Pretty thorough lesson this week. Lots to work on. Per usual class begun with a quick Hanon warm-up, this week I showed my proficiency with Hanon Exercise 1 and 2 in continuity at 76bpm, hands separate. New homework – hands together. It’s interesting how well you can do it separately, and the moment you just attempt hands together and your brain fights you on this.
I then performed Bach (not Bach) Minuet in G hands separate till the double bar. Homework – work till double bar hands together. I tried it a bit when I got home and tried hands together some, and could already see I will need to put extra effort in bar 10 and 12, where the treble clef has me playing staccato notes, and LH has to play some eighth notes. Brain is not immediately clicking on this rhythm switch, as most of the pieces prior to this one have had my right hand controlling most the rhythm and more complex hand movement with LH only playing chords or bass notes.
We then worked on my playing my 4 chords against the backtrack of Softly as in a Morning Sunshine. I had this at 76bpm, alternating between the chords every 2 beats. So this week my teacher gave me a prescription rhythm to try. We tried it a few time with just a single note for the entire rhythm. He wants me to practice 1 note first and slow work myself up to 2, 3, repeated notes using only C, Eb, F, F#.
He tested me on dominant 7s for a few playbacks, and once satisfied, we moved onto diminished seventh chords. He explained there was only 3 and essentially inversions that covered the rest of the keys. So this week I am concentrating on C diminished 7, asking me to play diminished C triad + double flat B. He went on further to demonstrate voicing of chords and applications, something we will start next class. Additional homework is to continue Circle+Major7,minor7, and Dominant + Diminished. I found a neat YouTube video with a diminished progression I might try to add to the practice as it sounds quite nice to the ear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xwny96CSLs
Finally I attempt Fly Me to the Moon with the swing rhythm once again. Played it a few times, and he said I can attempt hands together this week. So we practiced a little of that for the remainder of the class.
At home I have been adding scales into my technical training portion of daily practice. Currently following ABRSM Initial and Grade 1 requirements. With Initial Grade, I was working on C Major Scale 1 octave, D minor natural scale, D minor harmonic and melodic scale. I have started also Grade 1, adding G Major Scale 2 octave, and upgraded C 1 octave to 2 Octave as well.
Current thoughts, I am excited about doing the Minuet in G, as it’s forcing my left hand into more activity. I can only imagine as my skill progress what other challenges more difficult Bach pieces will add to the mix.
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