new scales: a minor and d minor (harmonic and melodic)
introducing ‘fun’ methods to practice scales (changing dynamics, tempo, articulation and rhythm and starting from the top or the bottom)
learning how to teach ourselves a new piece: clapping the rhythm (first hands separately and then using both hands, singing the melody before playing it, finding rhythmical patterns and playing them and analyzing the structure of the piece)
influencing student’s imagination by coming up with short stories illustrating the piece and its mood
accustoming the student to conscious listening to his own playing and responding to the mistakes
sight-reading (developing an ability to recognize patterns – parts of scales, chords, arpeggios, repeated accompaniment and melodic shapes; establishing a pulse before playing)
Grading pieces:
Clementi ‘Arietta’
ability to maintain the pulse (practicing with the metronome, clapping the rhythm together with tapping the pulse and counting out loud while playing)
plying with both hands and hands separately
differentiating the melody and the accompaniment
avoiding unnecessary body and head movements
Duro ‘Calypso Joe’
ability to play hands separately
accuracy of the rhythm (clapping the rhythm with both hands, composing a piece using a repeated rhythmical pattern)
Gurlitt ‘Das Schaukelpferd’
analyzing the harmonic structure of the piece
accuracy of the rhythm (crotchet – quaver relationship)
ability to maintain the pulse and emphasizing the strong beats
playing with both hands and hands separately
paying attention to legato articulation in the left hand
Problems faced:
Ability to maintain the pulse and responding to mistakes
As soon as Oliver learnt the notes in the pieces and didn’t have to waste time analyzing every single note in order to play it, he started speeding up. According to his Mum, he was even timing the pieces and wanted to achieve a better result (like in a race) every time he played. A majority of the mistakes that we had managed to correct in the lesson were lost during the week of fast practicing. Oliver also required a bit of time at the beginning of the lesson to start listening to his playing and slow down. After the first two lessons I ended up creating a practicing chart for him. He was allowed to play through a piece only once at the end of his practicing session. He had to follow the practicing regime very accurately – I put the exact speed, counting, articulation, dynamics, order of the phrases and all the mistakes he had to watch out for. Oliver was quite resistant at first but after the first week of practicing and being praised for improving significantly, he wanted to continue following my instructions saying ‘You’re my teacher so you must be right. If I do what you say, I’ll be able to get to a highest grade before my sister’.