Case Study Portfolio – Isabel (Part 2)

by Edyta Lajdorfin Case Studyon Posted on

Lesson 1-5 (September-October 2014)

 

General aims:

  • introducing different ways to practice with emphasis on the quality of sound and paying attention to details

  • using staccato, legato and portato articulation

  • understanding the structure of the pieces

  • fluency in using different agogic ingredients (ritenuto, accelerando and tempo rubato)

  • preparing for Grade 3 in December

  • understanding the circle of 5ths and relative keys (major-minor)

  • scales and arpeggios in Bb and Eb major (using the correct fingering and avoiding unnecessary elbow movements)

  • sight-reading – concentrating throughout the whole exercise, analysing all the musical aspects before playing (not just the notes and the rhythm), looking ahead and finding patterns

Pieces:

  • Schubert ‘ German Dance in A’

  • emphasizing the first beat of the bar (to create a dancing character of the piece)

  • differentiating the articulation in the left hand (legato slur and staccato)

  • keeping a steady pulse throughout the whole piece excluding a small ritenuto at the end

  • P. E. Bach ‘Allegro in G’

  • avoiding unnecessary wrist and elbow movements at the end of legato slurs and while playing staccato

  • paying attention to different articulation in the piece (staccato, legato, portato)

  • playing staccato by lifting the fingers before pressing the key and not by lifting the whole arm

  • Stapleton ‘Blue Sky Blues’

  • differentiating the accompaniment line from the melody

  • working on the precision and clarity of the chords in the left hand

  • differentiating the piece in term of dynamics

  • working on the swinging rhythm of the pieces (by singing and clapping first)

  • precision of the notes at the end of the piece (speedy change of the hand position)

Problems faced:

Sight-reading

I think that sight-reading is Isabel’s weak point. She’s made progress but I think we still have a long way to go. In preparation for the exam, I’ve asked her to increase the amount of exercises she does during the week to include two more. As we just started ‘Improve your sight-reading! Grade 3’ and she finds some of the exercises tricky, we won’t be fully ready for the grading exam. The biggest struggle for Isabel is to look ahead. By covering the notes that she just played we noticed that she wastes lots of time reanalysing the notes that has been already played. She also does lots of unnecessary hand movements that make her unintentionally loose the current position of her hand.

Are you interested in Piano Lessons London? Edyta Lajdorf runs piano classes at Lajdorf Piano Academy.

Scales

Isabel has been finding playing scales boring. I always ask her to make practising them fun by changing the dynamics, articulation and using different rhythmical patterns. We’ve also tried to play scales treating one of the hands as a melody and the other one as an accompaniment. Isabel found this task quite difficult but after a few attempts, she managed to do it. This exercise was very helpful in ‘Blue Sky Blues’ where she found it difficult to differentiate the accompaniment line from the melody.

Edyta Lajdorf – concert pianist, piano teacher and RCM graduate. Please get in touch if you would like to start Piano Lessons in London.