September 23, 2026 (1 of 8)

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.

One type of practice per assignment. If something needs two, it gets two assignments.

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. 🟩 Print your music from Newzik

THIS WEEK: Print Left Alone, put it in your binder, then press Done for the Week.

  • One-time assignment. I put fingering into the Newzik copy of Left Alone for you.

  • Print it and put it in your binder.

  • Press Done for the Week once it is printed.

Technique

2. 🟩 The Virtuoso Pianist, No. 1 (Hanon)

THIS WEEK: Rhythm practice on mm. 12-17. Two longs as close-louds, then two shorts, and rotate the pattern four ways.

⏱ Max 6 minutes per practice session.

  • Same section: mm. 12-17.

  • Tools you already have: close-loud, alternating accents.

  • New this week: rhythm practice. Two long notes as close-louds, then two shorts as fast and as soft as you can. While you play the shorts, think about your landing point on the next long one.

  • Rotate the pattern. Long long short short, then long short short long, then short short long long, then short long long short.

  • This is what weeds out the weak links in a passage.

  • Metronome no faster than ♩ = 88.

  • Next week we move to sprints: one close-loud note followed by three really fast ones.

🎥 Rhythm practice https://youtube.com/shorts/my1ow7rycLo

🎥 Alternating accent practice https://youtu.be/Xb-E9AIoso8

[INSERT HANON RHYTHM PATTERNS IMAGE]

[INSERT HANON ALTERNATING ACCENTS IMAGE]

3. 🟩 RCM Technique, Level 3

THIS WEEK: The formula pattern in D major, hands together, two octaves, ♩ = 80, and the chromatic starting on D. I'll hear both next lesson.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

  • Work through the table on page 4: scales, formula pattern, chromatic, tonic triads.

  • Next lesson I will hear two things: the formula pattern in D major, hands together, two octaves, ♩ = 80. And the chromatic starting on D.

  • The chromatics are the easier of the two. The formula pattern is the hard one.

  • If you run into note problems, use accent practice or rhythm practice to smooth them out.

  • Untidy attacks today. The first joint of your finger is wobbly in places.

  • Creepy-crawly over the keyboard. Your elbows are sitting a little behind your tummy, so scoop back.

Where each one stands

🟩 D major · 🟩 F major

🟨 B-flat major

🟨 B minor, D minor, G minor — harmonic and melodic

Theory

4. 🟧 Theory, Level 4

THIS WEEK: I'm bringing the first unit of Level 4 next time.

Nothing for you to do on this one.

Musicianship

5. 🟩 PA Sightreading, Level 2B

THIS WEEK: Pages 86-90, then press Done for the Week.

  • Pages 86 to 90. That finishes the book.

  • One page per practice session. Two is fine if you want.

  • Press Done for the Week when you reach page 90.

6. 🟩 Four Star, Level 3

THIS WEEK: Set 10, then press Done for the Week.

  • Finish Set 10. There is no Set 11.

  • One day of the set per practice session.

  • Press Done for the Week when Set 10 is finished.

7. 🟪 RCM Online Ear Training

THIS WEEK: Clap-backs only. Watch the end of the rhythm.

⏱ Max 5 minutes per practice session.

  • We did not get to it. Same assignment.

  • Clap-backs only. No melody playbacks — those are solid. In the clap-backs, watch the end of the rhythm: that's where the errors are.

  • You don't have to do them all at once.

Repertoire

Left Alone — all four chunks, same method

NFPER focus: notes, fingering, position, expression

  • NFPER method. First focus is notes, fingering, position and expression all at once. They arrive already selected.

  • Second focus adds rhythm.

  • Metronome no faster than ♩ = 46.

  • Pedal: change on the downbeat of every measure, unless the music says otherwise.

  • Let go of the notes after you play them, but connect anything stepwise. Seconds and thirds you can play legato.

  • When you are learning a section, always play through to the downbeat of the next measure.

  • What happens after that. Once you get one round on all four chunks, they join into mm. 1-8 and mm. 9-18, same method. After another full round they become the whole piece — and then drop NFPER: run it through with no pauses, record yourself, and send it to me.

8. 🟩 Left Alone (Grill), mm. 1-4

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 1-4. Once all four chunks have a round they join into bigger ones.

Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.

  • Start here.

9. 🟩 Left Alone (Grill), mm. 5-8

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

  • Same as mm. 1-4.

10. 🟩 Left Alone (Grill), mm. 9-12

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

  • Same as mm. 1-4.

11. 🟩 Left Alone (Grill), mm. 13-18

THIS WEEK: One round of mm. 13-18.

  • Same as mm. 1-4. This one runs to the end of the piece.

Repertoire

12. 🟩 Musette in D major, BWV Anh. 126 (Anonymous)

THIS WEEK: Record a run-through, circle every uneven sixteenth-note group, then spot them.

⏱ Max 7 minutes per practice session.

  • Audio-record a run-through of the whole piece, then listen back.

  • Listen only to the sixteenth notes. Circle every group that is uneven.

  • Spot the uneven ones: three correct in a row, or use close-loud or accent practice.

  • Then start from four random measures and play six measures from each.

13. 🟩 Lemon Sherbet Rag (Arens)

THIS WEEK: Expression. Work the dynamic plan, measure by measure.

⏱ Max 6 minutes per practice session.

  • Shoulders relaxed and down, while the wrist stays active. Down does not mean lazy.

  • When you get louder, more movement in the elbows and arms, so the shoulders don't come up.

  • For a big sound, stop pushing into the keys. Drop the natural weight of your arm, with a curved finger.

  • Your hand is the claw and your arm is the chain. Firm at the hand, loose in the arm, and release it straight away.

Expression, and this is the focus

  • mm. 5-6: decrescendo down to piano by the end of 6, then suddenly mezzo forte.

  • End of m. 10: subito piano. m. 11 stays quiet. m. 12 mezzo piano, so you have somewhere to crescendo through mm. 13-14.

  • mm. 16-17: crescendo to forte, from the end of 16 to the middle of 17.

  • m. 19: subito piano, so you can crescendo and be forte by m. 22.

  • m. 21: no crescendo. It starts already at forte.

14. 🟩 The Stormy Sea (Gaudet)

THIS WEEK: Speed build: 96, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116.

⏱ Max 6 minutes per practice session.

  • Make all of the piano markings softer.

  • Speed build: 96, then 100, 104, 108, 112, 116.

  • Come off with hand and foot quickly on the last note. Drop weight, then release — don't push into the keyboard.

15. 🟪 Minuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115 (Petzold)

THIS WEEK: Nothing. We didn't get to it, so we pick it up next lesson.

  • We did not get to it. Same assignment.

  • Right-hand focus. The left hand is too loud whenever the right hand plays. The right hand has the melody and needs to sit above it.

  • Ornaments: keep mm. 8, 13, 15, 31. Start with the wrist at or below the level of the white keys, then drop forward. Every trill that didn't speak had a high wrist.

  • Also play mm. 6-9, watching the low wrist going into the ornament. If the thumb sounds wobbly, change the hand position rather than repeating it the same way.

  • Starting from random measures still needs work. Begin anywhere, including mid-measure.

16. 🟪 Sonatina in A minor, Op. 94 No. 4, I. Allegro moderato (Biehl)

THIS WEEK: Nothing. We didn't get to it, so we pick it up next lesson.

  • We did not get to it. Same assignment.

  • mm. 15-16: more diminuendo. End the phrase in m. 16 quieter, with a tiny slowdown.

  • mm. 16-17: more breath between the sections. Do it because you know the phrase has ended, not because it's printed.

  • mm. 23-25: the left hand sticks in the keys on the half-note chords. Detach them slightly. In m. 25, lift off to restrike so the chord speaks.

  • Downbeat of m. 1: be in motion. Hands in your lap, then come in already moving, or the note may not speak.

17. 🟪 Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, I. Allegro (Clementi)

THIS WEEK: Nothing. We didn't get to it, so we pick it up next lesson.

  • We did not get to it. Same assignment.

  • Start from random measures, two minutes straight. Pick them yourself, including mid-measure.

  • Settle the beat in your head before you start.

18. ⬛️ Étude in D major, Op. 37 No. 17 (Lemoine)

  • Your second etude, the one you picked. Don't start it yet.

Practice Performances

When you play something all the way through for me: no stopping, no fixing, no changing the tempo. Spotting is different — stopping is fine there.

Focus Tracker

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

❤️ = 4 POINTS (+ bonus = no reminders)

💚 = 3 POINTS

💛 = 2 POINTS

💜 = 1 POINT

🖤 = 0 POINTS

I Spy Practice Video

[INSERT I SPY PRACTICE VIDEO LINK]

Review List

Review these with your music, one time each week.

RCM Level 2

Écossaise in G Major, WoO 23, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) (List A)

I Spy by Melody Bober (b. 1955) (List B)

Farewell, Op. 98, No. 4, by Alexander Gretchaninoff (1864-1956) (List B)

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

RCM Level 1

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

This Guy's Disguised by Bradley Sowash (List B)

Cranky Cat by Teresa Richert (b. 1964) (List C)

Far Away by Teresa Richert (b. 1964) (Etude)

RCM Preparatory B

Looking-Glass River by Nancy & Randall Faber

New Shoes by Linda Niamath

Raptors by Kevin Olson

Leaping the Waves with Dolphins by Barbara Arens

RCM Preparatory A

Marching, Op. 39, No. 3, by Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)

Curious Cat by Teresa Richert (b. 1964)

The Lively Boy