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.
Press Start from # whatever number it shows. It picks up where you stopped last time.
Press Start, read the assignment, practice.
When you are finished, press Done.
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 Section-Work colors? They are in Practice Tools. 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. Official tracking starts Monday, October 19, the Monday after our first group class. Logging now is how we get the kinks out.
🟩 on track · 🟨 needs extra attention · 🟪 didn't get to it at the lesson · 🟥 priority · ⬛️ on hold, don't practice this one · 🟧 mine, not yours
[PRACTICE TOOLS]
Technique
1. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 4 (RCM), D major scale
THIS WEEK: Two octaves, hands together, with the metronome at 92.
Metronome ♩ = 92. That is the mark printed in your music.
On the way down, finger 4 goes on B.
Smooth, like spreading icing across a cake. Smooth is what lets it go fast later.
2. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 4 (RCM), B harmonic minor
THIS WEEK: Notes, fingering and position, three correct in a row.
NFPER focus: notes, fingering, position.
Practice type: Learning.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Left hand alone slowly first, then right hand, then hands together.
Watch the thumb. Support the wrist instead of dropping it. That is the biggest hurdle.
Harmonic minor raises the seventh, going up and coming down.
3. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 4 (RCM), B melodic minor
THIS WEEK: Notes, fingering and position, three correct in a row.
NFPER focus: notes, fingering, position.
Practice type: Learning.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh going up, and puts them back coming down.
Coming down is the harder direction. You are already on the raised notes on the way up, so going down is where you have to think.
4. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 4 (RCM), A major
THIS WEEK: Left hand, then right hand, then hands together.
Practice type: Learning.
New this week.
Left hand alone, then right hand alone, then hands together. That order.
Musicianship
5. 🟩 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 4 (Berlin and Markow)
THIS WEEK: Set 1. One day per practice session.
Practice type: Learning.
Days 1 through 5, one per practice session.
You prepare the set at home. I test you on it at the lesson.
On the sight-playing test, keep going instead of stopping to fix. That is the right instinct and it is what the test is for.
Clap back and play back are the ear tests. Listen, then answer.
Press Done for the Week when the set is finished.
6. 🟩 Piano Adventures Sightreading Book, Level 2B (Faber)
THIS WEEK: Pages 78 through 83. One page a day.
Practice type: Learning.
Nice and slow. Slower than you want to go.
Don't stop to fix a mistake. You wouldn't in an exam.
Press Done for the Week when page 83 is finished.
Repertoire
7. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), hands alone, mm. 1-5
THIS WEEK: Hands alone, measures 1 to 5. Notes, fingering and position.
NFPER focus: notes, fingering, position.
Practice type: Polishing.
Right hand alone, then left hand alone.
Five measures is a small enough spot to actually fix. That is why it is this size.
Unify the hand position through the whole phrase.
8. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), hands together, mm. 1-5
THIS WEEK: Hands together, measures 1 to 5. Same focus.
NFPER focus: notes, fingering, position.
Practice type: Polishing.
Hands alone first. That is the stretching before the run.
Your right hand sounds different once the left hand joins. Keep it doing what it did alone.
9. 🟩 Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli), mm. 4-7
THIS WEEK: Speed building, 56 up to 63 per quarter note.
Speed building: 56 to 63.
Practice type: Polishing.
Three correct in a row at a speed before you move up.
56 to 63, per quarter note.
10. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 7-8
THIS WEEK: Measures 7 and 8. The brick building starts here.
Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.
Two measures at a time, all the way from 7 to 16.
Your pedal timing is right. Lift all the way up so it isn't blurry.
The top line is a flute. Put the energy at the top of the phrase.
When two chunks next to each other are both done, play them joined together.
11. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 9-10
THIS WEEK: Two measures, same method as the first chunk.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Check the fingering I wrote in.
12. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 11-12
THIS WEEK: Two measures, same method as the first chunk.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Check the fingering I wrote in.
13. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 13-14
THIS WEEK: Two measures, same method as the first chunk.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Check the fingering I wrote in.
14. 🟩 Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill), mm. 15-16
THIS WEEK: Two measures, same method as the first chunk.
Three correct in a row, or five correct in total.
Check the fingering I wrote in.
15. ⬛️ Gavotte in F major (Graupner)
On deck. We start it next lesson, so nothing to practice yet. This is your next List A piece at Level 4.
16. ⬛️ Sonatina in B-flat major, Op. 29, I. Andante (Schmitt)
Not started. On deck.
17. ⬛️ Cool Cat Waltz (Pine)
Not started. On deck.
18. ⬛️ The Avalanche, Op. 45 No. 2 (Heller)
Not started. On deck.
19. ⬛️ Celebrate Theory, Level 4 (RCM)
On hold.
RCM Level 4, where the program stands
Started
Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, I. Moderato cantabile (Diabelli)
Solitude, No. 9 for right hand alone (Grill)
Not started yet
Gavotte in F major (Graupner)
Sonatina in B-flat major, Op. 29, I. Andante (Schmitt)
Cool Cat Waltz (Pine)
The Avalanche, Op. 45 No. 2 (Heller)
Celebrate Theory, Level 4 (RCM)
About Sight Reading
The Piano Adventures level numbers do not match the RCM levels. Level 2B is about an RCM Level 3 sight reading, and 3A and 3B are closer to Level 4.
We are going to move faster through these than one book per level.
If something is not a little bit difficult, it is not building anything. A little resistance is the point.