October 5, 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.

  • 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 1 (RCM), C major, right hand

THIS WEEK: C major, right hand, with the metronome at m.m. 44.

  • Set the beat to m.m. 44. That is one tick per quarter note.

  • Play eighth notes against it. Two notes for every tick.

  • Stop saying "eighth note" and listen for the tick instead. Every other note gets a tick.

  • Elbows in front of your body, wrist up, and don't drop the wrist on the thumb.

2. 🟨 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM), C major, left hand

THIS WEEK: C major, left hand, with the metronome at m.m. 44.

  • Exactly the same as the right hand.

  • Set the beat to m.m. 44. Two notes for every tick.

  • Watch the wrist. It flattened out at the lesson.

3. ⬛️ Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM), A natural minor, right hand

On hold. Don't practice this one.

4. ⬛️ Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM), A natural minor, left hand

On hold. Don't practice this one.

Theory

5. 🟥 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 5 (RCM)

THIS WEEK: Complete pages 41 to 44.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

  • Pages 41, 42, 43 and 44. Pages 39 and 40 are done.

  • It is in your white three-ring binder.

  • This is the third week on this unit. It needs to be finished this time.

  • When the timer goes off, shut the book and move to the next assignment.

  • Finish the pages and press Done for the Week.

Musicianship

6. 🟩 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 1 (Berlin and Markow), Set 2

THIS WEEK: Set 2. Days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, one day per practice session.

  • You prepare the set at home. I test you on it at the lesson.

  • Sight playing: study it first, then play it once and don't stop to correct.

  • Study the rhythm first, then the notes, then the fingering.

  • Check the key signature before you start.

  • Clap back and play back are the ear tests. Listen twice, then answer.

  • Use the book, not Newzik. The book stays in your binder.

  • After Day 5 the set is done. Press Done for the Week.

7. 🟩 Note Reading Flashcards, Treble Clef

THIS WEEK: Say the note name the moment it appears.

  • Press play and follow the video.

  • Don't count up from G. Look at the note and say the letter.

  • Every day.

🎥 Flash Card Video, Treble Clef https://youtu.be/ClxsPTfBH5A

8. 🟩 Note Reading Flashcards, Bass Clef

THIS WEEK: Say the note name the moment it appears.

  • Press play and follow the video.

  • Same rule as treble. No counting up.

  • Every day.

🎥 Flash Card Video, Bass Clef https://youtu.be/TCL1EjHcLQQ

Repertoire

9. 🟥 Andante in G minor, from Fantasia in G minor, TWV 33:17 (Telemann)

THIS WEEK: Four measures at a time: right hand, left hand, then together.

  • Piano Repertoire, Level 1, page 7.

  • Right hand alone, then left hand alone, then hands together. That order, every time.

  • Hands together first is the thing we are fixing. Follow the order.

  • Say the bottom note out loud before you play it.

  • Detached on the downbeat.

  • This is a required piece for your Royal Conservatory exam.

10. 🟪 Heavenly Blue (Gerou)

THIS WEEK: Measures 11 to 19, no pauses. You play it for me next lesson.

  • Measures 11 to 19, straight through with no pauses.

  • We ran out of time at the lesson, so this carries over as it was.

11. 🟨 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 1-8, hands together

THIS WEEK: Hands together, measure 1 to the downbeat of measure 8.

  • Page 41.

  • Read the note off the page, not off your fingers. Look up at the music and say the letter.

  • The four small chunks are one assignment now.

12. ⬛️ Early One Morning (arr. Silvester)

On hold. Don't practice this one yet.

13. ⬛️ This Guy's Disguised (Sowash)

On hold. Don't practice this one yet.

How Many Times Through

  • Three full rotations of this whole list before your next lesson. Five would be better.

  • Short day? Five minutes still counts as a day. Don't skip it entirely.

  • If you only ever reach the first few assignments, you are not rotating. Move on and come back.

RCM Certificate Program

  • Goal: Level 1, May-June 2027 exam session, at the National Opera Center.

  • Andante is your List A. The Snake is your List C. Heavenly Blue is your etude.

  • Early One Morning and This Guy's Disguised are both List B pieces. One of them becomes your B.

  • Four Star is the sight reading and ear training part of the exam. That is what the tests at your lesson are.

Books on Loan

  • Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM)

  • Celebration Series, 6th ed., Piano Repertoire, Level 1

  • Celebration Series, 6th ed., Piano Etudes, Level 1

  • Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 1 (2015 Edition)

Four studio books. No markings, they come back. They live in Finn's Piano Binder, and they go back in the binder after every practice.

Coming Up

  • Group Class 1 is Saturday October 17 or Sunday October 18. Tell me which one, or tell me you can't come.

  • Official tracking starts Monday, October 19.