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.
If you open the assignment and get your page ready, let the clock run. That is still practice. Only pause if you actually walk away.
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.
Days matter more than minutes. A ten minute session still counts as a day. Four short days beats one long one.
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.
Official tracking started Monday, October 19.
🟩 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), A natural minor, right hand
THIS WEEK: A natural minor, right hand, at m.m. 52 per quarter note.
Last week it sat at 44. Push it to 52.
Play all the way to the top. You stopped short of the full range last time.
Bubble hand. Wrist up, never in the lava.
Elbows in front of your body, and don't drop the wrist on the thumb.
2. 🟨 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM), A natural minor, left hand
THIS WEEK: A natural minor, left hand, at m.m. 52 per quarter note.
Exactly the same as the right hand.
Watch the wrist. It drops when you stop thinking about it.
Theory
3. 🟨 Celebrate Theory, Preparatory Level, Unit 5 (RCM)
THIS WEEK: Pages 46, 47, 48 and 49.
Max 6 minutes.
Pages 41 to 45 are done.
A pair of eighth notes shares one beat. Each one gets half a beat.
They are joined by a beam. A flag is a beam that got ripped off, so that note stands alone.
Say ta for every note, fast ones included. One syllable, every time.
Tap the beat with your left hand while your right hand taps the notes.
One page a day is plenty. When the timer goes off, press Done and move on.
Press Done for the Week once page 49 is finished.
It is in your white three-ring binder.
Musicianship
4. 🟨 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 1 (Berlin and Markow), Set 3
THIS WEEK: Days 2, 3, 4 and 5. One day per practice session.
Max 7 minutes.
Day 1 is done. We did it together at the lesson.
Always read the instructions first. They tell you what to do.
Draw the arrows for the direction of each hand before you play.
One flat in the key signature means F major. Check the key before you start.
For a clap back, tap one measure of silence first, then come in.
Press Done for the Week once day 5 is finished.
5. 🟨 Note Reading Flashcards, Treble Clef
THIS WEEK: Pass off drills 3, 4, 5 and 6. Say the name and play it at the piano.
Max 5 minutes.
One drill at a time. Don't move to drill 4 until drill 3 is clean.
Right hand, and say the letter out loud as you play.
Play it where it actually is on the keyboard.
Try to say it before the video does.
🎥 Flash Card Video, Treble Clef https://youtu.be/ClxsPTfBH5A
6. 🟨 Note Reading Flashcards, Bass Clef
THIS WEEK: Pass off drills 2 and 3. Say the name and play it at the piano.
Max 5 minutes.
Sit in the center of the piano, right below middle C.
Left hand, and say it out loud as you play.
Wrist up, bubble hand.
Repeat a drill until you are confident before going to the next one. They get harder.
🎥 Flash Card Video, Bass Clef https://youtu.be/TCL1EjHcLQQ
Repertoire
7. 🟪 Andante in G minor, from Fantasia in G minor, TWV 33:17 (Telemann)
THIS WEEK: Wrist up and forward wrist in measures 5 and 6, and measures 9 and 10.
NFPER focus: position.
Piano Repertoire, Level 1, page 7.
Same assignment as last week. We skipped it at the lesson for time, so don't skip it at home.
Keep the wrist level, fingers round, and forward wrist on the last note.
Right hand alone in those spots first, then hands together in the same spots.
This is a required piece for your Royal Conservatory exam.
8. 🟪 Heavenly Blue (Gerou)
THIS WEEK: Measures 11 to 19, no pauses. You play it for me next lesson.
Same assignment as last week.
Straight through, no stopping to fix.
9. 🟨 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 4-5, hands together
THIS WEEK: Hands together, measures 4 and 5, three times correctly.
Page 41.
Go as slow as you need to. Hang on a note for ten seconds if that is what it takes to find the next one.
Notes and fingering first. Rhythm comes after those are solid.
Read the note off the page, not off your fingers.
10. 🟨 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 5-7, hands together
THIS WEEK: Hands together, measures 5, 6 and 7, three times correctly.
Measure 5, right hand, first note is G. Check it before you play.
Watch where the hand changes position and look ahead to it.
11. 🟨 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 7-8, hands together
THIS WEEK: Hands together, measures 7 and 8, three times correctly.
Finger 4 on the C.
Don't guess. Say the note out loud if you are not sure.
12. 🟨 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 1-8, hands together
THIS WEEK: Hands together, measures 1 to 8, three times correctly.
This is the whole first half joined up. The three chunks above are the isolation; this is the put-together.
Keep your eyes on the music the whole way.
Don't let your ear be too bossy.
13. ⬛️ Early One Morning (arr. Silvester)
On hold. Don't practice this one yet.
14. ⬛️ 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.