LadyDpiano: Beginner's Corner: Practice Idea

Holiday Paper Chains

Here is a fun idea that will help you polish a piece for a winter family gathering or recital and it will give you a beautiful chain for your Christmas tree. (If you celebrate other holidays, you can use different colors and make a decoration for a window or doorway.)

Follow these steps:

1. Cut a few dozen thin strips of colored construction paper (one color or multiple colors, whichever you prefer).

2. Look at your piece and divide the music into small practice sections - you will work on only a few measures or one line at a time. Make a goal of playing each section 3, 5, or 10 times correctly. your teacher can help you set your goals.

3. Play each section several times. Each time you correctly play through the section you earn one strip of construction paper for one link of chain. (You can start making a pile of paper strips or just keep track of correct times and get all the strips at the end of practice.)

4. When you are done practicing, make the chain from the strips of paper earned. Glue, tape or staple the first strip into a loop; then loop the next one onto the previous one, gluing the ends together. Keep adding new strips each day!

Remember - Only correct repetitions of the music count. If you make a mistake, you don't get a strip of paper for that try. Make your sections short, so that it's not too difficult to get them right.

December Birthdays

6 - Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) American jazz pianist
6 - Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) American lyricist, brother of George Gershwin
8 - Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Finnish composer
8 - James Galway (1939) Irish flutist
10 - Cesar Franck (1822-1890) Belgian/French composer and organist
11 - Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) French composer and critic
16 - Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) German composer
16 - Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) Hungarian composer
19 - Fritz Reiner (1888-1963) Hungarian-American conductor
30 - Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) Russian composer

The Best of 2012

As 2012 comes to an end, you might hear radio shows playing the top 100 songs of the year or find lists of the best movies or television shows. Make your own list that shows all of the progress you have made on the piano this year. Go all the way back to January and answer these questions:

1. Make a list of all the pieces you learned in 2012. Which were your favorites? Why?

2. Do you remember your best lesson of the year? What made it so great?

3. Which was your best performance in 2012 and why?

4. What was the best musical performance you attended? What pieces did you hear? Why did you like the concert?

5. What is your best musical memory of 2012?

Piano Music Reading by Harmony & Melody Studio, Inc.

#1 Piano Reading Application *Top Music Game* Holiday Specials 50% discounts.

Learn to read music or sight reading, and learn to play piano with this fun and interactive piano lesson game.

Features:

Challenge yourself with the low and high notes on ledger lines. You can even compete with other fans to see who scores the highest. Sight read treble clef and bass clef notes fast and effectively. Listen to the piano's pitch while you try to identify the notes. Identify intervals - beginner, advanced, and master's levels. Identify notes from random selection of treble clef, bass clef, and combination. Improve your music reading abilities with this fun piano game now! Piano music reading game is a virtual piano game that allows you to improve on your music reading skills. It lets you listen to MIDI files and recognize different pitches and notes. It features a new innovative way to identify intervals and thus helps with note recognition. It comes with three different levels; beginner, advanced, master. You can even record your scores. If you need to master classical music, it is important to have good sight reading/read music techniques. Whether it is Fur Elise (by Beethoven), Canon in D maj (Johann Pachelbel), Clair De Lune (Claude Debussy), Moonlight Sonata, Turkish March (By Mozart), Fantaisie Impromptu (by Chopin), etudes, or any other classical music.

Please visit http://www.harmonyandmelodystudio.com for support and more piano courses and software.

Piano Music Reading

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Blessings,