 299 No. 2 in C Major

1. Measures 5-8

   1. get rid of any pauses

   2. Speed-build

   3. Do technical work as needed

🖤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.

   1. Hanon No. 2 (m.m. 60 per 8th note)

🖤💚Royal Conservatory of Music Syllabus in Newzik: Level 3

1. 💛Focus on tidy attacks.

🖤💜Celebrate Theory, Level 3

1. Prepare Unit 6

2. Teach me about Unit 4 next week.

💚Sight-reading: Burgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

1. Left off at No. 8 - continue to sight-read until you can make sense of the music.

2. Sight-reading daily: at least 8 measures at a time, per session. These will be harder than your normal sight-reading material. So please study closely, look at chords and try to connect the dots with your theory assignments. Repeat the 8 measures until you can play it without too many errors.

🖤💚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! :)

🖤💚Four Star Sightreading and Ear Tests Level 3

1. Prepare Set 9

🖤Bartok Microkosmos:

1. Left off on no. 61

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

1. See all pen in Newzik. Focus on a slower tempo so you can fine-tune your dynamic contrasts.

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

1. Do the following 4 items daily.

   1. CHOOSE YOUR PRACTICE CHUNK for Slow Work and Medium Tempo Practice

   2. SLOW PRACTICE (section work)

      1. WITHIN YOUR SECTION: LH, RH and HT doing the following

      2. CLOSE LOUD on any 8th notes

      3. No faster than m.m. 100 per 8th note.

      4. If you make a mistake, go back one measure to correct it.

   3. MEDIUM TEMPO PRACTICE (section work)

      1. Your focus here is NFRPE - get everything as polished as possible by repeated your section three times in-a-row correctly at the following tempi:

         1. M.m. 104

         2. M.m. 112

         3. M.m. 126

      2. Remember, the first 2-4 days of practice like this can feel like a lot. But you’ll get faster and completing the three in-a-row as time goes on.

      3. As it gets easier for you to do three in-a-row correctly, make your section bigger.

      4. So this for every section for the whole piece.

   4. FINAL TEMPO PRACTICE (entire piece)

      1. Treat it like a performance.

      2. Entire piece:

         1. M.m. 144

         2. M.m. 152

         3. M.m. 160

🖤💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

1. Left off speed-building from m.m. 92 per quarter note. Come back to this after RCM performance and work on technique.

🖤Beethoven Sonatina

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

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

   1. Please focus on dynamics when you review.

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

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

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

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

7. 💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

10. 💚Periwinkle Twinkle by Anne Crosby-Gaudet (L. 2, B)

11. 💜Celebration by Anne Crosby-Gaudet (L. 1, Etude)

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

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

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

15. 💚Andante in G Minor by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) (L. 1, A)

Spring Milestones

1. Record 1-2 pieces for competition submission.