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.

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.

Practiced somewhere without the guide, like at school? Open the guide as soon as you have your phone again, tap what you practiced, give it five seconds, and press Done. I am tracking consistent practice days more than minutes, so the number matters less than the day showing up.

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]

Repertoire

1. 🟩 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), page one

THIS WEEK: Spot every red marking on the first page. Each one three times in a row correctly, before any other work on this piece.

The pedal in the last measure: two full beats down, then lift it gradually. Put it in the score as another red spot and do it a few times a day.
Going into the following measure, be careful not to catch the pedal.
Second system, left hand: you know where the notes go wrong. Four measures at a time.
First system: the timing between measures wants to be more precise. You are stealing a little time off them, and the drama at the opening is worth playing straight.
Be careful lifting the pedal in general.

2. 🟩 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 10-11, trill

THIS WEEK: Spot measures 10 and 11 for the trill, the fingering, and the timing, so the trill starts on the beat.

Start the C-sharp on the actual beat, together with the left hand downbeat, not half a beat early.
We listened to four well-known pianists and they did it two different ways, so there is no single right answer. On the beat is how it is written, and that is what we are doing.
Change the fingering so you are not using 2, 3, 2.

3. 🟩 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 17-18

THIS WEEK: Spot measures 17 and 18 for notes, fingering, and no pauses, so you can cruise through them.

Brick practice: combine the chunks after one round each.

Measure 18, second bass note, is F double sharp, which sounds as G. Circle it.
Left hand alone, right hand alone, then together.

4. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 19-20

THIS WEEK: Measures 19 and 20, as a two-measure chunk.

Hands apart first, since you have been away from it.
Check the fourth note of the left hand in measure 19. Circle it and double check it next time.

5. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 21-22

THIS WEEK: Measures 21 and 22, as a two-measure chunk.

This is where it modulates to A major. Think A major scale through this part.
Measure 21, right hand: the note is C-sharp. The second time through it is in the minor mode, which is what makes it easy to confuse.
There is a D natural in both measures, left hand and right hand.
Your triplet against two in the second measure was good. The first measure needs the work.

6. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 23-24

THIS WEEK: Measures 23 and 24, as a two-measure chunk. Notes and fingering first, then speed it up.

Start measure 23 further up the key, not down at the end.
Fingering on the grace notes: 5, 2, 4, 1 does not work for you, so use 5, 1, 4, 1. Play them fast.
Measure 23, beat two: the sixteenth is not as fast as you think it is. Count the eighths under it and the grace note will feel like a grace note.
Check the last note of the left hand and circle it.
If you make mistakes three times running, go back to hands alone rather than pushing on.

7. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 25-26

THIS WEEK: Measures 25 and 26, as a two-measure chunk.

We are in F-sharp minor here, the relative minor of the A major you just came from.
The D-sharp and E-sharp at the start come from the melodic form of the scale. Write "F-sharp minor, melodic" in the score.
Right hand, then left hand, then together.

8. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 27-28

THIS WEEK: Measures 27 and 28, as a two-measure chunk.

These two land back in C-sharp minor.
Ask yourself what scale or chord you are in at the start of every chunk.

9. 🟩 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 29-32, layer practice

THIS WEEK: Measures 29 to 32. Right hand, left hand, then together, in layers.

Right hand alone a couple of times, getting the rhythm precise. Count the second half of the measure out loud: three and four and.
Then the left hand, bass notes only. Then add the middle note. Then the top note, rolling it and letting go.
Then hands together, two more times correctly, and call it a day on the section. Come back the next day and do the same thing.
Watch the F double sharp, C sharp, F double sharp in the left hand.
This is the method to use on the sections that have been stalling you. It feels longer while you are doing it and you learn it faster.

10. 🟪 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., B. 49 (Chopin), mm. 29-46

THIS WEEK: Learn measures 29 to 46 hands alone. Hands together is a bonus if you get there.

About twelve measures of new material, then it repeats, so find the pattern before you learn the notes.
This section goes into G-sharp major, which is why the double sharps are there.
It shifts to 3/4 here. Count one, two, three and feel the accent pattern. It is a mazurka rhythm, and Chopin wrote a lot of mazurkas.
Get the left hand secure on its own. Hands together will not work until it is.
Ascending triplets: 5, 3, 2, 1. Let go of the notes and think of them as light.
Take the groups of fast notes and repeat them until the pattern is in your hand.
The right hand here is the easy part.

Valse-ballet, Op. 62 (Satie)

11. 🟪 Valse-ballet, Op. 62 (Satie), m. 8

THIS WEEK: Keep measure 8 where it is and play it more assertively.

The forward motion in your wrist is secure and solid. That part is done.
Faster, and louder than you think.

12. 🟩 Valse-ballet, Op. 62 (Satie), mm. 1-32

THIS WEEK: Take the pauses out, and experiment with the expression in the forte octaves.

Hands alone before hands together, every time. Keep doing that.
The forte octaves: either make the first one softer and shape it, or commit all the way and make it a deliberately loud, brash color. Both work. Pick one and mean it.
Think about where this comes from, Satie in Paris with the cabaret and the vaudeville going on around him. The next section is cute by comparison, so the octaves can be a set change.
Pedal: change on every note through this, and flutter it rather than pressing all the way to the bottom.
Get the notes properly in your fingers so you are free to make an interpretive decision there.
The left-hand chord we were unsure of: we listened to the recording and settled it. It is E natural, not E flat. Mark it.

🎧 Valse-ballet, the recording to listen to https://open.spotify.com/track/4Bd1ljeE9S7YAMQp4QwcH0

13. 🟩 Valse-ballet, Op. 62 (Satie), page two

THIS WEEK: Finish learning page two, and get to where you can play the whole piece through.

Most of the repeat is the same as the first section apart from a few notes tucked in. Find the measures that actually differ and mark them.
Hands alone first, then together.
There are no measure numbers printed, so go by the page.

Repertoire, continued

14. 🟪 Glitter in the Air (Pink), transcription

THIS WEEK: Nothing new. Lay out 8 to 16 measures close to the original, then add one idea, then copy and paste that idea with a slight revision.

Same assignment. You have not looked at it yet.
Not a timed assignment. Open ended.
Start fresh in a new file and pull over only what you know for sure.
Two ideas is enough. One at a time, then take away or add to it.
Copy, paste, and make the next section slightly different. Patchwork.
It is in F major.

15. ⬛️ Unpopular

A movie piece, still on the table for the future. Nothing to practice yet.

Up Next

One of the Gymnopédies or the Gnossiennes (Satie), if you want to stay with him after the Valse-ballet.

Review List

Review once a week with your music at a medium tempo.

Level 7

Sonata in C minor, Op. 17 No. 2, III. Prestissimo (Johann Christian Bach) (List B)

Consolation, Op. 30 No. 3 (Mendelssohn, 1809-1847) (List C)

Chickadees (Etude)

Halley's Comet (Telfer, b. 1950) (Etude)

The Piano Man (Billy Joel) (Popular Selection)

Level 6

Aria in G major (Telemann) (List A)

Sonatina in F major, Op. 168 No. 1, III. Rondo (Diabelli) (List B)

Waltz in A minor, Op. posth., B. 150 (Chopin) (List C)

River City Blues (Mier, b. 1936) (Etude)

💚River City Blues (Mier, b. 1936) (Etude)

💜River City Blues (Mier, b. 1936) (Etude)

Princess Mononoke (Etude, Popular Selection)

Level 5

Sonatina in G major, Op. 36 No. 5, III. Rondo: Allegro molto (Clementi) (List B)

Sunset in Rio (Springer) (List C)

Dance of the Dragonflies, Op. 76 No. 7 (Rohde) (Etude)

Harmony of the Angels, Op. 100 No. 21 (Burgmüller) (Etude)

Level 4

March in D major, BWV Anh. 122 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 1714-1788) (List A)

💚Air in B-flat major, HWV 471 (Handel) (List A)

💚Sonatina in G major, Op. 36 No. 2, III. Allegro (Clementi) (List B)

💚The Happy Farmer, Op. 68 No. 10 (Schumann) (List C)

💚Old French Song, Op. 39 No. 16 (Tchaikovsky) (List C)

💚Dream Catcher (Crosby Gaudet) (List C)

Foggy Day Blues (Springer) (List C)

Folk Dance, Op. 39 No. 7 (Kabalevsky, 1904-1987) (Etude)

💚Masquerade, from Fancy-Free (Niamath, b. 1939) (Etude)

Level 3

💚Harlequinade (Krebs, 1713-1780) (List A)

Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1, I. Allegro (Clementi, 1752-1832) (List B)

💚Song of the Twilight (Nakada) (List C)

💚L'Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2 (Burgmüller, 1806-1874) (Etude)

Ungraded

Rêverie, L. 68 (Debussy) (recital)

Reflection, from Mulan

Haunted House (Holly Humberstone) (recital)

Lovely (Billie Eilish)

💜Christmas Time Is Here — Charlie Brown duet