For the first section use a loose wrist brushstroke motion for the left arpeggios.
Starting at measure 15 play the right hand repeated 3rds with a flexible light relaxed wrist.
To more easily keep a steady flow as you play the crossover notes in the treble, anticipate by glancing at the target keys before you cross your left hand over to grab them.
Watch the Pivot Notes Tutorial (first 5 minutes) and pivot rather than stretch on the 1-5-10 left-hand patterns to eliminate tension in measures 1-4 and similar patterns throughout the piece.
Rhythm
Watch the Quick Rhythm tip video about Sixteenth note triplets (similar to those on the last line of this piece).
Improvisation
Choose a backing track below and play the scale along with it or improvise melodies using notes from the B-flat Major Scale. Remember to play all of the B's and E's Flat!
Even though this piece is written in a minor key listen for how occasional major chord patterns in this piece bring a glimmer of hope and shift the mood.
Practice feeling the subtle rise and fall of the chords and use your peripheral vision when needed to see the larger chord shifts.
Remember to add the expressive dynamic changes and ritardando to convey emotion in this piece.
Watch out for the clef changes/left hand crossovers on the bottom of the first and second page.
Some of the products linked in my posts may be affiliate links, earning me a small commission on any products purchased via that link.
Block practice the left-hand chord and interval patterns to prepare for smooth chord shift transitions.
Tap the rhythms as you listen to the performance video below (Start at 1:45). Think of the dotted eighth rhythms in the right hand as doubled in value (augmented). For example, measure one sounds like "Shoot the bug Slug bug" in bug rhythm language.
Play the left hand 2 and 3 note phrases with a down-up motion and light thumb.
Notice the left-hand stride bass on the second page is like a root chord with the root thrown down an octave. Imagine a miniature ball being tossed across the keys as you leap up and down to aim for the roots and thirds.
Practice the left-hand broken chord groups "block style" to gain automaticity shifting up and down between chords groups with ease.
If you are unfamiliar with rolled chords watch this quick video about arpeggiated chords
Adding lyrics to a piece can be helpful because it makes the distinct rhythms of the phrases more memorable.
If this piece had lyrics, what would it say to you?
Although this piece has no religious themes, it brought excerpts from some of my favorite scriptures (Isaiah 1:18, Helaman 5:12, D&C 6:36) to my mind that I loosely strung together to create the following lyrics for the first page.
"Look unto me in every thought. Look unto me and cast your doubts and fears aside.
Look unto me and ye shall find rest. And when the storms shall beat upon you, you can trust The Rock.
I will take your hand I will guide you home. I will make your sins though scarlet be as wool.
I will take your hand, I will guide you home; back to The Father where he waits with open arms."
When teaching piano students about chords I find it helpful to create meaningful visuals to represent music concepts in a way that relates to them. What does this image represent?
Keep reading to find out the details!
Chord Visuals
For beginners I introduce the pentascales and chords as "food families" (vanilla, hamburger, oreos, chocolate/killer bs) based on the color of the piano keys with this helpful printable from Layton music. Making relevant connections for kids is so powerful in the learning process. In my studio we start with vanilla ice cream for dessert instead of snowmen!😋
The Ninth Session in B-flat Major is a spinoff of Beethoven's classic Ode to Joy Theme with left-hand syncopated interrupting eighths that sound a bit like the Forrest Gump Theme.
Tap along with the rhythms as you listen to the performance to prep for the syncopation in the intro and outro.
Have you ever had any teen piano students that feel "stuck" in their method book? While some students really love the classics, I've found that branching out to other genres of their choice can really up their excitement and practice. I recently purchased Wunderkeys Intermediate Pop 2 Performance Book after one of my teen students was eager to learn more music like Nik Day's "Trust in the Lord" that I had assigned her as a supplementary choice piece.
She was enthralled with the lyrical pop sound of the repetitive chordal accompaniment with intriguing syncopation and it boosted her rhythmic accuracy to a whole new level as she practiced over and over as an accompanist to the soundtrack. I had difficulty finding many pieces with a similar style in my collection of classical and supplementary music.
Performing can be a shaky experience... literally. That can definitely complicate things when you are a pianist and shaky fingers lead to wrong notes and then your mind starts feeling like a Jenga game where one slip leads to more shakiness and possibly a total collapse.
I attended an informative UVMTA workshop this week presented by Dr Stephen Thomas including preparation tips for performance experiences to help you avoid freezing up with mental blocks. I loved many of the ideas he shared and mingled them with some of my own in my notetaking. A resource that kept coming to my mind was the book The Practice Revolution by Philip Johnston. It is loaded with different gamified strategies for structuring and improving practice quality and I find it especially helpful for children who may not naturally know how to organize their home practice sessions.
Almost every pianist who can play hymns in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will at some point be invited to be a ward organist. Unlike many church organists, this responsibility is unpaid and often comes with little training.
Although I learned to use the foot pedals in my college organ class, the coupler button has become my best friend as I play the organ for church services! It allows me to play the organ much like I would the piano but transfers the sound of the bass line to the deeper foot pedal stops for a richer sound and a less stressful playing experience for me since I am not an organ foot pedal pro!
While Thanksgiving is a fun holiday for people, it might give a turkey the blues! For this improvisation, imagine a turkey is singing his Thanksgiving blues song. Use these lyrics or come up with some of your own.
Musicianship is the key to creating beautiful music instead of robotic flat performances.
It's similar to the difference between hearing an engaging speaker reading your favorite book versus hearing the artificial intelligence robot voice chant with a monotone voice and little expression.
Following a few of the simple tips below can help you play with more expression and musicality.
This week I browsed through old files and found some treasure ideas that will be great for our September group lesson focused on note reading.
There are many approaches to teaching note-naming to music students. I've found that although the "Every Good Boy Does Fine" approach worked for me, it is not ideal for a lot of transfer students who come to piano lessons with confusion about which sentence goes with treble or bass.
These fun posters and activities can help clear up that confusion!
I prefer to focus on landmark notes, musical chants, intervals and games to really help piano students to have strong note recognition skills.
BASS Lines Music and Movement Game
I'm eager to try this mashup of Bingo, Simon Says and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes at group lessons next week. Start by singing the lyrics below to the tune of Bingo while you and your students chant the bass lines and touch their body "head shoulders knees and toes" style, but backwards.
Choose the link below for lesson plans and activities that correlate with Piano Pronto Movement 5.
The theory, improvisation, and music and movement activities can be done in private lessons, group lessons, piano lab, or assigned for at-home practice.
This month at group lessons piano students learned more about blues style and the 12 Bar Blues Pattern as we improvised melodies using some of the resources below.
After several years of music study, music I understood the basic rules of rhythm, note reading, and chords to tackle new pieces. I quickly learned that playing piano is much more of an art than a science with plenty of nuances and exceptions to the rules.
When is it OK to Break the Rules?
Keep your eyes on the music.
Lift the pedal at chord changes.
Keep your wrist level.
Play with a steady beat.
Make sure to follow the fingering in your music.
These rules can be helpful guidelines for beginners but intermediate playing requires the ability to fine-tune skills and adapt to the style of the music or even "break the rules" to achieve more artistry and avoid tension.
Different fingerings might work better for one player than another, pedaling can be utilized more like a dimming switch than the flip of a light.
Just like a teenager is allowed a bit more freedom than a toddler, approaching music rules at the intermediate level requires more flexibility. On some topics I've discovered that not even the "experts" can agree on the rules. I think the best rule is a principle taught by my moral development teacher in college. Does it help or hurt?
Piano Flipped Learning
The videos below address intermediate-level concepts such as rubato playing, fractional pedaling, levels of staccato, developing speed with clarity, and what to listen or look for during practice. I love the specific tips from the experts that help student practice sessions to become more effective so they can learn new music more quickly and play with expression, fluency, and attention to detail.
I embed these videos as part of my piano lab flipped learning lessons that correlate with method book pieces so students can learn specific tips relating to the pieces they are currently working on each week before they meet with me for private lessons.
.png)
Posts
