Lesson 5 Contents Overview of Lesson 5 Rhythm Change 1a Rhythm Watch Time Signature Test Time Dotted Half Notes Flower Waltz Three Step Waltz

Transcription

1 Lesson 5 Contents Overvie of Lesson 5 Rhythm Change a Rhythm Watch b Time Signature c Test Time 2 Dotted Half Notes 2a Floer Waltz 2b Three Step Waltz 2c Autumn Leaves 2d Single Bass Notes Bass Staff Notes a Bass Note Practice b Bugle Call c Four Drum Beats d Passing a Song Bass Note Pattern a Alouette b Practice Makes Perfect 5 Perfect Practice 5a Nature Walk 5b Dear Student 6

2 Lesson 5 Overvie You ill be learning and/or improving in the folloing areas: Rhythm Time Signature Dotted Half Notes Correct Fingering Ne Bass Staff Notes If you have internet access, you can use the video and audio clips for additional clarification of lessons taught The video and audio clips are not necessary for your success And are not considered part of your lesson purchase They are offered as a free source of support

3 Rhythm Change Notice that the arros are pointing to half notes The count for each half note starts on the second beat of the measure Give it 2 full beats as ritten belo the notes (2 ) Follo the directions to avoid playing the rhythm of this song incorrectly: Count the beats sloly and keep a steady rhythm ith your voice 2 Make sure you play the note at the exact same time you say it's beat Make sure that there is no hesitation in your voice beteen measures For example, hen you play and say the last beat of a measure ( ), there should be absolutely no pause in the rhythm of your voice before you say and play I boxed the areas here you need to be extra careful You ill notice that hen you have played this song correctly, the rhythm sounds different than any of the previous songs you have played Even though the rhythm of your counting voice did not change, the placement of the half notes made the rhythm sound unique If you trained yourself ell in previous lessons, then you ill not have a problem as long as your fingers are folloing the rhythm of your counting Lesson 5 - a

4 Rhythm Watch Make sure your counting voice does not hesitate to allo your fingers to "locate" a note If you start counting too fast for you to be able play a note at the exact moment you count it's beat, start over and count sloer After you learn the song at a slo, steady beat ithout mistakes, then you may count a little faster 2 There are several finger position changes They are circled for you The numbers in parenthesis are there for you to check to see if your position is correct They do not indicate a position change Be extra careful beteen measures If your counting voice is steady and your fingers are folloing like they have been trained, then you ill not have a problem ith this song 2 () () () Lesson 5 - b

5 The Time Signature The Time Signature tells you ho to count the beats of a song 2 The Time Signature is located at the beginning of a song There are 2 numbers The top number tells you ho many beats are in each measure throughout the entire song The folloing example has the top number circled Highlight it 5 The bottom number is the number not circled The bottom number tells you hat type of note ill receive beat The represents a quarter note, hich is indicating that quarter notes receive beat 6 By looking at the top number, this example tells you that each measure of this song ill receive beats All the songs you have played so far has received beats to each measure ith the quarter note (black ith a stem) receiving beat The top number is the number you ill be paying attention to 2 2 Lesson 5 - c

6 Test Time On page c, ho many beats does each measure receive Where did you find the anser for question # On page c, hat kind of notes (half or hole) are in the second measure On page c, does the last measure contains a hole note or half note Four quarter notes equal beats To half notes equal beats The Time Signature tells you hat time it is: True or False The Time Signature tell you ho to count the beats of a song: True or False It s OK to practice ithout counting out loud True or False Fingering does not matter as long as the song sounds good True or False It s OK to slo don my counting voice in the middle of a song so that my fingers have time to find a note True or False Ansers are found on page 2

7 Dotted Half Notes Description of the dotted half note: A dotted half note is a half note (hite ith a stem) ith a dot next to its note head The dotted half note receives beats 2 Notice that the time signature tells you that you ill be counting beats to each measure (You ill not be counting to like you are used to) This is a very short simple exercise that ill introduce you to the dotted half note and to counting beats per measure Lesson 5-2a

8 Ne fingering movement: Floer Waltz Start as indicated: # (thumb) on E 2 In measure 2, you ill see # on D Reach and play D ith your thumb, keeping # on G There is no need to move your hole hand out of position hen there is only one note that needs to be played ith a different finger Your thumb ill briefly reach out of position several times during this song As you practice this song, you ill feel the smoothnes of this movement Notice that measure 7 requires you to move your hand to a ne position The time signature indicates beats per measure () () () () Lesson 5-2b

9 Three Step Waltz Be extra careful in measures 2 and 6 Make sure you give the half note 2 full counts, (2) before playing the counting the rd beat 2 The counting is given to you in the first 2 measures That does not mean to stop counting, it means that I kno you can continue to count correctly ithout me riting it for you You may rite in the counting for the other measures if you ish 2 2 Lesson 5-2c

10 Autumn Leaves Watch your fingering 2 Count out loud Eyes on music Write in the correct counting Lesson 5-2d

11 Single Bass Notes Are you ready to play something ne ith the left hand The folloing diagram shos the notes of the C Chord as separate single notes The direction of the stem is unimportant G G (Left Hand Thumb) E E (Left Hand # Finger) C C (Left Hand #5 Finger) When practicing these ne notes, do not rite their letter names on your music There are only notes As you practice, you ill find that you ill start to memorize them immediately

12 Bass Staff Notes Write in the correct counting 2 Play the left hand in it's usual C Chord position The first and third measure contains your ne bass notes, C E and G 2 C E G Ó Ó Ó Lesson 5 - a

13 Bass Note Practice Write in the correct counting 2 Stay in C position Eyes on music! 2 C Lesson 5 - b

14 Count out loud 2 Eyes on music Write in the correct counting Bugle Call 2 2 Lesson 5 - c

15 beats per measure 2 Eyes on music Write in the correct counting Four Drum Beats 2 5 Lesson 5 - d

16 Passing a Song Ho are you doing Do you feel like you are progressing ell Without a teacher present, it s hard to kno hen you are ready to pass a song and move to the next Here is a guide for you to follo You are ready to pass a song if: You are past the initial concentration period here you are focusing on notes, fingers and counting 2 Being past the initial concentration period means you are playing your song ith very little effort You should be able to hear it and enjoy it, you should be using correct fingering ith little or no thought, and your rhythm should be so smooth that you do not need to rely on counting each beat Playing each note correct, using correct fingering and counted each beat is not enough to pass a song You need to have practiced the song many, many times to experience the joy of playing the piano and not just the technicalities of playing it right Ansers to page 2:, the top number of the time signature, half notes, hole note,,, false, true, false, false, false

17 Bass Note Pattern The folloing exercise shos a left hand pattern that you ill play in your next song, Alouette 2 Repeat this exercise several times until you can play it ell 2 Instructions for Alouette Measure has a quarter rest circled, reminding you to release the C chord for the th beat 2 Highlight the bass notes of measures 2, 6, 0, 2,, and These highlighted notes shos the pattern you learned on this page The line in measure # beteen Middle C and the G of the bass staff is shoing you that G is part of the melody It does not tell you to do anything Alouette ill be your most challenging song, so give yourself a eek or to to be able to play it smoothly Lesson 5 a

18 Ó Alouette Instructions on Page a 2 Lesson 5 - b

19 Practice Makes Perfect I ould change it to say: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect Why ould I say that If you practice something rong, then you ill practice getting it rong If you practice something right, then you ill practice getting it perfect I have heard many students say to me, but I practiced it all eek! My response is, I don t doubt that you did, but you must have practiced it rong When you practice, do not correct mistakes at the exact spot of the mistake What ill happen is that every time you correct the spot that you make a repeated mistake, you ill have practiced correcting it so many times, that it becomes a habit to make the mistake first, then correct it Haven t you ever ondered hy you make the same mistakes over and over Concentrate on the mistake spot in your song by practicing it separate from the song Start full measure before the mistake and include measure after the mistake Practice this isolated area at a VERY slo counting tempo so that there is plenty of time to play it correctly Make sure you can play it correctly at least 5-20 times in a ro When you can play the isolated area ithout making a mistake, then you can add it back into the song When you are struggling ith an entire song, only practice the first 2- measures When it s smooth, add another 2- measures Keep adding a couple measures at a time until you have practiced the entire song in small segments This is a very effective ay to practice any song and is highly recommended as your songs become more challenging You ill be pleased ith the results of this practice procedure 5

20 Watch your fingering 2 Count out loud Eyes on music Perfect Practice Ó 2 2 Ó 5 Ó 5 Lesson 5-5a

21 Ó Ó Nature Walk Watch your fingering 2 Count out loud Eyes on music 2 2 Lesson 5-5b 5

22 Dear Student, Here e are again, at the end of another lesson Ho are you doing Are you enjoying the piano At this point, your hands, fingers, eyes, voice and brain should be orking ell together Although you should still be concentrating hard, your concentration shouldn t be as intense as it as in the beginning In other ords, reading notes should be immediate at this point Counting should be a habit and a natural part of your practice procedure Changing fingers should be smooth and easy I have trained you to count and have drilled it so much I ant you to understand that the counting is especially important to learn because you are teaching yourself, unsupervised by a trained pianist I am sure you have noticed that there are so many things to remember, that it is easy to overlook something A trained pianist can immediately see any problem areas and point it out for you These lessons ill minimize the chance that you ill learn something rong, but only if you do not skip anything thinking it s not important Anything that I repeatedly stress is important Lesson 6 ill either be fun or frustrating depending on ho ell you have disciplined yourself in being thorough ith this and previous lessons