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Two Questions

Lesson Book page 13

let's get started

1. Suppose you were a tightrope walker. In order to walk across the wire, would you jump, or stay close to the wire?
2. Fingers 2-3-4 over the 3-black-keys. Let's try repeated finger 2 (or 3 or 4, either hand) without falling off the key.
3. Let's check the piece. Which hand and finger has the most repeated notes? Can you play these and stay balanced?
4. Get ready to play the piece. Balance by staying close to the key and feeling your fingertips. Don't hop too high!

Stay close to the key when playing repeated notes!

explore and create

• Play It Safe

  Let's be cautious and put the tightrope wire close to the ground. (Play low.)

• How Daring Are You?

  (Play the piece higher and higher on the keyboard. Provide a simple duet.)

• No Eyes on the Music

  Can you play the piece without looking at the music? Choose where you'd like to put your tightrope wire.

• Duet on the Tightrope

  Sometimes tightrope walkers work with a partner. (Show another student how to play an easy duet: F# [LH] C# [RH] alternating in steady quarter notes.) Keep that wire steady. Fingers close to the keys! (See video)

• Transposition

  What if you hopped down to the white keys (F-G-A)?

A good analogy can make technical advice clear—and fun!

partner pages

Theory

p. 6 The Quarter Note

• Eye-Training helps the student see quarter notes: up, down, or repeat.
• Ear-Training helps the student hear quarter notes: up, down, or repeat.

pedagogy pointers

The emphasis here is on reading and playing repeated notes. On the page, the finger number for the repeated note is omitted, encouraging the student to recognize the repetition and the horizontal movement of the notes.

The technique trick is to stay close to the key when playing the repeated note. Comparison to the movements of a tightrope walker is a vivid teaching strategy.

accompaniments on disk

• CD Tracks 6-7
• MIDI File 3

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see it in action

Teaching Video 13

Playing repeated notes can sometimes be dangerous! If you pop up too high, you might lose your balance and fall off those black keys. Stay close to the keys as you move from note to note.

Kai and Vivian start their tightrope walk by testing how to balance on their LH fourth fingers, the finger that has the most repeated notes. They even check their sitting distance by doing the "karate pose".

Sometimes a tightrope walker works with a partner. The partner also has to keep a good balance. These experts are ready for the Big Top!

Ask Yourself

• What is the key word guiding the technical approach?
• Could you suggest a further step to improve the duet performance?

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