January 22, 2026

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💚Spice of Life? L. 5, C

💚Yesterday, J. Lennon & McCartney

  1. See the three recordings in Newzik and follow the instructions! Reach out with any questions. You can also adjust the playback speed in the setting icon.

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice contrary motion in A Major and A Minor harmonic. Focus is position and tidy attacks. m.m. 104 per quarter note.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. Focus on detached notes this week.

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Chords:

    1. A-flat, D-flat 6/4, A-flat, f m 6, E-flat 6/5

    2. Come up with another sequence of chords/

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Play through once per week with music and metronome. No faster than m.m. 80 = this may be tough so just try it and work

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Play through at least three times per week, twice with metronome 60, and 76

💜Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 4

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

🖤Let it Be, J. Lennon & McCartney

  1. Revisit when we’re done with Yesterday

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

January 15, 2026

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💚Choose level 5, C piece next week

💚Yesterday, J. Lennon & McCartney

  1. Do this hands alone with a focus on correct rhythm. Subdivide each beat into four parts (16ths). Account for each one and you’ll get the rhythm correctly!

💚Let it Be, J. Lennon & McCartney

  1. Do one beat at a time hands alone / together to get the correct rhythm. Because there’s so much repetition, this will pay off in the end!

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice contrary motion in A Major. Focus is position and tidy attacks. m.m. 104 per quarter note.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. Focus on detached notes this week.

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Chords:

    1. A-flat, D-flat 6/4, A-flat, f m 6, E-flat 6/5

    2. Come up with another sequence of chords/

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Start from at at least 3 measures randomly.

  2. Focus on tidy attacks.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Measure 8: keep the full value of the 8th note.

  2. No faster than m.m. 72

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Finish Set 3

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

January 8, 2026

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💚Let it Be, Beatles

  1. Learn at least page 1.

  2. Take out the bottom note from chords that are an octave or bigger.

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice F Major and F minor harmonic / melodic. Focus is position and tidy attacks. m.m. 104 per quarter note.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. m. 10: play quarter note full value, and let go of the trill in LH m. 11.

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Chords:

    1. A-flat, D-flat 6/4, A-flat, f m 6, E-flat 6/5

    2. Come up with another sequence of chords/

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Start from at at least 3 measures randomly.

  2. Focus on tidy attacks.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Measure 8: keep the full value of the 8th note.

  2. No faster than m.m. (what does it say in the music?)

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Finish Set 3

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

December 18, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💜Film Music Assignment

  1. Calm happy music m

  2. Record your own video for the music.

  3. We’ll record next time.

Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice E Major and E minor harmonic / melodic. Focus is position and tidy attacks. m.m. 104 per quarter note.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. Practice the trills with a lower wrist in general. Then practice the trills with three rotations instead of two. This will become easier!

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Chords:

    1. A-flat, D-flat 6/4, A-flat, f m 6, E-flat 6/5

    2. Come up with another sequence of chords/

💜Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Start from at at least 3 measures randomly.

💜Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. See the articulations!

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Finish Set 3

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

December 11, 2025 (45 min)

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

🟩Film Music Assignment

  1. Calm happy music m

  2. Record your own video for the music.

  3. We’ll record next time.

Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice E Major and E minor harmonic / melodic. Focus is position and tidy attacks. m.m. 104 per quarter note.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. 1st Rigaudon - relearn fingering - see red pen. Learn the trills. Use your wrist appropriately.

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. A-flat major melody. Add as many different harmonies to this as you can!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Start from at at least 3 measures randomly.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. See the articulations!

💜Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 3

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

December 4, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

🟩Film Music Assignment

  1. Calm happy music m

  2. Record your own video for the music.

  3. We’ll record next time.

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Practice E Major and E minor harmonic / melodic. Focus is position and tidy attacks.

💚Rameau Rigaudon (L. 5, A)

  1. 1st Rigaudon - relearn fingering - see red pen. Learn the trills. Use your wrist appropriately.

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. A-flat major melody. Add as many different harmonies to this as you can!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Start from at at least 3 measures randomly.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. See the articulations!

💜Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 3

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

November 13, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

🟩Film Music Assignment

  1. Calm happy music + transition to MEHARHAHRHRH!

  2. Record your own video for the music.

  3. We’ll record next time.

💛Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Learn A-flat Major scale

💚Rameau - start learning!

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. For group class?

  2. Make sure the last two measures are counted carefully.

  3. Practice starting from 5 random places each day.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Work with metronome 66, 72, and 76

  2. See the green pen

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 2

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

October 30, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person? We can work toward your curriculum without hard deadline and then decide if you’d like.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

🟩Film Music:

  1. Don’t want Sci-fi

  2. Animated? Open to different scenarios.

  3. Dustin provide a few different scenarios, Ethan can choose his favorite (if Ethan wants to revise this process, he’ll let Dustin know before the next lesson).

  4. We worked with the chord progressions and playback melodies in Four Star to create multiple variations of one thing.

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Learn A-flat Major scale

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. 58-61: 5 times correctly each day: Practice with metronome.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Work with metronome 66, 72, and 76.

  2. See the green pen

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 2

    1. Intervals: let’s do these at each lesson.

      1. Major Minor 3 / 6

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

September 25, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person?

  • Decide by November 1st.

Composition

  • Dustin - come up with some options for Ethan.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💚Technique: Level 5, RCMCP

  1. Learn A-flat Major scale

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Last two systems: focus on correct rhythm.

  2. Speed-build to 96 with cautious dynamics (soft)

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Work the LH for accuracy in notes, memory, and especially rhythm.

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 1

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

September 11, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person?

  • Decide by November 1st.

Composition

  • Dustin - come up with some options for Ethan.

Group class

Performance class

Recital

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Fix the notes in measures 41-42

  2. Gradually speed-build measures 27-42 - to m.m. 84. Start around 60.

  3. Next week we’ll choose another section to speed-build.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Work the LH for accuracy in notes, memory, and especially rhythm.

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 1

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

September 4, 2025

Goals through December:

RCM level 5

  • May 2026 in-person

  • Virtual anytime - January?

Collaboration with Flute?

  • Dustin would find music and do coaching

Composition

  • Project?

Group class

Performance class

Recital

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2 (L. 5, B)

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

    1. mm. 1-16

    2. Mm. 16-27

    3. Mm. 27-42

  2. If you can’t get to all sections in one practice session, rotate the sections at the next practice session until you get through all of them.

  3. Combine sections on the next time around to make them bigger.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Hands alone practice by memory. Work up to playing with the metronome.

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 1

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

July 15, 2025

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟨 Yellow)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose several different improvisation methods for the highlighted review pieces below.

  2. Start with a small sections first and go bigger if you want to!

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

    1. mm. 1-42 (if this is too big, you can make the section smaller.

    2. mm. 42-60

    3. mm. 60-End.

  2. If you can’t get to all sections in one practice session, rotate the sections at the next practice session until you get through all of them.

  3. Combine sections on the next time around to make them bigger.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Two large sections for Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 1

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  3. Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

  6. Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  15. I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

July 10, 2025

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟦 Blue)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟪 Purple)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟥 Red)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💜Improvisation Assignment:

  1. Choose one of your old pieces and improvise five different ways of playing the opening (at least four measures).

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

    1. mm. 1-42 (if this is too big, you can make the section smaller.

    2. mm. 42-60

    3. mm. 60-End.

  2. If you can’t get to all sections in one practice session, rotate the sections at the next practice session until you get through all of them.

  3. Combine sections on the next time around to make them bigger.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Two or three large section for Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Set 1

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

July 2, 2025

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟦 Blue)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟪 Purple)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟥 Red)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

  • Do you need blocking practice?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

    1. mm. 1-27 (if this is too big, you can make the section smaller.

    2. mm. 27-42

    3. mm. 42-56

    4. mm. 56-60

    5. mm. 60-End.

  2. If you can’t get to all sections in one practice session, rotate the sections at the next practice session until you get through all of them.

  3. Combine sections on the next time around to make them bigger.

🟪Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

🟪Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Review Set 2

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

June 27, 2025

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟦 Blue)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟧 Orange)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟪 Purple)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟩 Green)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟥 Red)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Identify a section to record

  2. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  3. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  4. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  5. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  6. Choose a small “spot” section from your markings to fix.

“Spot” until it’s solid — meaning:

  • ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or

  • ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  1. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  2. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you’ve tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it’s still not working, don’t just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

Do you need to think ahead more clearly?

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

    1. mm. 1-8

    2. mm. 8-18

    3. mm. 19-26

    4. mm. 26-42

    5. mm. 42-49

    6. mm. 49-56

    7. mm. 56-60

    8. mm. 60-End.

  2. If you can’t get to all sections in one practice session, rotate the sections at the next practice session until you get through all of them.

  3. Combine sections on the next time around to make them bigger.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

*💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Review Set 2

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

June 17, 2025

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Please look at the music and see the red markings. The things we covered today:

    1. Lift off the note (detached) at the end of a slur - whether that’s two notes, three notes, or more.

    2. Some of the circles indicate incorrect notes so please double check your b-flats.

    3. Once you’ve fixed these things, go on to learn hands together with the corrections. Left hand as written.

*💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. No faster than m.m. 60, memorizing small chunks at a time.

*💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Review Set 2

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

June 10, 2025

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

  1. Learn the LH until the first repeat blocked, and the RH as written, then together LH blocked and RH as written.

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

  1. No faster than m.m. 60, memorizing small chunks at a time.

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Review Set 2

    1. When you do the sight-playing examples, keep in mind that Dustin does not expect you to remember

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

June 3, 2025

Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann (L. 5, A)

Learn hands alone and use the practice video

💚Four Star Sight-reading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

  1. Prepare Review Set 1

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Sonatina in F Major, op. 168, no. 1. I. Moderato cantabile by Anton Diabelli (L. 4, B)

  2. 💚25 Etudes, Op. 100, No. 15, Ballade by Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (L. 4, Etude)

  3. 💚Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471, by George Frideric Handel (L. 4, A)

  4. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  8. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  17. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

May 27, 2025

Beethoven Sonatina Anh. 5 no 2

Sonatina in G Major op 168 No. 2 Allegro moderato by Diabelli

Deux Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau

💚Fantasia in E flat Major by Georg Philippine Telemann

Learn hands alone and use the practice video

🖤Four Star Sightreading and Ear Tests Level 5 (tests PDF)

🖤RCM Technical Requirements Level 5 in Newzik

🖤Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  5. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  14. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

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

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

  19. 💚💚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

May 20, 2025

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

  • List: Air in B-flat

  • List B: Diabelli

  • List C: An Old Romance

  • Etude 1: Etude in E Minor

  • Etude 2: Ballade

Revise as you wish!

Ethan Edwards
Air in B-flat Major, HWV 471 – George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)

An “air” is just a melody — but Handel’s airs are always special. This one is graceful and easy to love, with a smoothness that makes it sound timeless.

Ethan Edwards
An Old Romance from Grandfather’s Book, Op. 119 – Alexander Grechaninov (1864–1956)

Russian composer Grechaninov wrote this piece as part of a collection inspired by old family memories. “An Old Romance” feels like a love story told by someone who remembers every detail — slow, sweet, and a little wistful.

Ethan Edwards
Ballade, Op. 100 No. 15 – Johann Friedrich Burgmüller (1806–1874)

Burgmüller was a 19th-century composer who specialized in writing music for students that sounded grown-up. This Ballade tells a dramatic story with just a few notes — full of feeling, flair, and forward motion.

Start with a new level 5 piece. Beethoven.

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

  1. Practice with m.m. 84. We can try something different next lesson if this is frustrating during practice this week.

🎹💚Grechaninov Op. 119 No. 2, An Old Romance (L. 4, C)

  1. Practice starting from any measures of the piece. At least three spots a day.

  2. 4-8 measures at a time, play the melody and the bass note only. Then add the rest of the left hand notes.

  3. Think that your LH shouldn’t twist wrist so much. You can take advantage of your pedal more

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

  1. measures 24-34: transition to new scene - little red riding hood running from the wolf. Do this 3 x’s per day.

  2. 16th note measure sections - accent practice hands together. Close-loud and staccato.

🎹💚Air in B-flat Major HWV 471 by George Frederic Handel (L. 4, A)

  1. .

💚Diabelli, Op. 168 No. 1 (L. 4, B)

  1. M.m. 50 per quarter note (use audio in Newzik for measures 18.5 to 25)

    1. If you make a mistake (off with metronome, incorrect notes / position) pause, go back 2 beats and count again before you start.

    2. At this speed: focus is cantabile melody, and firm fingertips while being relaxed.

    3. If you get stuck more than two times in the same section, reevaluate and take it hands alone / use other tools to fix the issue.

  2. Up next!

    1. increase tempo to 52

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

  1. Chords - good

  2. Intervals - working on P4 and P5

💚RCM Technical Requirements Level 4 in Newzik (“overwhelming?”)

  1. Set a timer for 5 min and go through as many as you can, efficiently. Keep track of where you are and be OK with stopping when the timer goes off! 😎

  2. PLEASE make your fingers round and firm. This helps fix your tidy attacks.

  3. See the markings in the diagram for instructions.

💜Basic Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer

  1. Prepare no. 115

  2. Measures 1-4 - study in your mind first, then clap and ta.

  3. Same thing for measures 5-8

  4. Then put them together!

🖤Celebrate Theory, Level 4, Unit 8

🖤Sight-reading: Czerny Op. 599. Left off at No. 64

  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. 6

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

  3. Finished:

    1. Bürgmuller, 25 Etudes, Op. 100

  1. 💚Clementi, Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36 No. 2: Movement III (L. 4, B)

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

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

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

  5. 💚Clowns by Kabalevsky (L. 3, C)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  14. 💚💚I Spy by Melody Bober (L. 2, B)

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

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

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

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

  19. 💚💚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