Completed UNIT 2 of my one year online piano course

   UPDATE: January 11 2018 My teacher Lesa made new Certificates of completion upon completion of the courses at PianoVideoLessons.com  Each certificate has 1 more flagged not on it.

New 2 flagged, Year 1 Unit 2 Certificate Of Completion Certificate

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   I completed UNIT 2 of the one year online piano course I am taking.  On to UNIT 3 of  Piano Video Lessons - UNIT 3.  I hope to continue to progress at playing the piano.  I am continuing through the course while keeping practice with 'Ode to Joy' and 'Christian Dedication.  

   My Right 4th and 5th fingers have bothered me off and on while playing so I have during these times broken up my practice songs up into separate daily sessions.  I have never been diagnosed with arthritis but even before piano lesson I have wondered.  I hope to address this at my next doctor appointment.

   There will be no Personalized Coaching Video(PCV) this month as several patrons decided not to contribute to the course at the last moments of the month.  I hope there will be more patrons who are taking the course decide all the teachers hard work and materials are worth contributing for, and perhaps even decide that it is worth $10 a month to get a chance in the monthly drawing for the PCV.  I sure found mine that I won very useful to me as the feedback from her alerted me to a couple habits with my hands during playing that I need to keep in mind.  I would never have known if not for her tips for me in my PCV.  I hope to have the opportunity for another PCV in the future.

Playing on the porch

  I am still enjoying and getting use out of the Piano Video Lessons course.

    Right now for the summer I have my keyboard on the porch, it is enjoyable to practice out in the yard as I continue to practice Lesson 11 'Ode to Joy,  Lesson 14 'Wind Chimes' and Song 7 ' Christian Dedication'.

   Like all students I supose, I sometimes feel I move too quickly on some lessons, and other times I feel like I hang on whatever current lesson I am working on too long. Sometimes it is hard to know how long to work on the current lesson or if I should be moving on and stretching out. I have a tendency... err habit of buzzing through the 'finger jim's' practice and such. If the lesson feels like I am playing a song I have a tendency to slow down and work on it longer. Right now I know I need to work on L 14 'Windchimes' for a while until I get it right, meanwhile keeping L11 'Ode To Joy' as part of my daily practice as well.

July PVL Personalized Coaching Video

The July ‘Piano Video Lessons’ ‘Personalized Coaching Video’

& and my notes from the teacher's comments.

The July drawing it was a lot of fun.  Here are the two practice songs I used for the video for the teacher to critique for me and my notes from the PCV.  The teacher's PCV link to her reply is in the last section of this post if you want to get right to it.  I enjoyed Lisa’s help and pointers to use as I continue to learn to play the piano.

Let’s Go Skipping Hands Together

First I chose to practice ‘Let’s Go Skipping Hands Together’ from Unit 2 Lesson 7.  Here is a previous practice session I recorded of this song when I was working on this lesson before I removed the last of the keyboard ‘helpers’.  Lesson 7 was one of my marker lessons I wanted to come back to review but had not done.  Consequently when I came back to record it for a second time for my PCV, instead of showing improvements, I had to do go through it several times until I got to where I was before.  Notes from Teacher comments: Rhythm steady, Beats and count perfect, Natural curved hands, not tense.  Can’t see wrist position in video.  Move hands into keys toward black keys.  Missed one note, I played F instead of G key.  Included tips on hand and arm posture.

Ode to Joy

The second song I played was ‘Ode to Joy’ from Unit 2 Lesson 11 that I am currently working on.  This is a song I plan to continue to practice and play for friends, and so is a song I wish to continue to improve on and add complexities to it, such as playing some real chords with it.  I would enjoy a few simple upgrades to the song I could add.  I will no doubt want to make another future practice video of this song to compare with as well.  Perhaps even for another Personalized Coaching Video for PVL. Notes from Teacher comments: Line 1:  Left hand wrist not level but angled pinky(5) down.  Line 2: A little bit of volume weakness in right pinky.  Line 3: Good but slower and more cautiously which is ok.  Played correct notes but need to practice line 3.  Line 4: Had some errors because of pressure just coming off of line 3 that I had trouble with.

During my video I asked how to add some ‘upgrades’ to my playing of ‘Ode to Joy’’ I would like to make a future video using some of these improvements.  Here are the teachers suggestions:  Notes on the Teachers tips about adding more to my playing of ‘Ode to Joy’: Play C triad chord for line 1, 2 and 4.  For line 3 can play the G chord.  Another option is to play the song left and right hand in unison.  Can also play left hand lower an octave in the base for lines 1, 2, and 4 for stronger ‘forte’ but move back up for lie 3 for lighter ‘piano’.  Can also use pedal.  Add dotted quarter rhythm to last 3 notes in lines 1, 2, 4 - dotted quarter - eighth - half as in original.  So here is my teacher's reply to my PCV practice session at PVL on YouTube.  I hope it benefits others. Thank you Lisa for providing the July PCV for me.

  

PVA Runner-up Winner PM and Announcement

Winner Announcement Patreon Thread Posts

Jul 1 Patreon Drawing announcement Patreon drawing winner announcement ‘AJBohac’ Winner has 4 days to reply!

Jul 5  Piano Video Lessons   Moving on to the runner-up! I have not heard back from AJBohac.  So, Pallen is now the recipient of a personalized video coaching session!

Jul 5  Pallen 😱 Wow! Thank You Lisa.  I will get to putting it together as instructed in your PM.  I will share it with you first, and then I will plan on sharing it on youtube later.  May my fellow students be kind. 😉 2d   Jul 6  Pallen The July drawing was a lot fun even for the runner-up in this case.  I plan on doing a couple practice songs from Unit 2 of the 1 Year Course.    I first would like to practice is ‘Let’s Go Skipping Hands Together’ from Unit 2 Lesson 7.      The second song I will practice is ‘Ode to Joy’ from Unit 2 Lesson 11.  This is a song I plan to hang on to for continued practice and even play for close friends, and so is a song I wish to continue to improve on and add complexities to it such as playing some real chords with it.

Patreon PM Notification    Jul 6

Jul 5  Piano Video Lessons  Hi Paul! You are the new winner of the personalized coaching video!   By the end of July, send me a recording of yourself working on your piano.  Perform your most recent pieces.  You'll get the most benefit, if you send me a polished piece as well as something you've been working on for a week or 2.  a 5-10 minute video please. I know you have all the technology in place to record, so just let me know when the video is ready,  You can send it to me via google docs, or send me a youtube link.  If you send it by google docs, I can seam my coaching in with the footage from your original video. Any questions? Lisa

Pallen Jul 6   Wow! Thankyou,  I can do both for you, a Google .doc first and then post later on Youtube as second stage for your other students benefit and perhaps encourage others to want to take advantage of the $10 level offer.    Although I must admit in my selfishness, I am enjoying the high 1 out of 3 odds so far of winning it again until you get more $10 patreons. Hey I am human ok ;)    I know I will be doing my latest lesson on 'Ode to Joy' for you and I will pick an easier piece out a less complex from another lesson, perhaps 'Let's Go Skipping Hands Together'?.   Thank You for allowing 2 pieces, I was hoping for critique on only 1.      Your student, Paul

Learning Ode to Joy on piano

   I have been busy practicing on the keyboard with the Piano Video Lessons.  I finished Unit 1 and am now in Unit 2 of the First year.  I am starting to use both hands and a lot of second and thirds practice.  I have been working on a simplified version of  "Ode to Joy" since June 21.  Sooner or later I will be making a practice video of it to compare with the previous course practice video: "Let Go Skipping Hands Together".

   The Piano Video Lessons course just made it's first $100 pledge goal at Petreon so one of the $10 monthly contributors will get picked to have a 5 minute video critique of thier playing along with a chance to ask her any questions about playing piano.  I will be among the running for this level reward although one other contributor has been a $10 contributor longer than me.  I hope to be able to make a practice video of "Ode to Joy" to share when ever it gets to be my turn. Who knows, by that time I may have moved on to another practice song to share with the teacher.

   I have been concentrating on the piano rather than the guitar since I got the piano.  I do plan to get back to the guitar, but for now I am really enjoying the piano practice and that is what my music hobby is all about.  Besides two instrument at one time is to much for now.