November 16, 2020
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
No backing tracks this week, just videos!
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
No backing tracks this month while we have fun with Christmas music, but if you’d like to perform any of these songs for family or friends, I’d be happy to make a minus track for you to play along with.
The music to go along with the videos is below the videos. Click on the image to enlarge/print.
November 9, 2020
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
C Scale Stomp (Play-Along Backing)
Rockin’ Out (50 bpm)
Rockin’ Out (60 bpm)
Rockin’ Out (70 bpm)
Rockin' Out (first 8 measures)
You can play along with the video at the following time stamps:
50 bpm: 0:00-0:55
60 bpm: 0:56-1:41
70 bpm: 1:42-2:24
Ari's Practice Tool of the Week
For C Scale Stomp:
Go slow and make sure you are using the correct fingering! The C major scale is the foundation for all of the other scales, so it’s important to get this one right from the beginning.
For Rockin’ Out:
- Work 8 measures at a time using your playing cards.
- Shuffle the cards up so they are in random order.
- Draw a card.
- Practice the measure that corresponds to the number on the card. ONLY THAT MEASURE!
- Start with a quick analysis. What notes are you playing? What fingering should you be using (you might have to look at the measures before and after to answer that)? What is the rhythm for this measure?
- Play that one measure slowly and in control as many times as it takes for you to play it easily.
- Draw a new card and repeat this process with the new measure.
- When you’ve gone through the deck one time, shuffle and get ready for Round Two, which is:
- Draw a card and play the measure without any mistakes on the first try. (If you make mistakes, then go back to Round One.) When you can play all 8 measures in random order mistake-free, move on to Round Three.
- Round Three is simply to put the cards away and try playing the song slowly from the beginning to the end of measure 8.
- Somewhere between Rounds One and Two, please have your mom record you practicing your measures in random order and send it to me so I can evaluate. Thank you!
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Rain Forest (Lesson Book)
Lightly Row (Lesson Book)
Square Dance (Performance Book)
Ajai's Practice Tool of the Week
Chord Crash Course
You guys CRUSHED your chords! Well done.
Nothing to practice specifically for this buddy lesson section this week.
November 2, 2020
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Cowboy Medley: Turkey in the Straw (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Both Songs (Duet Backing)
To help you get the feeling of Cowboy Medley...Watch This:
There is no swing or jazz in this style of music! As you can tell, it helps the dancers keep the time with their feet with more ease.
Ari's Practice Tool of the Week
This week, please reduce the amount of practice you are doing to 5-10 minutes a day. I’ve got a feeling that you are overpracticing and that’s where we’re losing things like the rhythm. So keep it short and just work on one song or a portion of one song a day.
For Rockin’ Out:
- Tap track 8 measures at a time with the metronome set at 60 bpm. Each tick of the metronome represents one color of your measure. Then move on to the next 8 measure section. Increase to 70 bpm for all sections. Continue increasing by 10 bpm until you find yourself making mistakes, at which point go back to the last tempo you were accurate with.
- After two or three days, please have your mom record you tap tracking with the metronome and send it to me so we can make course corrections as we go instead of waiting a whole week.
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Flute of the Andes (Lesson Book)
Runaway Rabbit (Lesson Book)
A Merry March (Performance Book)
Painting With Pastels
Ajai's Practice Tool of the Week
Two of your songs ask you to hold the pedal down for the entire song. Will you identify those songs and highlight the instructions to apply the pedal at the top of the page of those songs?
You also have two songs that are in 3/4 time. To pass these songs off, I need you to play along with the backing tracks.
Thank you!
October 26, 2020
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Cowboy Medley: Turkey in the Straw (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Both Songs (Duet Backing)
Ari's Practice Tool of the Week
For Rockin’ Out:
- Color code your page to show the 4 beats in each measure. After you’re done, check your pages against mine (click to enlarge if needed):
- Tap track while SAYING ALOUD the note values. Work on 8 measures at a time. Don’t try to tap the whole song start to finish this week until you get to the last step.
- Tap track with a metronome (each tick on the metronome = one color); start at 60 bpm and stay at this speed until you can tap an 8-measure section perfectly. Then move on to the next 8 measure section. Increase to 70 bpm for all sections. Continue increasing by 10 bpm until you find yourself making mistakes, at which point go back to the last tempo you were accurate with.
- Tap track along with the backing. Start here:
60 bpm
and then try 80 bpm…
(Fair warning, I make a couple of mistakes at this tempo but you should be able to pick them out and still tap them correctly by the time you get here!)
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Kites in the Sky (Lesson Book)
A Mixed-Up Song (Lesson Book)
Rusty Old Bike (Performance Book)
Ajai's Practice Tool of the Week
Please be prepared to share with me at our next lesson which practice tools you used to help you learn your songs this week!
October 19, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
Play your songs using the opposite of the dynamics written.
Then switch back to playing what is written.
Chord Crash Course
Please work on playing all of the white key major chords from C to C and back down again.
C = C – E – G (Snowman)
D = D – F# – A (Nutella Sandwich)
E = E – G# – B (Nutella Sandwich)
F = F – A – C (Snowman)
G = G – B – D (Snowman)
A = A – C# – E (Nutella Sandwich)
B = B – D# – F# (Weird Guy)
C = C – E – G (Snowman)
Try this with each hand, and if you want the extra challenge, do it with both hands together up and back.
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Sonatina (Play-Along Backing)
Sonatina (Duet Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Turkey in the Straw (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Play-Along Backing)
Cowboy Medley: Both Songs (Duet Backing)
Hop, Skip, and a Jump @60 bpm
October 19, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
Play your songs using the opposite of the dynamics written.
Then switch back to playing what is written.
Chord Crash Course
Please work on playing all of the white key major chords from C to C and back down again.
C = C – E – G (Snowman)
D = D – F# – A (Nutella Sandwich)
E = E – G# – B (Nutella Sandwich)
F = F – A – C (Snowman)
G = G – B – D (Snowman)
A = A – C# – E (Nutella Sandwich)
B = B – D# – F# (Weird Guy)
C = C – E – G (Snowman)
Try this with each hand, and if you want the extra challenge, do it with both hands together up and back.
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Traffic Jam 2nds (Lesson Book)
This is Not Jingle Bells (Lesson Book)
Peter, Peter (Performance Book)
October 12, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
Use your Practice Doctor page this week on your first play-through of Little Sonatina in C. Pencil any symptoms you notice into the measure where it occurs as you play.
Make a plan to tackle each of the symptoms with your practice prescriptions.
This means that after your first play-through, you probably won’t play through the song again from the beginning to the end until you’ve cleared up all of the “sicknesses”.
ALSO…
SAY IT AND PLAY IT. For all of your pieces. Don’t get lazy with the rhythm or we get to do these rhythm bootcamps and lose time working on new pieces.
Jazz Journey
Our Jazz Journey is over for a season. It’s been a good run!
If you’ve enjoyed watching/listening to jazz in action, you may consider checking out the following jazz artists on YouTube or Spotify/Pandora/music streaming service of choice:
- Duke Ellington
- Count Basie
- Louis Armstrong
- Miles Davis
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole
- Glenn Miller Orchestra
- Dave Brubeck
- George Shearing
- Peter Nero
- Henry Mancini
- Ray Charles
- Diana Krall
- Michael Buble
- Harry Connick Jr.
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Saints Go Marching (Play-Along Backing)
Saints Go Marching (Duet Backing)
Sonatina (Play-Along Backing)
Sonatina (Duet Backing)
October 12, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
When I was a piano student, my teacher would write N – F – R at the top of my lesson notes each week.
She never wrote out what that meant but over time, I came to understand it.
N = Notes. Was I playing all of the correct notes? Was I absolutely sure?
F = Fingering. Was I using the correct fingers to play those notes? Was I following the fingering suggestions?
R = Rhythm. Did I know what the time signature was? Did what I was playing match that? Was I counting? Was I paying attention to rests or blowing right through those?
N – F – R is at the foundation of any piece. Once we are 100% we have N – F – R, then we can start making music.
Jazz Journey
Our Jazz Journey is over for a season. It’s been a good run!
If you’ve enjoyed watching/listening to jazz in action, you may consider checking out the following jazz artists on YouTube or Spotify/Pandora/music streaming service of choice:
- Duke Ellington
- Count Basie
- Louis Armstrong
- Miles Davis
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole
- Glenn Miller Orchestra
- Dave Brubeck
- George Shearing
- Peter Nero
- Henry Mancini
- Ray Charles
- Diana Krall
- Michael Buble
- Harry Connick Jr.
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Paper Airplane (Lesson Book)
The Juggler (Lesson Book)
I’m a Fine Musician (Performance Book)
October 5, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
Be prepared to share your practice plan with me at our next lesson. How did you choose the tools you used? Did they help?
Jazz Journey
Using the notes in the Blues Scale, create 4 licks. Start on notes other than C. You can jump around; notes don’t need to be right next to each other in sequential order.
For the 12-Bar Blues this week, play around with the Back and Forth bass line. Start with open 5ths: C (C and G), F (F and C) and G (G and D); and then move your thumb up one note and back to the starting note. E.g., C/G, C/A, C/G-hold.
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Saints Go Marching (Play-Along Backing)
Saints Go Marching (Duet Backing)
October 5, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
Be prepared to share your practice plan with me at our next lesson. How did you choose the tools you used? Did they help?
Jazz Journey
Using the notes in the Blues Scale, create 4 licks. Start on notes other than C. You can jump around; notes don’t need to be right next to each other in sequential order.
For the 12-Bar Blues this week, play around with the Back and Forth bass line. Start with open 5ths: C (C and G), F (F and C) and G (G and D); and then move your thumb up one note and back to the starting note. E.g., C/G, C/A, C/G-hold.
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
C’s Rock! (Lesson Book)
Mozart’s Five Names (Lesson Book)
September 21, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
Great job creating a practice plan for your pieces last week! It made a difference!
I will let you come up with your own practice plan for the next two weeks. You can use any of the resources in your practice packet.
Remember that playing slowly can also be a great practice tool. Try to avoid big pauses–particularly on Hop, Skip, and a Jump.
Jazz Journey
This week, add an extra octave to your Blues scale, and then change directions at random several times as you work your way up and down.
Also work on your LH chords with the 12-Bar Blues chart. Use open 5ths: C (C and G), F (F and C) and G (G and D). The backing is below the chart.
Backing:
Slow:
Faster:
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Hometown Pride (Play-Along Backing)
Hometown Pride (Duet Backing)
The Star-Spangled Banner (Play-Along Backing)
The Star-Spangled Banner (Duet Backing)
September 21, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
Great job figuring out which parts of your pieces needed extra work and coming up with a plan to make that happen!
Since your pieces are short this week, you might have fun with the practice game board!
Jazz Journey
This week, add an extra octave to your Blues scale, and then change directions at random several times as you work your way up and down.
Also work on your LH chords with the 12-Bar Blues chart. Use open 5ths: C (C and G), F (F and C) and G (G and D). The backing is below the chart.
Backing:
Slow:
Faster:
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Lonely Pine (Lesson Book)
Li’l Liza Jane (Lesson Book)
September 14, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
We are starting into our 3rd week on the first 12 measures of Hop, Skip, and a Jump.
We need to be super mindful about what goes on in practice this week so we don’t end up working on this song for two more months.
We talked about using the “Crossing the River” practice tool (see instructions below) but this tool will only be effective if you vocalize the rhythm, which means to say the rhythm OUT LOUD while you’re working on getting it (e.g., “Ti ta ti-(tie) ti ti”).
Instructions for “Crossing the River.”
1) Empty the bag and put all five pebbles on the left side of the piano.
2) Choose one small section to work on. It can be as small as one measure, but don’t choose more than four.
3) Try your best to play that section correctly, with no mistakes.
4) As soon as you are able to play that section 100% correct, you get to “swim” a pebble from the left side of the piano to the right. Pretend the piano keys are a big river!
5) Keep working on that section until you’ve played it 5 times correctly and all of the pebbles are on the right side of the piano!
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
William Tell (Play-Along Backing)
William Tell (Duet Backing)
September 14, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
The first practice day on a new song is the hardest day. That’s not necessarily bad, but it means that you’ll want to work smart so your songs are easier to play the rest of the week.
You are welcome to use any tools in your practice toolkit that we’ve tried so far.
If you’d like to try a new tool, grab the small plastic bag that has 5 pebbles in it. These pebbles are for a game called “Cross the River.”
1) Empty the bag and put all five pebbles on the left side of the piano.
2) Choose one small section to work on. It can be as small as one measure, but don’t choose more than four.
3) Try your best to play that section correctly, with no mistakes.
4) As soon as you are able to play that section 100% correct, you get to “swim” a pebble from the left side of the piano to the right. Pretend the piano keys are a big river!
5) Keep working on that section until you’ve played it 5 times correctly and all of the pebbles are on the right side of the piano!
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Skipping in Space (Lesson Book)
Half Time Show (Lesson Book)
Clock Shop (Performance Book)
September 7, 2020
Ari
Weekly One-Minute Warm-up
Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:
Practice Tool of the Week
Remember: our goal this month is to learn how to practice smarter, not harder.
On your first day of practice, keep your Practice Doctor worksheet handy and make note of any symptoms you may be exhibiting, just like you did last week. Pencil those symptoms right into the measures where they occur.
Now you have a practice plan!!!
Click this link to print your Practice Prescriptions
Find the prescription that matches each symptom, and make a plan for how you’ll achieve musical wellness by your next lesson.
You’ve got the tools to make this practice week a great one!
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Yankee Doodle (Play-Along Backing)
Yankee Doodle (Duet Backing)
September 7, 2020
Ajai
Weekly One-Minute Warm-up
Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:
Practice Tool of the Week
Remember: our goal this month is to learn how to practice smarter, not harder.
On your first day of practice, keep your Practice Doctor worksheet handy and make note of any symptoms you may be exhibiting, just like you did last week. Pencil those symptoms right into the measures where they occur.
Now you have a practice plan!!!
Click this link to print your Practice Prescriptions
Find the prescription that matches each symptom, and make a plan for how you’ll achieve musical wellness by your next lesson.
You’ve got the tools to make this practice week a great one!
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Classic Dance (Lesson Book)
Young Hunter (Lesson Book)
Pop! Goes the Weasel (Performance Book)
August 31, 2020
Ari
Warm-up for the Week
Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:
Practice Tool of the Week
Remember: our goal this month is to learn how to practice smarter, not harder.
One of the ways we do this is to be mindful as we play. This means focusing on what’s going on, listening to the sounds we’re making, and constantly evaluating what we’re doing. We don’t want to go on auto-pilot.
No recordings this week, no game board this week.
Instead, use your Practice Doctor worksheet. Keep it on the piano right by your music as you play.
On your first and second practice days of the week, I need you to really pay attention and see which symptoms you are exhibiting in your playing. When you catch yourself coughing, sniffling, or noticing aches and pains (for example), please grab a pencil and write in whatever symptom you noticed, right into that measure (or above it or below it).
We will talk about which symptoms showed up for you as you were learning your pieces this week.
And next week, we’ll talk about what you can do about that. 🙂
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow (Play-Along Backing)
For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow (Duet Backing)
August 31, 2020
Ajai
Warm-up for the Week
Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:
Practice Tool of the Week
Remember: our goal this month is to learn how to practice smarter, not harder.
One of the ways we do this is to be mindful as we play. This means focusing on what’s going on, listening to the sounds we’re making, and constantly evaluating what we’re doing. We don’t want to go on auto-pilot.
No recordings this week, no game board this week.
Instead, use your Practice Doctor worksheet. Keep it on the piano right by your music as you play.
On your first and second practice days of the week, I need you to really pay attention and see which symptoms you are exhibiting in your playing. When you catch yourself coughing, sniffling, or noticing aches and pains (for example), please grab a pencil and write in whatever symptom you noticed, right into that measure (or above it or below it).
We will talk about which symptoms showed up for you as you were learning your pieces this week.
And next week, we’ll talk about what you can do about that. 🙂
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Mexican Jumping Beans (Lesson Book)
The Haunted Mouse (Lesson Book)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Performance Book)
August 24, 2020
Ari
Practice Tool of the Week
Remember: our goal this month is to learn how to practice smarter, not harder. Start your practice by listening to your backing tracks for the first few days. Once you feel comfortable with your song, try playing along with the backing track. That will be the best way to check that you are playing everything correctly.
Let’s use the Practice Hero Game Board for one more week. Try to make it through all of the spaces before next Monday.
If you find a spot in your songs that could use a little more work, stop using the game board and try the Edge Back technique:
Can’t wait to hear your practice recordings!
Thank you for the restraint you exercised last week in not doing more that you were asked and in following my instructions. I appreciate it!
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Play-Along Backing)
Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Duet Backing)
Love Somebody (Play-Along Backing)
Love Somebody (Duet Backing)
August 24, 2020
Ajai
Practice Tool of the Week
I’m glad you used your backing tracks last week to your advantage, Ajai! Keep using them as you learn these songs.
Use the Practice Hero Game Board for one more week, and see if you can complete all of the squares before our next lesson.
If you find any tricky spots in your songs this week, put your game board on pause and try the Edge Back technique:
Remember to send me 3 days of recordings of your practice.
You did a wonderful job this past week!
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Sailin’ In the Sun (Lesson Book)
Ferris Wheel (Lesson Book)
Spanish Guitar (Performance Book)
August 17, 2020
Practice Tool of the Week
Our backing tracks are a great practice tool. They help us know what the song is supposed to sound like, and give us something fun to play along with once we are comfortable with our songs.
This week, use the Practice Hero Game Board as you learn and perfect your songs. Try to make it through all of the spaces before next Monday. Let me know if you need help understanding a game space.
Ajai's Backing Tracks for the Week
Firefly (Lesson Book)
Little River (Lesson Book)
Showboat (Performance Book)
Ari's Backing Tracks for the Week
Clementine (Play-Along Backing)
Clementine (Duet Backing)
Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Play-Along Backing)
Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Duet Backing)