September 24, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

2026-2027 Events

  • October 17-18, 2026 — Group Classes

  • December 5-6, 2026 — Group Classes

  • January 24, 2027 — Performance Class & Guest Artist Workshop

  • February 27-28, 2027 — Group Classes

  • April 10-11, 2027 — Group Classes

  • May 22, 2027 — Student Final Recital

How to Practice

Use the Practice Guide below. It logs your practice for you — no comments needed.

  1. Press Start from # whatever number it shows. It picks up where you stopped last time.

  2. Press Start, read the assignment, practice.

  3. Tap the kind of practice, then press Done.

  4. Press Next practice item and go again.

Capped items count down and chime. Keep going if it's going well.

Some assignments finish. Those carry a Done for the Week button. Press it when the job is done and the assignment comes off your list. Technique and repertoire don't have one; those are every day.

Need the metronome, a recorder or the NFPER colors? They are in Practice Tools, right under the practice types. Tap one and it opens inside your assignment. Tap Close to put it away.

Got something to say about an assignment? Paste the line it gives you into the comments and add your note.

Log only what you actually did, on the day you did it. Five minutes is a real entry.

Log every practice session from today. The competition starts October 1 — practicing and logging now is how we get the kinks out.

🟩 on track · 🟨 needs extra attention · 🟪 didn't get to it at the lesson · 🟥 priority · ⬛️ don't practice this one

[PRACTICE TOOLS]

Setup

1. 🟩 Hole-punch your technique pages

THIS WEEK: Punch the Technical Requirements, Level 4 pages I gave you and put them in your binder.

Press Done for the Week once they are in.

2. 🟩 Print your Diabelli

THIS WEEK: Print the Sonatina in F major and put it in the binder too.

Press Done for the Week once it is printed.

Technique

3. 🟩 RCM Technique, Level 4

THIS WEEK: D major scale, two octaves. Right hand alone, left hand alone, then together.

  • Use the NFPER tool for it.

  • Right hand alone first, then left hand alone, then hands together.

  • That is the whole assignment. One scale.

Musicianship

4. 🟩 Four Star, Level 4

THIS WEEK: Unit 2. One day of the unit per practice session.

No time cap.

  • Unit 1 is finished.

  • Five days in the unit. If you run out of days before your lesson, press Done for the Week and leave it.

Repertoire

5. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), right hand, mm. 5-7

THIS WEEK: Right hand only, measures 5 to 7, using the NFPER tool.

  • Work the colors in order.

  • Rhythm: no faster than 66 per quarter note.

6. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), left hand, mm. 5-7

THIS WEEK: Left hand only, same measures, same tool.

  • Rhythm: no faster than 66 per quarter note.

7. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), hands together, mm. 5-7

THIS WEEK: Hands together, same measures, same tool.

  • Rhythm: no faster than 66 per quarter note.

  • Watch the ties. Hold them, and always play through to the downbeat.

8. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), video

THIS WEEK: Watch the video. Nothing to play for this one.

  • It shows how to close your hand while you play, measures 13 to the end.

  • Watch it every day this week.

🎥 Solitude, measures 13 to the end https://youtube.com/shorts/WrJZQliYXkQ

9. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 13 to the end

THIS WEEK: Practice the up-stem notes first, then add the lower ones.

  • Slow.

  • The very last chord: take the bottom note in your left hand.

  • Look for every chance to close your hand instead of holding it stretched open. An open hand is a tense hand.

10. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 7-8

THIS WEEK: Fix the fingering in measures 7 and 8. Three times in a row correctly.

Practice type: Spotting.

  • The fingering we changed at the lesson, and the pedal change I wrote in.

11. ⬛️ Gavotte in F major (Graupner)

RCM Level 4, List A

Not this week. We start this one next lesson.

12. ⬛️ Sonatina in B-flat major, Op. 29, I. Andante (Schmitt)

RCM Level 4, List B

Not this week.

13. ⬛️ Cool Cat Waltz (Pine)

RCM Level 4, List C

Not this week.

14. ⬛️ The Avalanche, Op. 45 No. 2 (Heller)

RCM Level 4, Etude

Not this week.

15. ⬛️ Theory, Level 4

Not this week.

Review List

Review twice a week, with your music. You don't need to review all of them in one practice session, just one per week.

RCM Level 3

Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126, Anonymous, from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (List A)

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

Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5, No. 1, I. Moderato, attr. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) (List B)

Album für die Jugend, Op. 68, No. 1, Melody, by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) (List C)

Prelude VII, by Barbara Arens (b. 1960) (Etude)

Mouse Dance, by Jakub Metelka (b. 1986) (Etude)

RCM Level 2

Minuet in G Major, from Suite in G Minor, BWV 822, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) (List A)

Écossaise in G Major, WoO 23, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) (List A)

Crocodile Tears, by Christine Donkin (b. 1976) (List B)

Invention in C Major, by Renée Christopher (List C)

Etude in G Major, Op. 166, No. 6, by Henri Bertini (1798-1876) (Etude)

RCM Level 1

Bourrée in D Minor, by Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) (List A)

Early One Morning, Traditional, arr. Frederick Silvester (1901-1966) (List B)

Canon, No. 8, from 17 Canons, by Carleton Elliott (1928-2003) (List C)

Celebration, by Anne Crosby Gaudet (Etude)

RCM Preparatory B

To Fly Like an Eagle, by Anne Crosby Gaudet

RCM Preparatory A

What's That Noise?, by Martha Mier (b. 1936)

Sleigh Bells, by Christine Donkin (b. 1976)

Boots, from Little Dog Tales, by Yvonne Adair (1897-1989)

The Haunted Mouse, by Nancy and Randall Faber (b. 1955; 1954)

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 — just a few measures or a tricky passage.

  7. "Spot" until it's solid — ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

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

  9. 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?