AB/AB Buddy Lesson Resources

No backing tracks this week, just videos!

C Scale Stomp (Play-Along Backing)

 Rockin’ Out (50 bpm)

Rockin’ Out (60 bpm)

Rockin’ Out (70 bpm)

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

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!

Cowboy Medley: Turkey in the Straw (Play-Along Backing)

Cowboy Medley: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Play-Along Backing)

Cowboy Medley: Both Songs (Duet Backing)

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.

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.

Cowboy Medley: Turkey in the Straw (Play-Along Backing)

Cowboy Medley: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Play-Along Backing)

Cowboy Medley: Both Songs (Duet Backing)

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!)

Play your songs using the opposite of the dynamics written.

Then switch back to playing what is written.

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.

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

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.

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.

Saints Go Marching (Play-Along Backing)

Saints Go Marching (Duet Backing)

Sonatina (Play-Along Backing)

Sonatina (Duet Backing)

Be prepared to share your practice plan with me at our next lesson. How did you choose the tools you used? Did they help?

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.

Saints Go Marching (Play-Along Backing)

Saints Go Marching (Duet Backing)

Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:

 [Click picture to enlarge]

One of these days I will remember to go over these new warm-ups with you during our lesson!

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.

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:

Hometown Pride (Play-Along Backing)

Hometown Pride (Duet Backing)

 The Star-Spangled Banner (Play-Along Backing)

 The Star-Spangled Banner (Duet Backing) 

Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:

 [Click picture to enlarge]

I totally forgot to go over these new warm-ups with you during our lesson! Let me know if you need help deciphering any of the instructions.

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!

William Tell (Play-Along Backing)

William Tell (Duet Backing)

Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:

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!

Yankee Doodle (Play-Along Backing)

Yankee Doodle (Duet Backing)

Please start each of your practice sessions with the following warm-up exercises:

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. 🙂

For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow (Play-Along Backing)

For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow (Duet Backing)

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!

Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Play-Along Backing)

Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Duet Backing)

Love Somebody (Play-Along Backing)

Love Somebody (Duet Backing)

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.

Firefly (Lesson Book)

Little River (Lesson Book)

Showboat (Performance Book)

Clementine (Play-Along Backing)

Clementine (Duet Backing)

Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Play-Along Backing)

Mexican Hand-Clapping Song (Duet Backing)