StarS of the Week - 28th November 2009

I have awarded 2 Stars this week because both of them are just great!

First to MItchell playing Classic Dance. If you listen carefully, he has played the song with beautiful dynamics. Listen to each phrase, the way he built up the phrase in the middle and softened it at the end was just beautiful. Also, the crescendo in the third phrase was well played. Great job Mitchell !





Congratulations too to Jasmine playing Scott Joplin's The Entertainer. This piece is in Ragtime style. It's main characteristic trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Remember we learnt the term "syncopation" last week in Jesse' Alley Cat Choir ? This is a more advance piece on syncopation. The interaction between bouncing bass notes and chords in the left hand, and a syncopated melody in the right hand needs a great deal of hardwork. So enjoy this lovely clip by Jasmine !

Star of the Week - 21st November 2009

Congratulations to Jesse, you have been chosen as the star of the week !




Jesse is playing Alley Cat Choir in this video. This song has a difficult rhythm. The musical term for this rhythm is SYNCOPATION.
Syncopation means to emphasize what would normally be a "weak" beat. This song introduces syncopation to the children at the primer level. Listen to the song Alley Cat Choir played by Jesse, can you dictate the rhythm?

Star of the Week - 14th November 2009

Congratulations to Amelia, you have been chosen as the Star of the Week !

Amelia has shown great improvement in the past few weeks, especially in playing with music accompaniment. Amelia also improvised by adding the low A at the end of this song to match the howling of "Tucker Dog". I really like Amelia's appropriate ending to the song.

Just a little reminder to Amelia (and all my other students), look at your little fingers, they are crushing the donut! You need to work on keeping the catback hand! Keep working on that !

Star of the Week - 7th November 2009

Matthew has been chosen as the Star of the Week.

He has taken initiative and asked his brother Noah to teach him Mary Had A Little Lamb. He learnt the 1st phrase from Noah and came playing for me last week. I taught him the rest of the song and here he is -- the whole song!

Good job Matthew!

Twinkle Variation By Ysobel

It was a pity Ysobel missed the Family Concert. She has worked very hard and I would like all of you to enjoy her playing.

Can you hear how many variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star did she play?

Family Concert September 2009

Hello,

These are footage from the Family Concert in September 2009.

I am very proud of all of students. Although it was not their best performance, they were very brave to play in front of the big audience.

For Daisy and Noah, I am very proud of you for playing through the piece despite the mistakes you made in the beginning. The mistakes you made didn't throw you off, instead, you were listening to your own playing and correcting your mistake. That was really good!

For Matthew, I must mention that you did this after your 3rd piano lesson, bravo!