the piano lesson - · pdf filelook at your daily schedule and decide the best time to...

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Contract for Piano Lessons

1. Your teacher will record your daily assignments. 2. Look at your daily schedule and decide the best time to practice.

I will go to the piano every day at ________________________________.

3. I will begin every practice with my relaxation exercises.

4. I will read my notebook every day.

5. I will complete all of my assignments in my books and The Piano Lesson Companion Book.

6. My parent or guardian will sign my practice log each week.

__________________________________________ Student Signature

__________________________________________ Teacher Signature

__________________________________________ Parent Signature

Copyright©2016 The Piano Curriculum Series LLC Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or retrieval system without written permission of the Publisher. This book is protected under the Official Seal of the United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress. The Piano Curriculum Series LLC POB 17651 Sugar Land, Texas USA 77496-7651 281-240-8290 www.thepianolessonseries.com

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Syllabus Preparatory Level

Lesson and Practice Format Recommended Guidelines

30 Minute Lesson: Relaxation exercises: 3 minutes Technique: Scales, Exercises 5 minutes Piano and Performance Books: 17 minutes Theory/Vocabulary/Music Appreciation: 5 minutes (rotate these)

45 Minute Lesson: Relaxation exercises: 3 minutes Technique: Scales, Exercises 10 minutes Piano and Performance Books: 22 minutes Theory/Vocabulary/Music Appreciation: 10 minutes (rotate these)

This book has been designed as a student resource for PCS Piano Proficiency Technique and Musicianship Phases.

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Relaxation Exercises: Before each practice session, it is important for you to be relaxed and focused. These exercises will help you.

1. Breathing Exercise: In a standing position, inhale through your nose, deeply. Exhale through your mouth. Do this 10 times each day.

2. Shoulder Rotations: Sometimes our shoulders are very tight and we

need to relax them. In a standing position, lift your shoulders up, almost touching your ears. Press them forward, towards your chest, down and back. Do this 5 times forward and 5 times backwards.

3. Hand Shaking: This may look silly, but it helps the blood flow

through your hands, warming them up and ready to play beautiful music. Raise your arms above your head. Shake your hands for 30 seconds. Now put your arms out in front, shake your hands for 30 seconds. Finally drop your arms to your sides and shake your hands for 30 seconds.

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Table of Contents Pages Contract 1 Syllabus 2 Relaxation Exercises 3 Scales 5 Sight Reading & Transposition 20 Vocabulary 30

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C Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand C D E F G F E D C 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand C D E F G F E D C 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

SCALES

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G Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand G A B C D C B A G 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand G A B C D C B A G 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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D Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand D E F# G A G F# E D 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand D E F# G A G F# E D 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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A Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand A B C# D E D C# B A 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand

A B C# D E D C# B A 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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E Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand E F# G# A B A G# F# E 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand E F# G# A B A G# F# E 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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B Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand B C# D# E F# E D# C# B 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand B C# D# E F# E D# C# B 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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F# Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand F# G# A# B C# B A# G# F# 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand F# G# A# B C# B A# G# F# 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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C# Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand C# D# E# F# G# F# E# D# C# 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand C# D# E# F# G# F# E# D# C# 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

White Note

White Note

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F Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand F G A Bb C Bb A G F 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand F G A Bb C Bb A G F 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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Bb Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand Bb C D Eb F Eb D C Bb 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Bb C D Eb F Eb D C Bb 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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Eb Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand Eb F G Ab Bb Ab G F Eb 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Eb F G Ab Bb Ab G F Eb 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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Ab Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand

Ab Bb C Db Eb Db C Bb Ab 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Ab Bb C Db Eb Db C Bb Ab 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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Db Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand Db Eb F Gb Ab Gb F Eb Db 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Db Eb F Gb Ab Gb F Eb Db 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

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Gb Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Cb Bb Ab Gb 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Cb Bb Ab Gb 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

White Note

White Note

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Cb Major Five-Finger Scale Right Hand Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Fb Eb Db Cb 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 Left Hand Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Fb Eb Db Cb 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5

White Note

White Note

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1.

Sight Reading & Transposition

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2.

Transpose to G Major

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4.

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5.

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6.

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7.

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10.

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1. Bass Clef: a musical symbol also known as the “F” clef. When placed on the

staff, it tells the performer to play low notes. You usually use your left hand to play in the bass clef.

2. Beat: the pulse. Just like your heart beats to keep you alive, music has a

beat to keep it alive.

3. Dynamics: how loud or soft to play or sing the music. They are expression marks; pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, crescendo and decrescendo

4. Flat: lowers a note ½ step. It is a musical symbol that looks like a “squished”

lower case “b” or ½ a heart, with a stem. It is placed before a note head or after a musical letter name. When you see this sign, you lower () the note by ½ step.

5. Grand Staff: a set of 2 staffs, one treble and one bass, connected by a bar

line and a brace. The treble is on top and the bass is on bottom.

6. Interval: the distance (how far) it is from one note to the next note. Both a step and a skip are intervals.

7. Legato (leh-gah-toe): an Italian word meaning to play smoothly or with

“walking” fingers. When you see a slur, you are to play in this manner. Legato is the opposite of Staccato.

8. Measure (meh-zure): a group of notes that are separated by bar lines. You can

think of a measure like letters making up words. The bar would be the spaces between the words.

⌐ measure¬ ⌐ measure ¬ ⌐measure¬

| | | | Bar line Bar line Bar line

Vocabulary

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9. Natural: a musical symbol that looks like a capital “L” hooked to a “7”, with a square in the middle. It is placed before a note head or after a musical letter name. When you see this sign, you will “erase” a sharp or flat

10. Note: a musical symbol. When placed on a staff, it tells the performer what pitch to play and for how long. All notes have a head (the round portion); all except the whole note have a stem.

11. Phrase: a musical sentence. It is a curved line over or under several notes or

many measures to create an idea.

12. Pianoforte (pee-an-no-for-tay): the real name of the instrument you are learning to play. It means soft (piano) and loud (forte) in Italian.

13. Pitch: how high or low a sound

14. Rest: a musical symbol that represents silence. Each note has a rest of the same value.

15. Rhythm (rih-them): the pattern of beats in a song or piece

16. Sharp: a musical symbol that raises a note by ½ step. It looks like a pound

sign or a tic-tac-toe sign. It is placed before a note head or after a musical letter name. When you see this sign, you raise () the note by ½ step.

17. Skip: starts on one note, jumps or skips over the next note and lands on the

third note. On the staff, a skip is from a line to the next line or a space to the next space.

18. Slur: a curved line over or under two or more notes. It tells the performer

to play the notes legato.

19. Staccato (stah-kah-toe): an Italian word meaning to play in a quick and separate manner. A dot is place over or under the note head (opposite from the stem). Staccato is the opposite of Legato.

20. Staff: a set of 5 lines and 4 spaces stacked one on top of the other. Notes and

rests are placed on these lines and spaces telling the performer which pitch to play.

21. Step: starts on one note and moves to the very next note. Some steps are white-to-black or black-to-white; others are white-to-white or black-to-black. On the staff, a step is from a line to the next space or a space to the next line.

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22. Tempo: an Italian word meaning “speed”. When you see a tempo marking above your music, it will tell you how fast or slow to play.

23. Tie: a curved line that connects 2 notes that sit on the same line or space. The notes do not have to have the same rhythm. The first note is played and you hold through the second note.

24. Time Signature: Two numbers placed one on top of the other telling a

musician how many beats are in a measure and which note will get a single count. The top number can be anything, but usually is somewhere between 2 and 12. The bottom number must be the same as a note. Those numbers can be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and so on. The most popular numbers are 2, 4 and 8.

25. Treble Clef: a musical symbol also known as the “G” clef. When placed on the staff, it lets the performer know to play high notes. You usually use your right hand to play in the treble clef.

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ISBN 978-1-945381-00-3