May 9, 2023

Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program Information

  1. Dustin will show you the online RCM exercises next week.

  2. đź’šFour Star: Level A

    1. Finish Set 9 and do Set 10

      1. Playbacks - still working on this.

      2. Play your sight-reading examples slower

      3. Double check register

      4. In sight-reading: careful of repeated note

      5. Playbacks need work:

        1. When I play the chord, listen for the tonic.

        2. Then listen for the direction of the notes and pretend to draw a line in your mind.

  3. đź’šAdditional Ear Training Exercise:

    1. Play the triad and practice singing each

      1. Play the triad

      2. Sing or hum the tone (1, 3, or 5)

      3. Play the tone to check

      4. Sing again.

đź’šTECHNIQUE PREP A

  1. Triad sequence:

    Metronome marking 72, two ticks per chord.

    1. Keep your 3rd fingers round and have a forward motion wrist on each chord.

  2. Broken triads:

    This week, metronome marking 50, three notes per tic (our final goal is 60).

    1. keep your wrist UP when you play these, especially on finger 5. (LH is still a bit more difficult than the RH)

    2. Count out loud “one, two, three, one, two, three” before you begin.

    3. Keep fingers close to the keyboard.

    4. Wrists up

    5. Shoulder down! (Very important)

    6. Elbow relaxed.

đź–¤Czerny, Opus. 823, No. 2

  1. REVIEW

đź–¤Czerny, Opus. 823, No. 3

  1. REVIEW

đź–¤CZERNY Op. 823 No. 4

  1. TO PASS:

    1. WRISTS UP / FINGERS CLOSE TO KEYS. DON’T COME OFF THE KEYBOARD SO FAR.

    2. FINGERS ROUND.

    3. NO CHOPPING 5TH FINGER IN RH.

  1. 💚What’s That Noise by Martha Mier (L. A)

    1. Where are you dynamics? Please have these prepared for your next lesson.

    2. WORK ON THE EXPRESSION! All dynamics need to be louder or softer, depending on the symbol.

    3. MEMORIZE: memory is a bit shaky in mm. 9-16

  2. đź’šA Skating Waltz by Boris Berlin (1907-2001) (L. A)

    1. Practice starting from 3 different measures each practice session.

    2. Practice with and without the music.

  3. đź–¤Baby Kangaroo by Anne Crosby Gaudet (L. A)

  4. đź’šAllegro in C Major op. 1 no. 4 by Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809) (L. A)

    1. Remember to lift your wrists at the end of each slur.

    2. Memorize (especially mm. 14-15)

  5. đź’›Freddie the Frog (Prep B)

    1. Start from any measure.

Once a week, review the following piece:

  1. đź’śThe Spooky Song

  2. đź’šCzerny Op. 823 NO. 1 with curved fingers.

THEORY: Prep Level

  1. đź–¤Unit 5: Pick up with Dustin next week at 8th notes / rests.