by Amy Glennon

Preparation and Presentation 

Context: Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Lynn Freeman Olson – Beginning Sonatinas
• Nancy Faber – Classic Sonatina in C Major
• Dennis Alexander – Simply Sonatinas
• Theodore Latour – Sonatina No. 1 in C Major
• Thomas Attwood – Sonatina in G Major

Get Ready: Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Improvisation/composing: create a LH melody, four measures long; add a right hand accompaniment in stationary broken octaves; balance the hands with care (preparation for mm. 20-24).
• Explore sonatina form.
• Research about Clementi: birth and death dates, biography, how many sonatinas did he compose?

Initial Focus: Features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Rests: tap and count mm. 1-4, 15, 19, 38, lifting in an exaggerated way for the rests; circle the rests.
• Bracket potentially tricky places for special practice: mm. 6-9, 8-12 (moving LH early), 22- 24, and other spots that are likely to need special attention.

Coordination Essentials: Physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• one-octave scales ascending, down a 7th, ascending again
• broken octaves, RH 1 – 5 – 5 – 5 = strong-light-light-light. Work on free technique; avoid overly stretching the hand.
• broken triad inversions using Clementi’s opening gesture/motive: “down and it’s up up”, then block
• LH cadence progressions with Alberti bass pattern
• 4-note broken chords with inversions

Expressivity: Ideas to connect and re­connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Dynamic contrast: pause before each dynamic change, verbally state the next dynamic, then continue.
• Character contrast: discuss the abrupt shift in mood, mm. 16-24; how can shaping, balance, “body language” project this most effectively?
• Compare the recap (m. 24ff) with the exposition; come up with mood adjectives to describe the differences.
• Balance: “ghost” the accompaniment hand.
• Long lines: play or sing a G Major scale in whole notes while playing mm. 8-15 (or C major mm. 31-38); the whole section is one big scale!
• Feel the music in “2” vs. “4” for more natural flow and phrasing

Looking Forward: Approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Students with strong tactile memory will benefit from working back and forth between measures 5-15 and 24-39.
• Play (and sing!) the melody without accompaniment to focus on expressive shaping of the melody in mm. 16-20, 35-end.

Process and Practice 

Fully Present: Tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Performance opportunities (group lessons, etc.) provide concrete goals and enable students to become more confident performers.
• Self-evaluation: students record their own performances and evaluate, making note of what is going especially well, and what specific goals they have for future practice.
• Creative practicing techniques: a variety of speeds, selected rhythms, and mixing up the order of phrases/sections in the piece.

Break It Up: Useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• To build speed in mm. 8-16, 31-38: play at a faster tempo than the current performance tempo, pausing at each downbeat; follow by chaining two measures together, pausing at the downbeat of every other measure.

Layers and Outlines: Tips for focusing on how the parts make up the whole

• Structural analysis can help with interpretation and memorization.
• Detail how the first theme is modified in the recapitulation, how the development section makes use of the first theme to create a different mood.

Achieving Flow: Ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Sing and conduct the piece “in 2” to help with flow and breathing.
• Though metronome practice can be very useful, also play without the metronome and experiment with physical breathing and pacing between sections.

Make It Mine: Tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Develop a story about the piece: associate extra-musical ideas and/or assign descriptive words to each contrasting section.
• If student can vocalize or sing phrases in an expressive way, use this as a model for a more expressive and personal, organic interpretation; this works especially well with the development section, mm. 16-23.

Deep Knowing: Tips for securing memory

• Harmonic analysis: label the scales in mm. 8 and 31; block and label LH chords in mm. 9, 11, 32, 34; block and label RH chords in mm. 1, 16, 17, 24, 28, 20.
• Play only the downbeats of mm. 8-12 and mm. 32-38 hands together; alternate between these sections, with the music and from memory.
• Keep playing with the score each day, even after memory is secured.
• Memory checkpoints: be able to start with and without the score from the following measures: 1, 5, 8, 12, 16, 24, 28, 31; before playing, verbally state the LH and RH starting notes, chord, etc.

Final Stages: Tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Continue with very slow practice, exaggerating every musical intention.
• Practice performing, even when alone: walk to the piano, take time, perform the piece in its entirety, do not stop even if not fully satisfied with the performance.
• Continue starting at a variety of spots in the music, with the score and from memory.
• Study the score without playing, imagining an “ideal” performance.

by Olivia Ellis

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Selections by Martha Mier from Jazz, Rags & Blues (many levels)
• “Chromatic Rag” by Margaret Goldston from The Virtuoso Performer Book One
• “Feelin’ Moody” by Wesley Schaum from Jazz Styles Level Four

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Read about Valerie Capers and hear an interview regarding this collection on her website: https://valcapmusic.com/.
• Explore performances by Jelly Roll Morton, Billie Holiday, and other artists who inspired this set.
• Listen to the composer’s audio recording of these pieces.
• Discover performance tips and more information by reading “A Guide to Interpretation” by Valerie Capers, found in the appendix of Portraits in Jazz.

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Focus on tricky fingering spots first, such as mm. 16, 20, and 23 in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll.”
• Pay special attention when a melodic line is held while inner parts move (or vice versa), such as mm. 2, 4, and 6 in “Billie’s Song.”
• Watch for sections with many accidentals, like mm. 15-18 in “Billie’s Song” and mm. 29-32 in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll.”
• For syncopated melodic lines, lean into accents or longer note values on offbeats.

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Left-hand stride bass accompaniment in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll” requires facility and accuracy on its own before putting both hands together.
• Grace notes in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll” need a quick wrist motion and release for a clean and animated sound.
• Full, thick chords in “Billie’s Song” should be supported by the arm to create warm, rich harmonies.
• Some chord resolutions in “Billie’s Song” necessitate sliding the thumb and second finger and using the pedal for connection.

Expressivity: ideas to connect and reconnect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Pay attention to different touches and articulation in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll” which can make the piece come to life.
• Create lyrics and sing along to the melodies in “Billie’s Song,” taking time to breathe between sections.
• Consider the phrase direction when several chords are repeated in a row, like mm. 1 and 25 in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll.”
• Notice the contrast of dynamics from one line to the next.

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• A successful performance will require balance of parts; listen for tops of dense chords and make sure supporting parts do not overpower the primary melody.
• Check for clarity in pedaling, being careful not to pedal too much in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll” and listening for smooth legato pedaling in “Billie’s Song.”
• Work towards an energized yet steady pulse in “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll,” particularly in quarter-note passages where it is easy to rush ahead.

Process and Practice 

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Identify elements of jazz in this collection, such as the use of extended chords in “Billie’s Song.”
• Compare these pieces to other ragtime and jazz selections, including works by Scott Joplin and Dave Brubeck.

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Practice the left-hand stride bass from “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll” (such as mm. 9-14) on its own before adding the melody.
• Improve pedaling in “Billie’s Song” by practicing only the downbeats and aiming for smooth pedal changes.
• Roll large chords slowly to listen for harmonies and make sure notes are accurate before playing back up to tempo.

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Map out the overall form and notice what makes each section unique.
• Determine which parts are melodic and practice shaping them separately, leaving out inner voices at first.

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Play left-hand accompaniments by themselves while singing the melody.
• When practicing in sections, follow through to the downbeat of the next section or the end of a transition to keep the flow.
• Listen for groups of phrases in “Billie’s Song” when choosing rubato, taking time at the end of larger sections rather than each small phrase.
• Tap a steady beat while humming the syncopated melody of “Sweet Mister Jelly Roll,” then tap a beat in the left hand while playing the melody.

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Consider alternative timing and dynamics, particularly when sections are repeated.
• Identify unexpected harmonies or surprise rhythmic elements and highlight them in performance.
• Explore pedaling in different ways to create color in “Billie’s Song.”

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Ensure that you know the form of each piece, including any repeats, bridges, and coda sections.
• Outline the chord structure and notice any patterns in the harmonic progressions.
• Record a rehearsal from memory, going back and noting any trouble spots.

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Explore other pieces from this set and consider each mood and style.
• Perform for a small audience and ask them if these pieces are reminiscent of other music they know.
• Play the left-hand harmonies while improvising a fresh melody in the right hand.

by Roger McVey

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Edward MacDowell: To a Wild Rose, Op. 51, No. 1
• Scott Joplin: The Entertainer or the Maple Leaf Rag
• Claude Debussy: The Little Shepherd
• Frédéric Chopin: Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No.4

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Listen to examples of spirituals like “Amazing Grace” or “Deep River.”
• Learn and practice the pentatonic scale in different keys.

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Find a good balance between RH melody and LH chords/accompaniment.
• Tap and speak the syncopated rhythms.

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Tap rhythms of both hands together, especially in jump bass sections.
• Add words or text to the syncopated rhythms.

Expressivity: ideas to connect and reconnect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Sing the melodies. How does your voice add inflection and shape to the melody?
• The titles of the movements are based on poems by the composer’s wife, Louise Alston Burleigh. Read the poems and consider what they convey.

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Find the spots that will require isolated practice (for example, m. 7, 9, 11, in movement 1; mm. 23-25 in movement 1; jump bass sections in movement 4; spread out LH chords in movement 4; etc.).

Process and Practice 

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Sing the RH melodies while playing the LH accompaniment.
• The 1st mvt. uses an F-sharp-minor pentatonic scale. Try improvising your own melodies with this scale using the original melody’s rhythm. Do this with or without the LH chords.

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• These pieces are structured in an ABA or ABAB format. Identify the sections and break them down into practice components.
• Reinforce the previously identified difficult spots.

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Most of the phrases in these pieces are related in a “question-answer” kind of way. Practice each phrase separately and identify how one phrase will complement or resolve the previous phrase. How does that relationship affect dynamics/shaping/timing?

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• In mvt. 4, the second section of jump bass (m.70) is more difficult than the first one (m.21); use the most difficult part of the piece to gauge your beginning tempo.
• If you were singing these phrases, you would need to breathe in certain places. Play the RH melodies as if you were singing them.

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• The use of rubato and expressive timing is extremely important in these pieces – explore different options until you find “your way”.

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Practice playing the LH alone in sections, from memory.
• Practice playing the piece at very different tempos from memory (i.e. – the slow 1st mvt. at a fast tempo; the fast 4th mvt. at a slow tempo)
• The structural repetitions in these pieces often involve doubling or slight harmonic variation; practice the “original” version of the phrase and the “varied” version side by side.

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Do “practice performances” for family and friends.
• Record yourself playing and evaluate.
• Try playing the slow movements with your eyes closed. You might find that you listen differently, or that your memory is challenged and strengthened by doing so.

by Rebecca Pennington

Preparation and Presentation

Context: Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Burgmüller – Arabesque
• Rossi – Atacama Desert
• Atwood – Sonatina
• Kabalevsky – Clowns

Get Ready: Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• What is a Ballade? An Epic Poem. What are some famous epic poems? (Greek mythology, Longfellow, Poe)
• Listen to the piece. Make your own story to go with the music. What is happening? Note the contrast in the B section and the return of the A section.
• Opening LH motive: Practice four different ways each day, e.g. slow and legato, staccato, different tempos, different rhythms, groupings of notes, double notes. When secure, play with both hands and do all of the practice variations with HT.
• Name the LH chords in the B section. How many different ones in this section?
• Broken RH octaves: descending in different keys. Listen for a staccato, robust sound.

Initial Focus: Features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Articulation: note staccatos and accents
• Learning sequence: first motive, coda, approach to the reprise (mm. 47-56), B section, whole piece!
• B section: learn the LH chords first, then add the RH

Coordination essentials: Physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Opening LH motive and coda: legato, staccato, varied rhythms, varied groupings of notes, double notes.
• Dynamic control of RH chords: practice playing RH chords at varying volumes.

Keep it musical: Ideas to connect and re­connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• In the opening motive, the LH A (m. 7) is a “landing note.” We go to this note because it is the highest note, and also outside of the key signature.
• In the B section there are groups of 4-measure phrases. Go to the third measure in each of these groups.
• Connect the musical elements to the story you are telling!

Look forward: Approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Develop and secure the correct gestures for the LH articulation in the opening motive.
• Isolate the LH sixteenth notes in mm. 3-4, 11-12, 87-90. Vary the practice.
• Practice the leaps at the end of the A section.

Process and Practice 

Fully present, here and now: Tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Continue to connect the piece to the idea of an “epic story.” The student can make their own story to connect with the music, and it’s okay if this story changes over time. Going back to the idea of a story will keep the music fresh!
• As the student becomes more comfortable with the piece, the tempo can increase. This changes the piece for the student and keeps it fresh and alive.
• There are endless details to find within a phrase. One of my favorites is in the coda, once a student has learned the piece securely. The four repetitions of the motive in the coda each get louder, building drama and intensity to the end of the piece.

Break it up: Useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• This piece has obvious breaks or sections. This is helpful in isolating particular areas to practice further, depending on what the student needs. Even the major sections like A and B can each be broken down into at least four sections.

Layers and outlines: Tips for focusing on how the parts make up the whole

• In the B section, each phrase is slightly different, but still part of the same idea. The first phrase is like a question, the second like an answer.
• The main motive is a unifying theme in that it reappears throughout the piece, even at the coda!

Achieving flow: Ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• The coda tempo will govern the flow of the whole piece. How fast can you play the coda accurately, evenly and with unity between the hands? This is your starting tempo.
• Be careful that the descending broken chords do not rush!

Make it mine: Tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Continue to connect the piece to a personal story. The students could even write the story out themselves—perhaps make their own written “ballade.”

Deep knowing: Tips for securing memory

• Be able to start from three different spots on each page.
• Be able to play the piece from memory at three or more different tempos.
• Be able to play the coda “cold” from memory.
• Be able to name the LH chords in the B section.

Final stages: Tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Play for others and have them share what the story is about.
• Perform the piece at different tempos.
• Record the performance. Students could tell their story while the piece plays in the background.

by Todd Van Kekerix

Preparation and Presentation

Context: Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Night Rider by Melody Bober 
• Little Prelude in F major, BWV 927 by J.S. Bach 
• Etude in C minor, Op. 27, no. 9 by Henri Bertini
• At the Skating Rink, Op. 28, no. 23 by Samuel Maykapar

Get Ready: Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Explore the title of the piece, “L’Orage” by viewing Georges Michel’s painting of the same name. 
• Use technical warm-ups, such as five finger patterns and broken chords to explore playing softly while still projecting in the lower register of the keyboard. 
• Have student compose their own stormy piece based on the previous technical warm-up. 
• Practice measured tremolos in 16th notes as a warm-up using a d harmonic minor scale. 

Initial Focus: Features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Listen to a recording of the piece and discuss how the piece sounds like a storm. 
• Label the form of the piece. 
• Brainstorm about what mm. 20-29 might mean in the context of a storm. 
• Label chords throughout the piece to provide a framework for harmonic movement.

Coordination Essentials: Physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• RH entrances after 16th rests. 
• LH melodic projection throughout the A and B sections. 
• Finger control – making all of the notes speak. 
• Draw attention to RH ties on beat 3 in m. 16. 
• Isolate beats 3 & 4 in m. 21 going to beat 1 in m. 22 to feel the connection to the D major chord.

Expressivity: Ideas to connect and re-connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Establish a narrative to accompany the music by reconnecting with Michel’s painting.
• Practice dynamic swells in various 5 finger pattern iterations to develop crescendo and diminuendo control. 

Look Forward: Approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Dynamic control in the musical swells. 
• Voicing chords. 
• Projecting melodic lines.
• Technical gesture needed for the rolled chord in m. 15. 
• Pedaling precision.

Process and Practice 

 Fully Present: Tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Keep exploring the ominous nature of the piece. Highlight the hymn-like tune that emerges in m. 22. What does this mean in context of what happened previously? 
• Transfer finger control (making each note speak) when first reading through the piece. 
• Encourage the student to increase the tempo systematically so that the piece remains intact. 

Break it Up: Useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• Isolate the rolled chord in target practice m. 15, then add m. 14.
• Practice playing RH chords in mm. 16-17. First play RH alone while naming the chords out loud. Next, add the first note of each 16th note group in the LH. Finally, add the remaining LH notes. 
• Practice the measures that have decrescendos to hear and feel the decay. For example, start on beat 3 in m. 2, rather than beat 1. When a student is confident with the decrescendo, then start on beat 1 and add the crescendo. This can be done in other parts of the piece as well. Experience this in different octaves on the keyboard so students listen carefully and respond with the appropriate touch accordingly. 

Layers and outlines: Tips for focusing on how the parts make up the whole

• In the B section, the LH and RH play off of each other in a more spirited manner. Be sure to identify the importance of matching the tone of the notes marked marcato and with accents in their respective parts to highlight the phrase structure. 
• Identify the different tonal areas throughout. 

Achieving flow: Ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Overlapping sectional practice with metronome increasing from half tempo to full tempo. 
• Pay special attention to the transition into D major at m. 22, and mm. 25-31. 
• Take special care to highlight that the sforzando in m. 28 is in the context of ‘p.’ Too often the chords in the RH and the staccato LH notes are played carelessly. The LH staccatos should remain at a whisper leaving. 

Make it mine: Tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Revisit the plot of the piece. Has anything been altered as the student has put the piece in their fingers? 
• Practice the pacing of the transitions in m. 9, 17, 21, 25.

Deep knowing: Tips for securing memory

• Create an abstract that incorporates chord and melodic analysis. 
• If the student has access to a digital keyboard, practice playing the piece without sound. 
• In the lesson, ask the student to play through the piece in the following manner. Student plays several measures, then the teacher prompts them to stop playing the notes, but to keep the music going in their head. Student then starts playing the notes when prompted by the teacher. This activity could also be completed at home with a parent. 
• Perform the piece on different pianos to practice adjusting to the variety of touches needed to “sell” the piece. 

Final stages: Tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Practice playing the piece at half tempo while counting 16th notes out loud, feeling all the micro and macro phrase shapes. 
• Record the piece in various settings, school, church, etc. to mimic playing on different pianos. 
• Challenge—keep one hand going while the other hand drops out upon cues from the teacher.

by Suzanne Newcomb

Preparation and Presentation

Context: Pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Students should be playing the earliest selections of original piano works.
• Sonatinas by Lynes, Attwood, Latour, and other selections in any level 1 and 2 Sonatina books.
• Method book pieces introducing Alberti bass (approx. level 3).
• This piece is an appropriate selection before any of Clementi’s Op. 36 or Kuhlau’s Op. 55 Sonatinas.
• The simplest Czerny exercises are pertinent to this style. They help introduce the Alberti bass and RH phrasing and articulation.

Get Ready: Creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• As a student’s first Beethoven piece, familiarize the student with this important composer’s story. Use any music appreciation book for insight into his position in the classical period. 
• Show the student a picture of Beethoven’s pianoforte. Discuss the differences in the construction as compared to a modern-day piano and how this would affect the sound.
• Play each movement before assigning.

Initial Focus: Features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Note the form in each movement. Where are the repeats? Discuss their importance.
• Stress to the student that there is no pedal used in this style of music.
• In the opening, emphasize the two-note slurs.
• Discuss the grace note, played before the beat.
• Reiterate to the student to follow all printed fingering, or pencil in their own.

Coordination Essentials: Physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece 

• Practice the LH in the opening of each movement.
• The RH consistently contains the melody. Practice playing with a beautiful bottom-of-the-key legato. Be sure the grace notes don’t interrupt the flow of the line.
• Practice any Alberti or arpeggiated LH patterns. Block and identify them for awareness of the chord progressions.

Expressivity: Ideas to connect and re-connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• Emphasize the expressive quality of the melody in both movements.
• Encourage students to use expressive lifts to delineate phrases.
• Create a feeling of anticipation immediately before the return of the A section. This can be achieved with tempo and dynamics.

Look Forward: Approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road 

• Review the form of each movement. Discuss slight deviations that will be important to secure before memorizing.
• Select an appropriate tempo and encourage occasional metronome use.

Process and Practice 

Fully Present: Tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Learn in sections, examining the form.
• Allow 2-3 weeks to learn each movement.
• Encourage the student to review the 1st movement while learning the second.
• Culminate the study of this piece with a memorized performance of both movements.

Break it Up: Useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole 

• Discuss the form of ABA+Coda. Practice each in an isolated fashion.
• When piecing back together, practice transitions for flow.
• Examine the function of each section. Does it introduce? Does it conclude? Does it develop, thickening the plot?

Layers and outlines: Tips for focusing on how the parts make up the whole 

• Play through each movement in its entirety. Did the performance have a nice arc reflecting the ABA form? Did the conclusion wrap up the ideas with a sense of resolution?

Achieving flow: Ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically 

• The metronome is effective in both movements of this piece, although there is freedom in the tempo right before the returning A sections. A teacher should show the student how to ignore the metronome there, and pick up tempo again when the A section returns. Then turn the metronome off and recreate the scenario.
• Is the melody prevailing throughout? Intermittent interruptions from the LH disrupt the flow to the listener. Be mindful of balance between the two hands.

Make it mine: Tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• Sing the RH melody. Breathe in between phrases.
• After examining the form of the piece throughout the student’s study, encourage them to tell their own story through their performance. It doesn’t need to be actual prose, it can simply reflect feelings, especially the second movement, the Romanze.
• Ponder how the two movements complement each other. Why were they paired together? How does the character of each movement fit with its partner? What harmonic ideas do the movements share?
• Write in some dynamics. Then experiment with the opposite! Each time, make it super-convincing. Then decide on your final interpretation (or be spontaneous!).

Deep knowing: Tips for securing memory

• Again, be super-aware of the form. Study deviations in note passages that start out the same. Study the score away from the piano.
• While playing, think of how the music looks on the page.
• Be able to sing the melody from memory.
• Memorize the LH separately. Try singing the RH along with it!

Final stages: Tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection.

• Preparing for a performance is tiring work. Be sure to allow plenty of time for the process, even if it just means putting the piece away for a day or two after it is learned. When you pull it back out, it’s like seeing an old friend! Bring it back slowly, revisiting your previous ideas. Examine which ideas work, and which ones you might want to change. Double-check any technical challenges. Then allow a few more days to practice the performance. Play for friends and family. Listen to their feedback, even if they are not musicians. Record yourself. When the big day comes, you will have a one-of-a-kind gift to share with your audience! And Beethoven will be proud.

by Michael Clark

Preparation and Presentation

Context: pieces that are helpful to have experienced or played before approaching this one

• Béla Bartók: Mikrokosmos No. 131: Fourths
• Sergei Prokofiev: March, Op. 65, No. 10

Get Ready: creative activities to explore before the first encounter with the score, to prepare a student for deeper engagement and more immediate success

• Improvise over the opening accompaniment pattern. Here are some possibilities:
  • Student improvises melody within C pentascale while teacher loops LH accompaniment from mm. 1–2.
  • Teach the student LH accompaniment by rote, then the teacher improvises melody using grace notes and syncopation patterns found in the piece.
  • Student takes both roles: teach the student LH by rote, then student improvises melody within C pentascale in RH.
• Listen and compare the moods of various marches from orchestral and piano repertoire such as Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slav, Schubert’s March Militaire, Chopin’s Marche funèbre, and Prokofiev’s March from The Love for Three Oranges.

Initial Focus: features to pay attention to first; priority steps in reading and absorbing the music

• Notice the detailed articulation markings: almost every note has one! How can the various articulations come to life?
• Give careful attention to Bacewicz’s fingerings for double notes—they’re designed to naturally inflect the articulation.

Coordination Essentials: physical skills and drills for common technical challenges in the piece

• Tap and count syncopated rhythm in mm. 4–8.
• Practice legato thirds and fourths: slur in groups of two or three, both ascending and descending.
• Find a wrist/arm circle to facilitate the wide LH accompaniment.

Expressivity: ideas to connect with the expressive and musical nature of the piece

• How does the character of this march compare with others the student has heard?
• Exaggerate the humorous features: grace notes, syncopated rhythms, and large leaps.
• How does Bacewicz create contrast in mm. 17–24? How does the middle section with legato thirds and fourths relate to the opening?

Look Forward: approaches to set up for success with refinements that will need attention a few weeks down the road

• Exaggerate lifts in slur groupings in mm. 26–36 to build strong technical habits.
• Practice ghosting the LH accompaniment to prepare for appropriate balance.

Process and Practice 

Fully present: tips for maintaining focus and engagement over time

• Experiment with extreme contrasts in articulation. How distinct can each unique marking be?
• Try different approaches to voicing the double notes in the middle section. Follow the lower note in the RH or the LH line instead of just the top note. Start with a duller, more even voicing, then brighten it as the line ascends.

Break it up: useful practice segments; how to connect them and plug them back into the whole

• The piece breaks easily into four main sections: mm. 1–16, 17–24, 25–40, 41–59.
• Focus on the timing in the transitions between the sections: how can the left hand prepare the next character in mm. 16 and 24–25? How much ritardando will be effective in m. 40?

Layers and outlines: tips for focusing on how the parts makeup the whole

• Block the LH harmonies in close spacing or use two hands to block them in open spacing to hear how the harmony changes.
• Notice how mm. 55–59 alternates between two tonal areas of the piece. What does Bacewicz convey through this choice?

Achieving flow: ideas for finding and maintaining tempo, managing modifications artistically

• Imagine an actual marching or walking speed. Does the character of the music suggest rigidity? Or more flexibility and playfulness?

Make it mine: tips for developing and refining a personal, internal sense of the piece

• What happens on this march that dislodges the left hand from C down to B-flat in m. 17? Encourage students to imagine a narrative that supports the changes in mood.

Deep knowing: tips for securing memory

• Understand exactly where the return of the A section diverges from its first appearance at the beginning of the piece (compare mm. 16 and 52).
• Compare the contour of each phrase in mm. 25–40. Observe exactly where each line changes direction, mark the few skips, and note whether the hands are moving in parallel or contrary motion.

Final stages: tips for ensuring performance readiness, maintaining freshness and spontaneity, and reinforcing an expressive personal connection

• Try performing it at multiple tempos, each suggesting a different character: a frenzied scurry, a carefree stroll, a tedious plod, etc.