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.