September 6, 2026 (7 of 8 - in-person)

September 6, 2026 (7 of 8)

September 6, 2026 · 60 min · in person

Forward Wrist, Always in Motion

Logging — your first assignment

  1. Log every practice item, every day. As soon as you finish working on one item, and before you move to the next, write it in the comment section of this post: the name of the item, then the minutes you spent. Then go on.

  2. Item by item, not all at the end. "Sonatina in C major — 12 min," then move on.

  3. You practiced the theory and the RCM melody playbacks this week and neither showed up, because neither was logged. If it isn't logged, it isn't in the record.

  4. Logging officially starts October 1. Use September to build the habit.

  5. We're running a studio competition for whoever is most consistent with daily logging, with a reward at a group class. It's about consistency, not who practices the most minutes.

Technique

🟩The Virtuoso Pianist, No. 1, by Charles-Louis Hanon (1819-1900)

  1. Close-loud, hands together now — this changes from hands alone.

  2. Only mm. 12–17: the third system of the first page, the last three measures of the ascent and the first three of the descent.

  3. Also the last few measures of the exercise.

  4. Left hand especially: the instant you hear the sound start, relax. If you keep pushing into the key, nothing moves.

  5. Next lesson we start speed building.

🟪RCM Technical Requirements: Level 3

  1. We'll decide together which scales to work on — that's why this didn't get done, and that's fine. We'll sort it at the next lesson.

  2. Write "NFPER" next to each item in Newzik. Focus on one or more at a time and check them off as you go. Slow tempo.

  3. Keep the fingers close to the keys.

Theory

🟩Theory Level 3: Unit 8

  1. Units 7 and 8 are both done — nice work getting ahead.

  2. Still to do: study the musical terms and signs, the last two pages of the unit.

⬛️Theory Level 4

  1. Listed so you know it's coming. Do not start this yet.

Musicianship

🟩Sight-Reading 2B

  1. Complete pages 80–84 (the numbers written in the music).

🟩Four Star Level 3

  1. Complete Set 9.

  2. RCM Moodle melody playbacks: keep going, and log them. You did a lot of these and none of it was recorded.

Repertoire

🟩Minuet in G Minor, BWV Anh. 115, attr. Christian Petzold (1677-1733), from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (L. 3, A)

Expression — assignment

  1. mm. 19–20, right hand only. Crescendo up to the high point of the slur, then decrescendo into the end of it. Marked in yellow highlight in your score.

  2. Petzold did not write those dynamics in. The slur is what tells us we can do it — the shape of the musical thought.

  3. The general rule, and it applies to other slurs too: at the end of a slur, get quieter.

  4. Left hand stays as it is. This is a right-hand assignment.

  5. Have a plan for every measure — crescendo, forte, staccato, detached, whatever it is. That planning is what makes the expression.

Sticky staccato (portato) — assignment

  1. Blanket focus this week: forward wrist on every portato note. Always in motion.

  2. The sound is often good already, but the wrist gets stuck for a moment, and that builds tension.

  3. Use the same motion you found in Lemon Sherbet Rag: approach the note, then follow through.

  4. m. 30 is where I hear it most. Watch that one particularly, but apply it everywhere.

Ornaments — assignment

Four ornament measures: mm. 8, 13, 15 and 31.

  1. Faster and lighter. Think of each ornament as piano — softer than the notes around it. They'll come out about even, and they'll sound smoother.

  2. Start with the wrist level with the white keys or slightly below, then drop forward.

  3. Fingers round, almost hook-like, but relaxed — not tense. Firm fingertips.

  4. Follow through, then release.

  5. Right hand alone, 5 times correctly, each of the four measures. Then add the left hand. It may suddenly feel harder hands together — that's normal. Check that the wrist is still dropping once the hands are together.

  6. An ornament can be played with tension, but it has a far greater chance of being inaccurate. Lightness and relaxation is what makes them reliable.

  7. m. 7, last note. Don't cut the eighth note short in anticipation of the ornament in m. 8. Give it its full value, then go.

  8. The ornament note is E-flat, not E-natural. We checked the harmony — the passage is moving to G, and a natural there would be cancelling the key signature for no reason. The flat is what you had; keep it.

Starting from random measures

  1. Keep doing this — you should be able to begin anywhere in the piece, so it isn't only muscle memory.

  2. Choose the measures yourself, including starting in the middle of a measure, not only on the downbeat. Pick the harder ones.

🟩Sonatina in A Minor, Op. 94, No. 4, first movement: Allegro moderato, by Albert Biehl (L. 3, B)

Notes, rhythm, position and fingering are all in good shape, and the portato is consistent throughout — that's a big thing out of the way. Expression is the whole focus now. One or two more lessons and this could be finished.

  1. mm. 1 and 3, and the measures like them — assignment. Marked in orange highlight. The third beat of the left hand (the top note — the E in m. 1) is getting accented right as the right-hand eighth notes start. Play beat 3 softer in both hands. Think of the right hand starting softer too, and it fixes both at once.

  2. m. 13 — the first forte. Stronger. It has to be louder than it is.

  3. m. 14 — pop the wrist up. You're getting tense here. Forte does not mean tense: popping the wrist is what lets you play strongly and stay loose. Both hands, not just the right.

  4. Getting tense while reaching for the correct notes is normal. Practice the passage relaxed and the right notes will follow — it doesn't work the other way round.

  5. Take the diminuendo at the end of that section down properly. The contrast sets up the dolce section that follows.

  6. m. 26 — poco ritardando, then a tempo at m. 27. This is where the theme comes back, and slowing a little exaggerates that return. You weren't doing the ritardando — make it clearly slower, then snap back.

  7. mm. 31–33, and m. 34 — bigger sound overall. Unlock the left-hand wrist. Right now the sound goes up, down, up, down — keep it all up. Every note has a movement.

🟩Lemon Sherbet Rag by Barbara Arents (L. 3, C)

  1. Go through the whole piece and make sure the wrist is always in motion. Never locked. Apply what we've been doing in Hanon and the Biehl — especially the Biehl.

  2. There are still moments near the beginning where the wrist just stops. Those are the ones to catch.

  3. Practice with the metronome at ♩ = 108, then 112, then 116.

🟩Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126, Anonymous, from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725) (L. 3, A)

  1. Go through the whole piece and make sure the wrist is not locking anywhere. Loosen up the same way you do for the trills.

  2. mm. 3 and 7 — approach the first note with a dropped wrist, exactly like the ornaments in the Minuet. Your attacks aren't always tidy here, and the drop-and-follow-through should fix that on its own.

  3. Practice starting from three different random measures each practice session, sometimes from the middle of a measure rather than the downbeat.

🟪Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36, No. 1, first movement: Allegro, by Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) (L. 3, B)

Start your practice with this one. It got the least attention this week, so it goes first next week and we'll begin the lesson with it.

  1. New: practice starting from three different random places each practice session.

  2. mm. 9 and 11 — right hand, raise the wrist on the repeated quarter notes.

  3. m. 3 left hand — be very careful coming off the rests.

  4. Expressive decisions from the hierarchy of the beat. m. 1, for example: of the last two notes, which one is softer?

  5. Keep the left-hand Alberti bass softer in mm. 9, 11, 32 and 34.

  6. Next lesson we increase the tempo.

🟪The Stormy Sea by Anne Crosby Gaudet (L. 3, C)

  1. Come off with hand and foot quickly on the last note of the piece.

Focus Tracker

💚💚💛💛💚💛💜❤️💚💚💜❤️💚💜❤️🖤❤️❤️💚💚💚💚💚❤️💚💚🖤🧡💚💚💚💚🧡💚❤️🧡❤️💚💚💚💚💛💚❤️
(53 points)

  • ❤️ = 4 POINTS (+ bonus = no reminders)

  • 💚 = 3 POINTS

  • 💛 = 2 POINTS

  • 💜 = 1 POINT

  • 🖤 = 0 POINTS

I Spy Practice Video

HERE IS THE LINK TO I SPY PRACTICE VIDEO

Review List

Review the pieces on this list, with your music, one time each week.

  • 🟩Etude in D Minor, Op. 82, No. 65, by Cornelius Gurlitt (1820-1901) (L. 2, Etude)

  • 🟩Écossaise in G Major, WoO 23, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) (L. 2, A)

  • 🟩I Spy by Melody Bober (b. 1955) (L. 2, B)

  • 🟩Farewell, Op. 98, No. 4, by Alexander Gretchaninoff (1864-1956) (L. 2, B)

  • 💚Cranky Cat by Teresa Richert (b. 1964) (L. 1, C)

  • 💚Far Away by Teresa Richert (b. 1964) (L. 1, Etude)

  • 💚This Guy's Disguised by Bradley Sowash (L. 1, B)

  • 💚German Dance in D Major, Hob. IX:22, No. 2, by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) (L. 1, A)

  • 💜Looking-Glass River by Nancy & Randall Faber (Prep. B)

  • 💚Raptors by Kevin Olson (Prep. B)

  • 💚New Shoes by Linda Niamath (Prep B)

  • 💚The Lively Boy (Prep A)

  • 💚Leaping the Waves with Dolphins (Prep B)

  • 💚Curious Cat

  • 💚Marching by Kabalevsky

🎨 Color-Focus Practice (NFPER)

At the top of your music, write NFPER using the following color system:

  • N – Notes – correct pitches and accidentals (🟥 Red)

  • F – Fingering – consistent, effective finger choices (🟨 Yellow)

  • P – Position – hand shape, posture, and keyboard geography (🟧 Orange)

  • E – Expression – phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, etc. (🟪 Purple)

  • R – Rhythm – steady pulse, accurate timing, and rests (🟦 Blue)

✅ If you're only recording audio, just use NER.

Step-by-Step Practice Flow

  1. Record your section once — video is best, but audio is fine too.

  2. Listen back with one color/goal in mind.

  3. As you listen, mark your music using that color anywhere it needs improvement.

  4. Repeat for each remaining color, one at a time, until all five have been addressed.

  5. Choose a small "spot" section from your markings — just a few measures or a tricky passage.

  6. "Spot" until it's solid — meaning ✅ 3 times in a row correctly, or ✅ 5 total correct repetitions, then move on.

  7. Focus on one or two colors at a time while practicing that spot.

  8. Use the troubleshooting checklist below if you're stuck.

🔧 Troubleshooting Tips

🎯 If you've tried to fix something three times in-a-row and it's still not working, don't just repeat it — troubleshoot:

  • Do you need to slow down?

  • Should you practice hands alone?

  • Could you make the spot even smaller?

  • Would technical exercises help (staccato, accents, etc.)?

  • Do you need to think ahead more clearly?