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 harmonic minor, right hand

THIS WEEK: A harmonic minor, right hand.

Harmonic means the seventh scale degree is raised a half step.
No metronome while you are still learning it. Get comfortable first.
Tuck the thumb under. Do not twist the wrist.
One, two, tuck. Not one, two, twist.

2. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 1 (RCM), A harmonic minor, left hand

THIS WEEK: A harmonic minor, left hand.

Same scale, same tuck. On the way down is where the thumb goes under.
Wrist up on the fourth and fifth fingers.

Theory

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

THIS WEEK: Page 50. That is the whole assignment.

Pages 46 to 49 are done and checked.
Press Done for the Week once page 50 is finished. One page, so when it is done there is nothing left.
Be ready to tell me about the time signature next lesson. Top number is how many beats in the measure. Bottom number says what kind of note gets one beat, and 4 means a quarter note.

Musicianship

4. 🟩 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 1 (Berlin and Markow), Set 3

THIS WEEK: Finish day 5.

Day 4 is done. We did it together at the lesson.
Press Done for the Week once day 5 is finished.

5. 🟩 Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests, Level 1 (Berlin and Markow), Set 4

THIS WEEK: Set 4, after Set 3 is done. One day per practice session.

Try to get all five days. Six practice days finishes both sets.
Name the notes bottom to top, and check the clef before you play.
Harmonic means played together. Melodic means one after the other.
For a clap back, clap one measure of silence first, then come in.
Find the key signature before you start. It tells you what scale you are in.
Ask yourself where middle C is before every single one.

6. 🟪 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.

Same assignment as last week.
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

7. 🟪 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.

Same assignment as last week.
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

8. 🟩 Andante in G minor, from Fantasia in G minor, TWV 33:17 (Telemann)

THIS WEEK: Expression. All the correct dynamics.

NFPER focus: expression.

Piano Repertoire, Level 1, page 7.
Your notes and fingering are sounding better than ever, so this week is the dynamics.
Mezzo forte, then softer, then suddenly strong. Make the changes obvious.
If you play the first repeat, play the second one too. Both or neither.
For the exam it is the first repeat only.
This is a required piece for your Royal Conservatory exam.

9. 🟩 Heavenly Blue (Gerou)

THIS WEEK: The entire piece, with a focus on clean pedal changes.

Sit on the edge of the bench so your leg has room, and keep the heel down.
Change the pedal on the note, not just before it. Up and down on the same note.
Hold the pedal all the way down long enough to catch it.
Clean pedal changes make the piece sound about 25% better on their own.
You can play it from memory. To keep it, use the music sometimes, and do right hand alone and left hand alone sometimes.

10. 🟩 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 8 to the end, hands alone

THIS WEEK: Measure 8 to the end. Right hand alone, then left hand alone.

Page 41.
New section. Hands alone first.
Double check your left hand position before you start. Where is middle C?
Tuck instead of twist, the same as your scales.
Read the note off the page, not off your fingers.

11. 🟩 The Snake (Christopher), mm. 8 to the end, hands together

THIS WEEK: Measure 8 to the end, hands together.

Hands alone first, then put them together.
Go as slow as you need to. Hang on a note until you find the next one.

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.