September 21, 2026 (75 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.

  1. Press Start from # whatever number it shows. It picks up where you stopped last time.

  2. Press Start, read the assignment, practice.

  3. Tap the kind of practice, then press Done.

  4. 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]

Setup

1. 🟩 Three-ring binder — print your music

THIS WEEK: Get the binder and print all five: technique, Clementi, Musette, Twilight Prelude, Arabesque.

  • One-time assignment.

  • Get a three-ring binder and a hole punch.

  • Print and file: technical requirements, Clementi, Musette, Twilight Prelude, Arabesque.

  • Keep the binder open at the piano instead of working out of Newzik.

Technique

All four scales, same method

  • Hands alone first if you need it, then hands together.

  • Three times in a row correctly, using the spotting counter.

  • Focus on N, F and P. No tempo, no metronome yet.

  • Stay further inside the black keys. Your wrist is sitting low and the finger position is off after time away.

2. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 3 (RCM) — D major

THIS WEEK: Hands together.

  • Hands together.

3. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 3 (RCM) — B harmonic minor

THIS WEEK: Hands together. It is the relative minor of D major.

  • Remind yourself this is the relative minor of D major.

4. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 3 (RCM) — B melodic minor

THIS WEEK: Hands together.

5. 🟩 Technical Requirements for Piano, Level 3 (RCM) — F major

THIS WEEK: Hands together. Start where the book says two.

  • Start where the book says two.

Theory

6. 🟩 Celebrate Theory, Level 2, Unit 6 (RCM)

THIS WEEK: Pages 59 to 63, then finish the unit.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

  • Pages 59 to 63.

  • Work inside Newzik.

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

  • Finish the unit before the next lesson, then press Done for the Week.

Musicianship

7. 🟩 Four Star, Level 3, Set 7

THIS WEEK: One day of the set per practice session, Days 1 through 5.

  • One day of the set per practice session. No time limit — press Start and see how long it takes.

  • After the fifth day the set is done. Press Done for the Week.

Repertoire

Clementi — brick practice

  • Four small chunks. Spotting counter, NFPE, right hand then left hand then hands together, three correct in a row each. Skip R.

  • Do each chunk one time and the Practice Guide joins them into bigger ones by itself.

  • Goal for the week: measures 1 to 16 back in your fingers. Anywhere up to 24 is better.

8. 🟩 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, Vivace (Clementi) — listen

THIS WEEK: Listen all the way through once a day while you follow your music.

  • Once a day, first thing. Listen all the way through while you follow your music.

🎥 Clementi, hands together, measures 1 to 16 https://youtube.com/shorts/udVvwB3dX88

9. 🟩 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, Vivace (Clementi), mm. 1-4

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 1-4. Start here.

Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.

  • Start here.

10. 🟩 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, Vivace (Clementi), mm. 5-8

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 5-8.

  • Same as before.

11. 🟩 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, Vivace (Clementi), mm. 9-12

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 9-12.

  • Same as before.

12. 🟩 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, Vivace (Clementi), mm. 13-16

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 13-16.

  • Same as before.

Repertoire

13. 🟩 Musette in D major, BWV Anh. 126 (Anonymous), mm. 17-20

THIS WEEK: Spot mm. 17-20 through NFPER: right hand, left hand, then together.

  • Spotting counter, NFPER — this one includes R.

  • Right hand, left hand, hands together.

  • For the rhythm pass, no faster than 96 per eighth note.

  • D.C. al Fine: play the repeat, then play through to the Fine.

14. 🟩 Twilight Prelude (Springer)

THIS WEEK: Relearn from the beginning, two to four measures at a time.

⏱ Max 4 minutes per practice session.

  • Relearn from the beginning, two to four measures at a time.

  • Right hand, left hand, hands together, in chunks, until it comes back.

  • No spotting counter on this one. Just the timer.

15. 🟩 Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2 (Burgmüller)

THIS WEEK: Left hand only, all the way through.

⏱ Max 3 minutes per practice session.

  • Left hand only, through the whole piece.

  • Focus: the fifth finger actually sounding in the A minor triads.

Goals This Year

Aiming for RCM Level 3 in November.

Technique Toolbox

Close-loud — for fast scale-like passages that need finger independence.

Play the key with a strong attack, close the finger to the key, forward-motion wrist, then relax immediately while the key is still down.

Accent practice — for the same kind of passage.

Use close-loud on one note of a small group, rotating which note gets it while all the others stay fast and soft.

Review List

Practice starting from any measure of any piece below.

RCM Level 2

💚 Minuet in G major, K. 1e (Mozart) (List A)

💚 The Waltz That Floated Away (List B)

💚 Canon in D major (Czerny) (Etude)

RCM Level 1

💚 Angelfish (Anne Crosby Gaudet) (List B)

RCM Preparatory B

💚 Leaping the Waves with Dolphins (Barbara Arens)

💜 To Fly Like an Eagle

Duet

💚 Jingle Bells (duet)