October 23, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

October 24, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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 writes your practice down for you, no comments needed.

Tap the first assignment on your list.

The timer starts by itself. Read it and practice.

When you are finished, press Done. It saves your time and opens the next one.

Need to stop for a minute? Press Pause.

Lost? Press My Assignment List at the top to go back.

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

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.

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.

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]

Theory

1. 🟪 Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 3 (RCM), Rhythm, pages 30 to 33

THIS WEEK: Pages 30 to 33. Four pages, not the whole unit.

Ties, dots and rhythms are the main idea.
A tie joins two notes on the same line or the same space. Play the first one and hold it through the second. Do not strike it again.
A slur is the same curved line but it goes between different notes.
Bring me questions on these four pages at the next lesson.

2. ⬛️ Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 4 (RCM), Listening

Not yet. We are skipping this one for now and coming back to it.
It is the listening unit: Peter and the Wolf, and Carnival of the Animals.

Musicianship

3. 🟪 Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer), Nos. 54 to 59

THIS WEEK: Nos. 54 through 59.

Clap two measures first, one and two, then start.
Move through a mistake instead of stopping. Almost like it never happened.
Scan the whole exercise before you begin.

4. 🟪 Note Reading Flashcards

THIS WEEK: Two cards you don't know. Three times in a row correct, then add one card.

Add one card at a time and keep going until all of them are easy.
Read by landmark. Find the one you already know, then step up or down from it.
Middle C and the ledger lines are landmarks too.
These cards are what makes Giraffe faster. That is why they are on the list.

5. 🟪 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 17 nos. 6 and 7, and page 19 nos. 12 and 13

THIS WEEK: Clap and say them, with the metronome.

Scan the whole exercise before you start.
If you make a mistake, let it go and keep the beat.
When mistakes pile up, look ahead to the next measure and come back in there.

6. 🟪 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 16 nos. 2 and 4, and page 17 no. 5

THIS WEEK: Say the note names out loud while you play them. Right hand, finger 3.

Forward wrist on every note.
Good posture, feet flat.
Saying it while you play it is the point. Doing both at once is what makes it stick.

7. 🟪 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 18 no. 9, and page 19 nos. 11 and 12

THIS WEEK: Say the note names out loud while you play them. Left hand, finger 3.

Same as the right hand one, other hand.
Forward wrist on every note. Good posture, feet flat.

Reading

8. 🟪 Piano Adventures Sightreading, Primer, pages 35 to 43

THIS WEEK: Pages 35 through 43, spread through the week. Don't do them all in one day.

Scan the whole thing before you start.
Forward wrist on the long notes, left hand too.
If you make a mistake, forget about it and keep going.

Repertoire

9. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 1-2

THIS WEEK: Expression. Dynamics, the slurs, the pedal.

NFPER focus: expression.

Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.

You have the notes and fingering on these. Now make it sound the way you made it sound at the lesson.
Soft and gentle. Enjoy the sound.
Rhythm is not the focus yet. Position comes later.
Two measures at a time, three times correctly. Then the next two. Then put them together.
When you have been through all of them once, the Practice Guide joins them up for you.

Watch this after you practice, not before: https://youtube.com/shorts/-sRWfrORTUQ

10. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 3-4

THIS WEEK: Expression. Dynamics, the slurs, the pedal.

NFPER focus: expression.

Three times correctly before you move on.
Connect the notes. Hold that last one.

11. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 5-6

THIS WEEK: Expression. Dynamics, the slurs, the pedal.

NFPER focus: expression.

Three times correctly before you move on.
Say the note name out loud before you play it if you lose your place.

12. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 7-8

THIS WEEK: Expression. Dynamics, the slurs, the pedal.

NFPER focus: expression.

Three times correctly before you move on.
Keep going through a wrong note instead of going back over it.

13. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 9-10

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

This half is new. Same process as the first half: two measures, then the next two, then put them together.
Don't play a note until you are 100% sure of it with your eyes. Take ten seconds if you need to.

14. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 11-12

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Eyes on the music, not on your hands.

15. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 13-14

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

The 8 with the dotted line means play it one octave higher.
LH under a note means that one is the left hand, crossing over.

16. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 15-16

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Block it first: play each fifth as both notes at once, so you can see the shape.
Then play it as written.
Giraffe is all fifths. Once you see that, the notes come faster.

October 16, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

October 19, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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 writes your practice down for you, no comments needed.

Tap the first assignment on your list.
The timer starts by itself. Read it and practice.
When you are finished, press Done. It saves your time and opens the next one.
Need to stop for a minute? Press Pause.

Lost? Press My Assignment List at the top to go back.

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

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.

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.

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]

Theory

1. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 3 (RCM), Rhythm

THIS WEEK: Complete the whole unit.

Ties, dots and rhythms are the main idea.
A tie joins two notes on the same line or the same space. Play the first one and hold it through the second. Do not strike it again.
A slur is the same curved line but it goes between different notes.
Be ready to tell me about anything in bold: time signature, bar line, measure, double bar line, final bar line, what the top number means, what the bottom number means.
Quiz on it at the next lesson.
If you get stuck, the unit explains it on the page.

2. ⬛️ Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 4 (RCM), Listening

Not yet. We are skipping this one for now and coming back to it.
It is the listening unit: Peter and the Wolf, and Carnival of the Animals.

Musicianship

3. 🟩 Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer), Nos. 54 to 59

THIS WEEK: Nos. 54 through 59.

Clap two measures first, one and two, then start.
Move through a mistake instead of stopping. Almost like it never happened.
Scan the whole exercise before you begin.

4. 🟩 Note Reading Flashcards

THIS WEEK: Start with two cards you don't know. Go back and forth until you get them three times in a row, or five times correctly. Then add one card.

Add one card at a time and keep going until all of them are easy.
Practice without the metronome first, then put it back on.
Read by landmark. Find the one you already know, then step up or down from it.
Middle C and the ledger lines are landmarks too.

5. 🟩 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 17 nos. 6 and 7, and page 19 nos. 12 and 13

THIS WEEK: Clap and say them, with the metronome.

Scan the whole exercise before you start.
If you make a mistake, let it go and keep the beat.
When mistakes pile up, stop counting them, look ahead to the next measure and come back in there.

6. 🟩 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 16 nos. 2 and 4, and page 17 no. 5

THIS WEEK: Say the note names out loud while you play them. Right hand, finger 3.

Forward wrist on every note.
Good posture, feet flat.
Saying it while you play it is the point. Doing both at once is what makes it stick.

7. 🟩 Solfège Reading (Knowles), page 18 no. 9, and page 19 nos. 11 and 12

THIS WEEK: Say the note names out loud while you play them. Left hand, finger 3.

Same as the right hand one, other hand.
Forward wrist on every note. Good posture, feet flat.

Reading

8. 🟩 Piano Adventures Sightreading, Primer, pages 35 to 43

THIS WEEK: Pages 35 through 43, spread through the week. Don't do them all in one day.

Scan the whole thing before you start.
Forward wrist on the long notes, left hand too.
If you make a mistake, forget about it and keep going.

Technique

9. 🟩 Black Key Composition

THIS WEEK: Expand the piece you wrote, and improvise with the same patterns all over the keyboard.

The main focus is doing the forward wrist and the drop pop correctly.
Use different registers. Cross your hands over.
Have it ready to play for me. Maybe at group class too.

🎥 All three movements https://youtube.com/shorts/337R67ofof8

Repertoire

10. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 1-2

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.

Two measures at a time. Get these two right before you move on.
Use the Section-Work tool. Notes and fingering are highlighted for you.
When you have all of them, the Practice Guide joins them up for you.
Connect it to what you already know: your flashcards, your Solfège reading and your theory.

11. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 3-4

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

12. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 5-6

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

13. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 7-8

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

14. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 9-10

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

15. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 11-12

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

16. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 13-14

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

17. 🟩 Giraffe (Richert), mm. 15-16

THIS WEEK: Notes and fingering. Three times correctly, or five times total.

NFPER focus: notes, fingering.

Two measures at a time. Three times correctly before you move on.

October 9, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

October 9, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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 writes your practice down for you, no comments needed.

Tap the first assignment on your list.
The timer starts by itself. Read it and practice.
When you are finished, press Done. It saves your time and opens the next one.
Need to stop for a minute? Press Pause.

Lost? Press My Assignment List at the top to go back.

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

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.

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.

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]

Theory

1. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 1 (RCM), Getting Started

THIS WEEK: Complete Unit 1.

Do this one before Unit 2.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

2. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Level 1, Unit 2 (RCM), Pitch and Notation

THIS WEEK: Complete Unit 2.

Stem direction, naming notes, and fixing what is wrong.
Teach me about sharps, flats and naturals next time. A natural cancels a sharp or a flat.
Teach me about intervals next time: a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

Musicianship

3. 🟥 Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer), Nos. 52, 54, 55 and 56

THIS WEEK: Three correct in a row on each one, at ♩ = 60.

Count and clap one measure of silence first, then come in.
Nos. 55 and 56 start on an upbeat. Clap the beats in the parentheses, then come in on the downbeat.
Your mistakes are at the change from one staff to the next. Look ahead to the next staff while you are still clapping the tie.
Three tries at the lesson to pass something off.

4. 🟩 Note Reading Flashcards

THIS WEEK: Same assignment, at m.m. 44.

Pull the B and D cards out and work those two on their own first.
Second ledger line below the treble staff is C, so the one above it is D. Two ledger lines below the bass staff is C, and two above the treble staff is C.

5. 🟩 Solfège Reading (Knowles), pages 16 and 17

THIS WEEK: Three correct in a row on each line, with the metronome.

Every exercise builds on one you already know. Find the note you know, then read the next one from it.
If you make a mistake, let it go in the moment and look at what is coming next.

6. 🟪 Solfège Reading (Knowles), pages 18 and 19

THIS WEEK: Another week on these two. Bass clef.

With the metronome, three correct in a row.
We come back to them at the lesson.

7. 🟩 Piano Adventures Sightreading, Primer, pages 26 to 33

THIS WEEK: Straight through, no stopping.

Sight playing means you see it for the first time and play it without stopping.
Plan it before you touch the keys: which hand, which finger, which note.
Work through the mistakes. Let them go.
Watch for the forward wrist.

Technique

10. 🟩 Black Key Composition

THIS WEEK: Make up your own piece on the black keys, using all three movements.

Forward wrist: drop, then hold the key down while the wrist goes forward, and release.
Pop wrist: drop the same way, then come straight off the key. Don't scratch and don't pull back. Stay close to the key.
Drop pop: drop on the first key, pop on the second. Two keys.
Use the whole keyboard, the two-sets and the three-sets. Both hands, hands alone and hands together.
Make a rhythm that makes sense to you.
Have it ready to perform for me twice at the next lesson. The same piece, twice.

🎥 All three movements https://youtube.com/shorts/337R67ofof8

Next Time

11. 🟧 Your Solfège book

THIS WEEK: I am bringing your Solfège Reading book to the next lesson.

12. 🟧 Your first Celebration Series pieces

THIS WEEK: I am choosing your pieces from Celebration Series, Piano Prep A, for next week.

Look through the book this week and tell me what you like.
A few of these, then we move up a level, and then we look at the piece you sent me.

How to Read by Landmark

You learned note names with acronyms — Every Good Boy Does Fine, FACE, All Cows Eat Grass. Those work, but they slow you down permanently, because every time you read a note you have to run the whole phrase and then find the letter. So we're replacing them with landmarks.

A landmark is a place you already know that tells you where you are. The Statue of Liberty. The Great Wall. The cross street you recognize on your own block. On the staff, landmarks work the same way: you memorize a few fixed points, then read everything else by its distance from them.

The landmarks we're starting with

Bass clef F — line 4. The bass clef is the F clef, and the two dots sit around that line. "Clef" comes from the French clé, meaning key, as in a key that unlocks the names of the notes.

Treble clef G — line 2. The treble clef is the G clef, and it curls around that line.

Middle C, treble C (space 3, an octave above middle C), and bass C (space 2). Two ledger lines above the treble staff is also a C, and two below the bass staff is a C — the two clefs mirror each other, which makes them easier to remember.

Ledger lines are the extra short lines added above and below the staff. They work in both directions. This is a term I want you to know by name.

Once the landmarks are automatic, you add the note directly above and directly below each one. That's how the flashcard assignment is built — landmarks first, then their neighbors, then outward.

A note that is touching the staff from outside, like D below the treble staff, is still below the staff. Touching is not the same as being on it.

October 2, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

October 3, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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]

Start Here

1. 🟩 Print your theory units

THIS WEEK: Print Preparatory Units 6 and 7 and put them in your binder.

I texted them to you during the lesson.
If something I owe you has not arrived, tell me the same day. Not the day before your lesson.
Press Done for the Week when they are in the binder.

2. 🟪 Felt pads for the bench legs

THIS WEEK: Still open from last week.

So the bench slides without marking the floor when you set your distance.
Press Done for the Week when they are on.

Theory

3. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 6 (RCM), Scales

THIS WEEK: Complete Unit 6.

Practice type: Learning.

No time cap on this one.
Even where it looks easy, don't skip anything. This is the part you said you have not really learned yet.
Ascending and descending, and what a C major scale actually is, all the way from C to C.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

4. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 7 (RCM), Triads

THIS WEEK: Complete Unit 7.

Practice type: Learning.

No time cap on this one.
A triad comes from the scale: the first, third and fifth degree.
Know the difference between a broken triad and a solid triad.
I am going to ask you to write it down at your lesson, not just say it.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

5. 🟪 Keyboard Spelling Challenge, page 14

THIS WEEK: Nothing this week. I am still rewriting this one.

Page 14 is printed and you have it.

Musicianship

6. 🟥 Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer), Nos. 51, 52 and 53

THIS WEEK: Three correct in a row, or five correct in total, on each of 51, 52 and 53.

NFPER focus: rhythm.

Set the beat to m.m. 50. That is your speed limit, not a target. It will feel painfully slow. Stay with it.
Open Section-Work and it is already set to rhythm for you. Notes, fingering, position and expression are crossed off.
Clap the beat, which is the small down-stem line. Ta the rhythm, which is the top line.
For a tie, don't say the second note. Hold through it.
Where the eighth rests sit, make a sound on them until you feel where they are, then think it silently.
Keep going through a mistake. Stopping is the only real error.
Get this at home and you whip it off in three tries at the lesson.

7. 🟪 Note Reading Flashcards

THIS WEEK: Keep going. We did not get to these at the lesson.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

Practice type: Learning.

Set the beat to m.m. 44. One card every two beats.
Correct cards in one pile, wrong cards in the other. Run the wrong pile again until it is empty.
B and D are your pair. Pull just those out, drill them ten times, then put them back in the mix.

8. 🟨 Solfège Reading (Knowles), No. 6 page 12, and pages 15 to 17

THIS WEEK: Redo No. 6 on page 12, then learn pages 15 to 17.

NFPER focus: notes.

Set the beat to m.m. 84, one note per beat.
Open Section-Work and it is already set to notes for you.
Pages 15 to 17 are the upper neighbor: the note one letter above a landmark. D sits above C, A sits above G.
That is why you memorized the alphabet forward and backward.
When you say the wrong letter, let it go and keep moving. You got better at that today.

9. 🟩 Solfège Reading (Knowles), pages 18 and 19

THIS WEEK: Prepare pages 18 and 19.

NFPER focus: notes.

Same beat, m.m. 84, one note per beat.
Extra reading while you have no playing pieces yet, so that when the pieces start the reading is already easy.

10. 🟩 Piano Adventures Sightreading, Primer, pages 4 and 5

THIS WEEK: Read pages 4 and 5 straight through, without stopping.

This book is on loan. Don't write in it.
Sight-reading means once you start, you do not stop. Keep going through anything that goes wrong.
Watch the finger numbers. They change, and they tell you where to put your thumb.
Slow. Around m.m. 60.

11. 🟩 Piano Adventures Sightreading, Primer, pages 6 to 11

THIS WEEK: Prepare pages 6 to 11: correct notes, correct tempo.

These you learn rather than read cold.
I will ask you to play one or two of them next lesson.
Slow. Around m.m. 60.

Technique

12. 🟩 Fall board hand drop

THIS WEEK: Five drops each hand on the closed fall board, every day.

Find the bubble first. Round knuckle, firm fingertip, loose wrist.
Drop. Then raise the wrist as if a string is pulling it up. Then back down.
Stay connected to the fall board while the wrist is up.
Watch fingers 5, 4 and 1. They should not fan out.
No time cap. Every day.

🎥 Fall board hand drop https://youtu.be/vhL7Pev7Rk4

13. 🟩 Two-set and three-set black keys, drop hand

THIS WEEK: Five drops each hand on the two-set, then five on the three-set, every day.

Fingers 2 and 3. Same motion as the fall board.
Land and stay put. No sliding.
Plant gently, then release the tension after the sound.
No time cap.

How to Read by Landmark

The landmarks we're starting with

Bass clef F — line 4. The bass clef is the F clef, and the two dots sit around that line. "Clef" comes from the French clé, meaning key, as in a key that unlocks the names of the notes.

Treble clef G — line 2. The treble clef is the G clef, and it curls around that line.

Ledger lines are the extra short lines added above and below the staff. They work in both directions. This is a term I want you to know by name.

Once the landmarks are automatic, you add the note directly above and directly below each one. That's how the flashcard assignment is built — landmarks first, then their neighbors, then outward.

A note that is touching the staff from outside, like D below the treble staff, is still below the staff. Touching is not the same as being on it.

September 25, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

September 26, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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.
Tap the kind of practice, then 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 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 · ⬛️ on hold, don't practice this one · 🟧 mine, not yours

[PRACTICE TOOLS]

Start Here

1. 🟩 Print your theory units

THIS WEEK: Print Preparatory Units 1, 2 and 3 and put them in your three-ring binder.

I emailed them to your dad during the lesson.
If something I owe you has not arrived, tell me the same day. Not the day before your lesson.
Press Done for the Week when they are in the binder.

2. 🟩 Felt pads for the bench legs

THIS WEEK: Put felt pads on the bottom of the bench legs.

So the bench slides without marking the floor when you set your distance.
Press Done for the Week when they are on.

Theory

3. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 1 (RCM), Getting Started

THIS WEEK: Complete the unit. Answer every question.

Some of it is review. Do it anyway.
There is a quiz on this next lesson.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

4. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 2 (RCM), The Treble Staff

THIS WEEK: Complete the unit. Skip the make-up-a-phrase part on page 20.

Read the instructions on the page.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

5. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 3 (RCM), The Bass Staff

THIS WEEK: Read the instructions and complete the unit.

This is the one that explains beams and flags, which is what tripped you up in the red book.
Press Done for the Week when the unit is finished.

6. 🟪 Keyboard Spelling Challenge, page 14

THIS WEEK: Nothing this week. I am rewriting this one so it says what it actually means.

Page 14 is printed and you have it.

Musicianship

7. 🟨 Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer), Nos. 50, 51 and 52

THIS WEEK: Get 50, 51 and 52 clean, straight through, without stopping.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

Clap the beat. That is the small down-stem line, and it never changes.
Ta the rhythm. That is the top line with the up stems.
One measure of silence clapped first, then start.
When it goes wrong, two tools: go slower, and make a sound on the rest until you feel where it sits, then think it silently.
Keep going through a mistake. Stopping is the only real error.

8. 🟩 Note Reading Flashcards

THIS WEEK: Run the whole deck with a practice partner until every card is correct.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

Practice type: Learning.

Set the beat to m.m. 44. One card every two beats.
Correct cards in one pile, wrong cards in the other. Then run the wrong pile again, and again, until it is empty.
B and D are your pair. Pull just those out, drill them ten times, then put them back in the mix.
Your partner only needs the answers on the back. They do not need to read the front.
All of them correct before the five minutes is up? Press Done and move on.

9. 🟨 Musical Alphabet, Forward and Backward

THIS WEEK: C to C and back, then every letter forward and backward, at m.m. 100.

⏱ Max 4 minutes per practice session.

Set the beat to m.m. 100.
Start on each letter in turn: up an octave, then back down.
Three correct in a row on the ones that fight you.
We pass this off next lesson. Three tries.
When you slip, keep going. You got faster at that today.

10. 🟨 Solfège Reading (Knowles), No. 2 page 10, No. 5 page 11, No. 6 page 12

THIS WEEK: Three correct in a row on each of the three, at m.m. 84 per note.

Set the beat to m.m. 84, one note per beat.
Use the NFPER Method button to count your three in a row.
Only those three. Nothing on pages 15, 23 or 29.
We pass these off at your lesson, three tries per one.
Three clean runs at home is the confidence you bring to the lesson.

Technique

11. 🟩 Fall board hand drop

THIS WEEK: Five drops each hand on the closed fall board, exactly as the video shows.

Find the bubble first. Round knuckle, firm fingertip, loose wrist.
Drop. Then raise the wrist as if a string is pulling it up. Then back down.
Stay connected to the fall board while the wrist is up.
Watch fingers 5, 4 and 1. They should not fan out.
No time cap. Every day.

🎥 Fall board hand drop https://youtu.be/vhL7Pev7Rk4

12. 🟩 Two-set and three-set black keys, drop hand

THIS WEEK: Five drops each hand on the two-set, then five on the three-set. Send me a video.

Fingers 2 and 3. Same motion as the fall board.
Land and stay put. No sliding.
Plant gently, then release the tension after the sound.
Send me one video: once left, once right, on the two-set and on the three-set.
No time cap.

Next Time

13. 🟧 Your sight-reading book

I am bringing you the Piano Adventures Preparatory sight-reading book, and then we start playing pieces.

How to Read by Landmark

The landmarks we're starting with

Bass clef F — line 4. The bass clef is the F clef, and the two dots sit around that line. "Clef" comes from the French clé, meaning key, as in a key that unlocks the names of the notes.

Treble clef G — line 2. The treble clef is the G clef, and it curls around that line.

Ledger lines are the extra short lines added above and below the staff. They work in both directions. This is a term I want you to know by name.

Once the landmarks are automatic, you add the note directly above and directly below each one. That's how the flashcard assignment is built — landmarks first, then their neighbors, then outward.

A note that is touching the staff from outside, like D below the treble staff, is still below the staff. Touching is not the same as being on it.

September 17, 2026 (60 min · in-person)

September 18, 2026 Dustin Gledhill

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 Tools panel below. It logs your practice for you — no comments needed.

Press Start here. It picks up where you stopped last time.
Read the assignment, press Start, practice.
Tap the kind of practice — learning, spotting, memorizing, polishing, run-through or review — then press Done.
Press Next practice item and go again.

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

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

Also in the panel: a metronome, a spotting counter, and recording.

Log only what you actually did, on the day you did it. Five minutes is a real entry. Logging starts October 1.

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

[PRACTICE TOOLS]

This week is about finding out where you are. There's almost no playing on this list on purpose — it's note reading, rhythm, and theory, which are the things that will make everything else faster later. Don't worry about anything on this list being perfect.

One thing to get: a metronome. Either a physical one or a free app on your phone or computer. You'll need it for two of these assignments.

Start Here

Theory

2. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level — Units 1, 2, and 3

⏱ Start the stopwatch.

Print the units out.
Unit 1, Getting Started. Answer all of it. Some will be review for you.
Unit 2, the treble staff. On page 20, skip the make-up-a-phrase part — that's the acronym method, and we're not using it.
Unit 3, the bass staff.
Read the instructions. Theory is only tricky when you skip the instructions.

There's a quiz next lesson on Unit 1

Be ready to teach me about anything in bold.
The best way to prepare is to practice teaching it to your mom or dad. If you can teach it, you'll pass.

💬 Log it: Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level (RCM) — type of practice — minutes.

3. 🟩 Keyboard spelling challenge, page 14

⏱ Start the stopwatch.

Print page 14 out three times and do it three times.
See how fast you can get through it. Some of it is cheesy — do it anyway, it's the fastest way to fix the note reading.

💬 Log it: Keyboard Spelling Challenge — type of practice — minutes.

Musicianship

4. 🟩 Basic Rhythmic Training, Nos. 48-52

⏱ About 5 minutes per practice session. Start the stopwatch.

Prepare all five as if you were going to perform them.
Do all five every time you practice. If one becomes easy, that's great — don't stop practicing it.
Always clap one measure of silence before you start. That's your moment to get ready and think about what you're doing. It applies to every assignment we do.
Clap on the final bar line too — the thick one at the very end.
Clap the lower-stem notes like a metronome and "ta" the top line.
Read the information at the top of page 26, and the pages before it if you need them.

If you make a mistake, don't stop

The skill to build is not pausing. Let the mistake go and keep moving to what's ahead of you.
Eventually you cover mistakes so well that people don't notice. That's a performance skill, not sneakiness, and it's what group classes and performance classes are for.
You already did this well at the lesson — you kept going, and that was the best part.

💬 Log it: Basic Rhythmic Training (Starer) — type of practice — minutes.

5. 🟩 Landmark note flashcards — green band

⏱ Start the stopwatch.

Goal: say them all correctly to a steady beat at m.m. 50 per card. That's what the metronome is for.
If you don't know a card, let it go and move to the next one. Put it in a second pile.
Keep going until everything ends up in one pile.
It helps to have a partner, but you can also just lay them down on the table to the beat.
Only letter names come out of your mouth — no "oh sorry," no "I mean." Same skill as not stopping in the rhythm book.
Quiz on these next lesson. If 50 gets easy, add more cards rather than going faster.

💬 Log it: Note Reading Flashcards — type of practice — minutes.

6. 🟩 Musical alphabet, forward and backward

⏱ Start the stopwatch.

Say the letter names forward and backward, starting from any letter, to a steady beat.
From F, for example: F G A B C D E F, then F E D C B A G F.
Then do it from A, from B, from every letter. Challenge yourself to go faster.
Why: when you see a note on the page, this is what lets you go up or down from it instantly instead of counting.

💬 Log it: Musical Alphabet, Forward and Backward — type of practice — minutes.

7. 🟩 Reading Exercises for Solfège, by Greg Knowles

⏱ Start the stopwatch.

Pages 10, 11, 12 — exercises 1 through 6. Be able to pass them off at m.m. 84.
Pages 15 through 22 — numbers 1 through 18. Also at m.m. 84.
Bonus, if you have time: pages 23 through 29, exercises 1 through 17, also at m.m. 84.
Say the letter names out loud, the same way you do the flashcards.
This book isolates the landmark notes — the early exercises are only C and G — so it's the flashcard drill written out for you.

💬 Log it: Reading Exercises for Solfège (Knowles) — type of practice — minutes.

Technique

Nothing yet. We'll start this once the note reading is moving.

Repertoire

Nothing yet, on purpose. We're building the reading first.

How to Read by Landmark

The landmarks we're starting with

Bass clef F — line 4. The bass clef is the F clef, and the two dots sit around that line. "Clef" comes from the French clé, meaning key, as in a key that unlocks the names of the notes.
Treble clef G — line 2. The treble clef is the G clef, and it curls around that line.
Middle C, treble C (space 3, an octave above middle C), and bass C (space 2). Two ledger lines above the treble staff is also a C, and two below the bass staff is a C — the two clefs mirror each other, which makes them easier to remember.

Ledger lines are the extra short lines added above and below the staff. They work in both directions. This is a term I want you to know by name.

Once the landmarks are automatic, you add the note directly above and directly below each one. That's how the flashcard assignment is built — landmarks first, then their neighbors, then outward.

A note that is touching the staff from outside, like D below the treble staff, is still below the staff. Touching is not the same as being on it.