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What You Need to Bring to Lessons:
Piano Students:
- Spiral Bound Notebook (Size A5 – 5.5×8.5)
- Pencil
- Metronome (Either on phone or a physical device)
- 3 ring binder
- “Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course: Adult All-in-One Course Level 1” by Willard A. Palmer
- “Practical Theory: Complete, Spiral-Bound Book” by Sandy Feldstein
- “Scales, Chords, & Arpeggios” by James Bastien
- “Hanon – The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises – Complete: Piano Technique (Revised Edition)” by Charles-Louis Hanon
Vocal Students:
- Spiral Bound Notebook (Size A5 – 5.5×8.5)
- Pencil
- Metronome (Either on phone or a physical device)
- 3 ring binder
- “International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers” by Joan Wall
- “Practical Theory: Complete, Spiral-Bound Book” by Sandy Feldstein
Ableton Live 11 Students:
- Spiral Bound Notebook (Size A5 – 5.5×8.5)
- Pencil
- Metronome (Either on phone or a physical device)
- Laptop Computer – Either Mac or PC
- MacBook Laptop (Meeting or Exceeding the Following Requirements)
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 to Monterey 12
- Intel® Core™ i5 processor or Apple M1
- 8 GB RAM
- 1280×800 display resolution
- Core Audio compliant audio interface recommended
- Access to an internet connection for authorizing Live (for downloading additional content and updating Live, a fast internet connection is recommended)
- Approximately 3 GB disk space on the system drive for the basic installation (8 GB free disk space recommended)
- Up to 76 GB disk space for additionally available sound content
OR
- Windows Laptop (Meeting or Exceeding the Following Requirements)
- Windows 10 (Build 1909 and later)
- Intel® Core™ i5 processor or an AMD multi-core processor.
- 8 GB RAM
- 1366×768 display resolution
- ASIO compatible audio hardware for Link support (also recommended for optimal audio performance)
- Access to an internet connection for authorizing Live (for downloading additional content and updating Live, a fast internet connection is recommended)
- Approximately 3 GB disk space on the system drive for the basic installation (8 GB free disk space recommended)
- Up to 76 GB disk space for additionally available sound content
- Midi Controller (Discuss with Stuart about best options…)
PRACTICING TOOLS:
When you start a practicing session you should always warm up. Whether you play an instrument or sing, warming up the specific parts of your body that are used to play your instrument is an essential step.
Please follow the following steps every time you enter into a practice session. Also, this counts as part of your 30 minutes!! Yay!
Everyone:
1. Eliminate distractions. Silence notifications on your phone, shut the door to your room, and let your family know that you are about to practice and should not be disturbed.
2. Get ready for your practice time. Arrange all of your materials in front of you so you can have them ready to go when you start playing or singing.
3. Relax your body. Breath deeply in a series of 30 seconds. 10 seconds in, 10 seconds hold, 10 seconds out. You can repeat this process as many times as you like. Regulated breathing reduces stress, lowers your blood pressure, calms nerves, and clears your mind.
4. Piano students continue here. Vocal students skip down to “Singers.”
Pianists:
4. Warm up your hands. Stretch your hands as far as they can go and then make fists as tight as you can. Repeat this numerous times and wiggle your fingers so they are nice and loose.
5. Play Major Scales. Play all 12 major scales in ascending order. Right hand first, left hand second, and both hands last. USE PROPER FINGERING.
6. Play 5 Finger Warm-Ups. Play all 12 major scale 5 finger warm-ups in ascending order. Play right hand and left hand simultaneously.
Right Hand: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1
Left Hand: 5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5
7. Play Major Chord Progressions. Play the I, IV, I, V, I (1, 4, 1, 5, 1) chord progression in all 12 major key; using inversions in the RH and the chord’s root note in the left hand with an octave between your pinky and thumb.
Singers:
4. Warm up your neck. Find a safe way to warm up your neck and the surrounding muscles. In general, singing in a cold environment is much harder on your voice. (Singing in the shower is honestly one of the best ways to warm up.)
5. Hydrate your vocal cords. Drink warm water with honey. You can also put your face over a warm humidifier.
6. Hum the 5 Finger Warm-Ups. Gently hum the 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (5 finger warm-ups) in every major key, gradually working your way up the piano until you switch into your head voice (or falsetto).
7. Sing the 5 Finger Warm-Ups on the “Ooo” vowel. Repeat the previous steps except on the open “Ooo” vowel.
8. Sing the 5 Finger Warm-Ups on the “trill.” Bubble your lips together and hum at the same time.
PRINTABLE RESOURCES: