Microsoft word - pupils of the week.doc

03/03/14: 24/02/14: 17/02/14: 10/02/14: 03/02/14: 27/01/14: Matthew Stevens had obviously worked harder at a selection of scales. The fingering and notes were accurate and confident. 20/01/14: Joshua Lamb found a suitable version of The Entertainer and was able to add some intricate LH ideas to it. Well done. 13/01/14: Narjit Gill played Hanon No.1 at a good pace. 06/01/14: Joshua Lamb played The Snowman in a really enjoyable way. The pedal was used too. 16/12/13: Congratulations to Kate Liggins who has been accepted on the BMus Vocal Studies course at Birmingham Conservatoire starting in September. 09/12/13: Congratulations to the following who all got distinctions in their recent Piano Exams: Laura Chandler (Grade 5), Anna White (Grade 3) and Maisie Reece (Grade 1). 02/12/13: Theory Exam Results: congratulations to Yasmin Rona who got a high pass at Grade 5 and to Harry White who got a merit at Grade 3. Well done both! 25/11/13: Charlotte and Emily Wykes now understand how transposition works. 18/11/13: Sophie Gooding played Rondo in a much more musical fashion this week. It had shape and colour! 11/11/13: Joshua Lamb made a confident start to playing the C major scale. 04/11/13: Grace Bridgman continues to make good progress. This week she added rhythmic styles to her playing. 28/10/13: Harry White completed a really good final Theory paper. 21/10/13: Maisie Reece had made the rhythm for Thursday much more accurate and secure. Good work! 14/10/13: James Ford made great strides this week due to a new practice regime. Especially notable was the much better phrasing given to Caprice. 07/10/13: Anna White started investigating when to use the right pedal for Blue Sky Blues. 30/09/13: Calum Cheshire began to experiment with appropriate sounds for Symphony No.40. 23/09/13: James Ford made a good start to Caprice No.24. 16/09/13: Delia Hayward was able to play G major contrary motion scale really well, right from the initial try. 09/09/13: Martin Bradley got into the groove of Marching Along quite well. 02/09/13: Yasmin Rona answered some questions on a Grade 5 specimen Theory paper with ease. 26/08/13: Grace La Piccirella played the first half of the third movement of Clementi’s Sonata in G with a good technique and understanding. 19/08/13: Alicia Charlton made a good start to Knowing Me, Knowing You. 12/08/13: Alicia Charlton kept a good pulse when she played Lay All Your Love HT. 05/08/13: Maisie Reece managed to transpose The One that got away at sight from F major to E major. Impressive! 29/07/13: Delia Hayward was able to play both C major and G major scales steadily as HT. 22/07/13: Calum Cheshire made a great start to the RH of Sir Duke. Well done! 15/07/13: Grade 5 Theory distinction results: well done to Chris Ball (97%) and Laura Chandler (91%). 08/07/13: Congratulations to Millie Brooks who gained a Distinction in her Grade 2 Keyboard Exam. Olivia Hammond also had good comments for her playing in her Preparatory Test. 01/07/13: Roisin Kearney played the LH accompaniment of The Swan with an excellent consistent pulse. 24/06/13: Bill Hunter started playing Jingle Bells HT in G major by ear. 17/06/13: Gill Baker played a wide selection of Broken Chords accurately and at a good pace. 10/06/13: Abbie Palmer played the first half of The Scientist with a really good pulse. It was easy to create a duet. 03/06/13: James Ford made a really good start to Dance of the Hours. A bonus was to know the words to Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! 27/05/13: Anna White vocalised a good introduction to German Dance after some encouragement. 20/05/13: Laura Chandler answered a specimen Grade 5 Theory Paper with much more insight than recently. Keep going now! James Ford played Greensleeves with much more accuracy and confidence. Well done. 13/05/13: Calum Cheshire made a useful start to She’s out of my life. What could you add to it now? 06/05/13: Anna White started formulating her own interesting arrangement of New York, New York. 29/04/13: Yasmin Rona played and sang Waiting Here for You with a real focus and excellence. 22/04/13: Emily McLaughlin played the rhythm to Haunted House much more accurately. It’s beginning to have the right groove! Martin Bradley had obviously spent a lot of time working on some new scales as HT this week. Pretty polished and confident! 15/04/13: Bill Hunter started investigating how to use the pedal in Greensleeves. 08/04/13: Gill Baker asked the right questions about Santa Baby and was able to play quite a bit of it RH and LH. 01/04/13: Kate Liggins gained a merit with her Grade 5 Piano Exam, whilst the following received success with their Grade 5 Theory Exams: Anna White (distinction), Matthew Stevens (merit), Roisin Kearny (merit) and Abby Swain (pass). 25/03/13: Abbie Palmer passed her Grade 6 Piano Exam. The extra energy and time you gave was worth it! 18/03/13: Yasmin Rona had really improved La Peruanita. So much better! 11/03/13: Calum Cheshire passed his Grade 5 Keyboard Exam with a merit. Well done for all that hard work! 04/03/13: Emily McLaughlin had certainly practised with much more gusto this week. Lots of scales, pieces and exercises had improved. Excellent! 25/02/13: Ray Carter was able to add staccato to Strangers in the Night. 18/02/13: Abby Swain is now answering a greater range of Grade 5 Theory Paper questions correctly. 11/02/13: Millie Brooks easily played several chords in different inversions. 04/02/13: Matthew Stevens is still continuing to prepare really well for his Grade 5 Theory Exam. 28/01/13: Harry White whistled the Great Escape Theme whilst improvising an accompaniment in several keys. 21/01/13: Stephen Moore tended to bring out the melody for Singing Brook. 14/01/13: Maisie Reece composed a good intro/outro to When she loved me. 07/01/13: Tim Downs is getting the hang of Walking in Memphis. 31/12/12: James Ford played a D chromatic scale with his RH for the first time and did well. 17/12/12: Congratulations to Laura Chandler (Grade 4) and Harry White (Grade 2) who both got good merits in their recent Piano Exams. 10/12/12: Bill Hunter is making much of Where and When more rhythmically secure. 03/12/12: Congratulations to Sarah Hickson who gained a good Merit in her Grade 5 Theory Exam. 26/11/12: Keira Pibworth played Country Waltz with real ease and accuracy. 19/11/12: Abbie Palmer is discovering the interesting rhythms of Jack Rabbit. 12/11/12: Chris Ball starting looking at melodic minor scales. 05/11/12: Alicia Charlton played Super Trouper HT with ease. 29/10/12: Michelle Billington worked hard to play through Wooden Heart 22/10/12: James Ford played the C major scale HT with great confidence. 15/10/12: Maisie Reece continues to develop sound ideas for Pirates of the Caribbean. 08/10/12: Harry White had certainly invested a lot of effort this week in improving scales and large sections of pieces he is currently learning. Yasmin Rona was able to discuss Compound Time Signatures with some confidence. 01/10/12: Abbie Palmer played five melodic minor scales with generally good fingering and notes. 24/09/12: Skye Hickman had obviously worked hard at When the Saints at home. 17/09/12: Roisin Kearney made a good start to answering her first Grade 5 Theory Paper. 10/09/12: Calum Cheshire is continuing to make progress with Danse Macabre. 03/09/12: Anna White made some very perceptive observations about chord inversions. 27/08/12: Stephen Moore made a good stab at playing the first line of Spring Song Hands Together. 20/08/12: Bill Hunter made the notes on One Step Ahead much more secure. 13/08/12: Abby Swain was able to confidently discuss Time Signatures, giving their meanings correctly and easily. 06/08/12: Richard Goldstein played a selection of Burgmüller’s Studies well. 30/07/12: Emily Rayson gained a merit with her Grade 5 Theory exam. Well done. 23/07/12: Many congratulations to Jade Evans who passed her Grade 8 Piano exam with a distinction and to Kate Liggins who passed her Grade 4 Piano exam with a merit. 09/07/12: Amy Hanson gained a Distinction in her Grade 1 Electronic Keyboard exam. Well done. 02/07/12: Harry White sang most of I Vow to Thee whilst playing only the LH - very impressive! 25/06/12: Jade Evans played Capriccio in a much more musical way - it's now coming alive! 18/06/12: Gill Baker made a good start to Nessun Dorma. 28/05/12: Rachel Pargetor sang and accompanied herself playing Colours of the Wind. It had great style and quality. 21/05/12: Sarah Hickson remembered all the technical names for the Degrees of the Scale. 14/05/12: Millie Brooks made a good start to Tarantella. 07/05/12: Well done to Laura Chandler who made the C# and G# minor scales much more accurate and confident. 30/04/12: Tim Downs composed a nice melody and accompaniment in Db major. 23/04/12: Yasmin Rona made a good attempt at playing Greensleeves with her right hand and left hand. 16/04/12: Congratulations to the following who all gained good Merits in their recent Piano Exams: Matthew Stevens (Gr 3), Anna White (Gr 2) and Katherine Stevens (Gr 1). 02/04/12: Rachel Pargetor made a useful start to Let It Be. 26/03/12: Rita Wilcox is beginning to feel more confident at playing the 1st page of A Whiter Shade of Pale. 19/03/12: Congratulations to Calum Cheshire who passed Gr 4 Keyboard and to Emily McLaughlin who gained a merit at Gr 1. 12/03/12: Harry White began to play Twinkle Twinkle with Root Position, 1st Inversion and 2nd Inversion block chords in his LH. 05/03/12: Phil Potts confidently played through the first 2 pages of The Entertainer using both chords and then the Bass Clef. 27/02/12: Maisie Reece composed an excellent arrangement of Oom Pah Pah. 20/02/12: Richard Goldstein's tango-like composition had some fine ideas. 13/02/12: Rachael Jones made a good stab at playing the first section of Who You Are. 06/02/12: Millie Brooks is now playing I have a dream in a much tidier way. 30/01/12: Anna White made a huge difference to the accuracy and mood of Trio. 23/01/12: Emily McLaughlin is now getting the gist of Greensleeves. 16/01/12: Matthew Steven's rendition of Wild Horseman is definitely hitting the right level now. 09/01/12: Katherine Airey played Db major scale quite easily. 02/01/12: Jade Evans played quite a few scales in 3rds in a confident manner. 19/12/11: Congratulations to the following for impressive piano exam results - Harry White (Gr 1) distinction, Katherine Airey (Gr 3) merit, Laura Chandler (Gr 3) merit, Kate Liggins (Gr 3) merit, Rachel Pargetor (Gr 3) pass and Jonathan Taylor (Gr 6) pass. 12/12/11: Well done to Yasmin Rona who got a merit in her recent Grade 3 Theory Exam. 05/12/11: Emily Rayson started using Grade 5 Theory sample papers. A good step forward. 28/11/11: Well done to Anna White who after being auditioned has become part of the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain (Under 11) as a cellist. 21/11/11: Katherine Stevens obviously spent much more time working on Tarantella this week - so much more accurate and confident than before. 14/11/11: Jessica Payne made a good stab at playing the Grade 2 broken chord pattern for the first time. 17/10/11: Calum Cheshire's Linked GCSE Composition is sounding very good. 10/10/11: Jessica Payne composed TWO accompaniments for All about You. Great work! 03/10/11: Matthew Stevens used appropriate staccato for Wild Horseman. 26/09/11: Bill Hunter is getting to grips with I'm all over it. 19/09/11: Jade Evans played a selection of Arpeggios with much more bite. 12/09/11: Rachel Phillips played confidently played several pieces with both hands. 05/09/11: Jonathan Taylor is becoming confident when playing Mignon at a good speed. 29/08/11: Phil Potts is playing Boogie on Down with some style now. 22/08/11: Congratulations to Anna White who achieved a distinction in her Gr 5 cello exam. 15/08/11: Yasmin Rona has continued to work well in preparing for her Gr 3 theory exam. 08/08/11: Jessica Payne played You raise me up really well, composing her own ending. 01/08/11: Calum Cheshire started to get acquainted with the theoretical side of Four Seasons. 25/07/11: Maisie Reece is beginning to remember more of the notes in the bass clef now. 18/07/11: Matthew Stevens had really improved Skye Boat Song this week. 11/07/11: Harry White easily played all the Grade 1 Broken Chords plus a selection of others. 04/07/11: Emily Rayson is becoming more confident when dealing with intervals. 27/06/11: Logan Ryan has made a really good start to Someone Like You. 20/06/11: Katherine Airey is continuing to work well through various Theory topics. 13/06/11: Emily McLaughlin had certainly worked hard at making Romance de amor more accurate and fluent. 06/06/11: Laura Chandler gave many confident answers to a series of Aural questions. 30/05/11: Anna White gave an impressive performance of most of Minuet in G transposed at sight into C major. 23/05/11: Katherine Stevens is trying to practise in a more systematic and regular way. 16/05/11: Richard Goldstein played through much of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. 09/05/11: Jessica Payne made a really good start to playing the Titanic theme. 02/05/11: Jade Evans played a good selection of pieces to a high standard. 25/04/11: Emily Rayson wrote down many different scales with accuracy. 18/04/11: Rachel Pargetor has really improved the rhythm for the first two lines of Both Sides Now. 11/04/11: Well done to the following people who found out their exam results: Anna White (Distinction Gr 1 Piano), Jessica Payne (Distinction Gr 1 Piano), Abbie Palmer (Pass Gr 5 Piano), Frances Averre (Merit Gr 5 Theory) and Clare Palmer (Pass Gr 5 Theory). 04/04/11: Katherine Stevens showed lots of effort when playing Gavotta HT. 28/03/11: Calum Cheshire is making good progress with Breaking Free. 21/03/11: Millie Brooks has really improved quite a few scales and arpeggios this week. 14/03/11: Harry White is making good progress with learning Elephant. 07/03/11: Laura Chandler tried to count whilst playing Sad Song. 28/02/11: Clare Palmer completed two much better Gr 5 theory papers. 21/02/11: Katherine Stevens has started to "get" two octave scales. 14/02/11: Jade Evans is starting to get a feel for King for a Day. 07/02/11: Frances Averre completed a very good Gr 5 theory paper. 31/01/11: Marianne Brown is getting to grips with White Horse. 24/01/11: Phil Potts is getting more fluent at playing all of The Four Seasons. 17/01/11: Rachel Pargetor made a big difference to the feel of Stroll On. 10/01/11: Katherine Stevens remembered how to play C major as a Broken Chord. 03/01/11: Harry White added further variations to the LH of Phantom of the Opera. 20/12/10: Congratulations to the following who all passed their Gr 2 piano exams: Matthew Stevens (merit), Josh Preston (merit) and Yasmin Rona (pass). 13/12/10: Well done to the following who passed their Gr 5 theory exams: Jonathan Taylor (distinction), Rebecca Whitelegg (merit) and Abbie Palmer (pass). 06/12/10: Calum Cheshire worked hard and gained a merit in his Gr 3 Keyboard exam. Well done! 29/11/10: Josh Preston made a significant improvement to much of his playing this week. 22/11/10: Steve Frost composed an interesting instrumental to I guess that's why. 15/11/10: Rachael Pearce sight read several Chopin miniatures pretty easily. 08/11/10: Katherine Airey made a good job at duetting the RH of Big Band Boogie. 01/11/10: Jonathan Taylor continued to answer Gr 5 Theory Specimen Papers to an excellent level. 25/10/10: Harry White made an enthusiastic start to Nellie. 18/10/10: Phil Potts made a great start to playing Thank you for the Music. 11/10/10: Abbie Palmer put more effort into the Gr 5 Theory Papers. 04/10/10: Matthew Stevens has made the Arpeggios he is learning much more musical than before. 27/09/10: Millie Brooks played a C major scale (RH/LH) with great assurance. 20/09/10: Kayla Bateman played the rhythm for I dreamed a dream much more accurately. 13/09/10: Jessica Payne gave a jolly rendition of Super Trouper. 06/09/10: Marianne Brown is becoming more confident at reading notation. 30/08/10: Yasmin Rona has started methodically studying the Gr 2 scales. 23/08/10: Anna White made a really good start to Late at Night 16/08/10: Jonathan Taylor completed a Gr 5 sample paper to a good standard. 09/08/10: Bernice Cherian happily tried more of Above All Powers. 02/08/10: Calum Cheshire played a C major scale with swing rhythm really well. 26/07/10: Logan Ryan played The Flintstones with more assurance. 19/07/10: Kayla Bateman passed her Gr 2 piano exam with a merit. Well done! 12/07/10: Phil Potts played We are the Champions to a high standard. 05/07:10: Calum Cheshire made a good start to learning The Toreador Song. 28/06/10: Rachael Pearce sight-read quite a few standards in a jazz idiom. 21/06/10: Matthew Stevens improved Mazurka by a great amount. 14/06/10: James Ison transposed Bye Bye Love into several keys at sight. 07/06/10: Marianne Brown sang and played Streets of London to a good standard. 31/05/10: Bernice Cherian started playing When He calls me with both hands together. 24/05/10: Harry White is really getting to grips with the Praying Mantis Prayer 17/05/10: Rachel Pargetor made Daniel flow much better. 10/05/10: Anna White made some interesting inversion changes to the end of Yellow Submarine. 03/05/10: Clare Palmer composed a good melody to some given words really easily. 26/04/10: Richard Goldstein answered some Gr 5 Theory questions really well. 19/04/10: Kate Liggins has recently created some good ideas for a folk song using Sibelius. 12/04/10: Congratulations to both Yasmin Rona (Gr 2) and Matthew Stevens (Gr 1) for getting Distinctions in their recent Theory Exams. 29/03/10: Harry White did well at transposing Fergal's Jig into G major at sight. 22/03/10: Congratulations to the following for recent Keyboard Exam success: Calum Cheshire got a Merit at Grade 2 and Philip Potts passed Grade 3. 15/03/10: Dan Hodges created a more intricate arrangement of You Give Love a Bad Name. Due to personal circumstances, this important part of the website couldn't be updated for eighteen months. 15/09/08: Joshua Preston completed his first Gr 1 Theory Paper to a good standard. Well done! 08/09/08: Aaliyah Stokes tried all of Lucy in the Sky with her RH and HT for all of Floating. Much better! 01/09/08: Kayla Bateman had worked hard at transposing Close Every Door down a tone. Well done! 25/08/08: Rosie Brown recently discovered she got an A for AS music and a merit for Gr 8 singing. That's really good! 11/08/08: Aaliyah Stokes played Light Up the Fire with a good feel. 04/08/08: Greg Flavell made a very useful start to Knight and Lucy Boote played Here comes the Sun really well. Well done! 28/07/08: Jonathan Taylor had a reasonable go at playing all of The Can Can. Good effort. 21/07/08: Seven more exam results this week: Rachael Pearce and Jade Evans both got a merit at Gr 6; Clare Palmer and Gregory Flavell both got good passes at Gr 4; Abbie Palmer got a good pass at Gr 3; Sam Cooper got a merit at Gr 2 and Jo Garland got a merit at Gr 1. Well done to you all. 14/07/08: Matthew and Katherine Stevens played a good duet together. Try some more duets. 07/07/08: Two exam results this week. Holly Doron got a merit at Grade 8 Piano and Alyson Nash got a merit at Grade 5 Keyboard. Great results! Congratulations to you both. 30/06/08: David Hill is getting putting in more flavour to his pieces at the moment. 23/06/08: Katy Simmons played Setting Up Exercise much more energetically. Lovely! 16/06/08: Jo Garland made significant progress in a number of pieces this week. Well done. 26/05/08: Jade Evans made a big improvement with lots of scales. Keep working hard! 19/05/08: Dani Bennett is now beginning to make a better job of Apologize. 12/05/08: Sam Cooper is getting to grips with the Gr 2 Exam requirements. Well done. 05/05/08: Ruth Hardwick played a wide selection of pieces - solos and duets. Good choices. 28/04/08: Stephanie Harrison played Jupiter HT to a good standard even though it was new! 21/04/08: Phillip Potts played the MOTD Theme HT by ear really well. 14/04/08: Steve Frost had radically improved most of the theme from Love Story this week. The semiquavers in the RH were very good. 07/04/08: Katy Simmons played Three Blind Mice much better this week with notes being played confidently. Well done. 31/01/08: Some solid theory exam results this week: At Gr 3, Lucy Boote got a distinction and Amelia Roost a pass; at Gr 5 Rosie Brown and Stephanie Harrison both got distinctions and Olivia Roost a merit. Good work! 24/03/08: More exam successes this week. Rachel Pargetor got a merit for Gr 1, whilst the following got good passes: Ruth Hardwick (Gr 7), Stephen Airey (Gr 1) and Karen Painter (Gr 1). Well done to you all. 17/03/08: John Stephenson found out this week that he got a distinction for Grade 5 Jazz Piano. You're right - that is me, but I did teach myself, so I must have been a pupil as well!! 10/03/08: Katy Simmons really improved Three Blind Mice. It was much more confident. Well done! 03/03/08: Several busy people this week! Rachel Pargetor made great strides with Sarabande, as did Rebekah Ward with Jackson Street Blues. Emily McLaughlin knew how to read C, D, E, F & G on the stave pretty easily and Stefan Hirst played a Linkin Park track really well. 25/02/08: Rosie Brown showed a greater understanding in more of the Gr 5 Theory Syllabus. 18/02/08: Lucy Boote completed a really good Theory Paper. 11/02/08: Matthew Stevens made a vast difference to the way he plays Super Trouper. Well done. 04/02/08: Emily Elmer is beginning to play Lonesome Blues with a good feel to it. Nice one! 28/01/08: Karen Painter is still well on schedule in her preparations for the Grade 1 Piano Exam. 21/01/08: Steven Frost played a selection of Elton John pieces with a fair few of his own ideas thrown in. 14/01/08: Clare Palmer played both Patterns of broken chords in a confident and accurate manner. Well done! 07/01/08: Stephanie Harrison is continuing to progress well in the run up to her Gr 5 Theory exam. 31/12/07: Amy Webb is playing Over the Rainbow with lots of confident and interesting ideas. Well done. 17/12/07: Well done to those that recently passed their piano exams: Steve (Grade 5), Jonathan (Gr 4) and Dave (Gr 2). 10/12/07: Congratulations to everyone who did so well in their recent Theory Exams. Samantha Cooper got 100%, Holly a distinction and Yasmin a merit at Grade 1; Kate got a merit at Gr 4; David and Emily got distinctions, Emma a merit and Matthew a pass at Gr 5. 03/12/07: Alyson Nash is beginning to play the Dambusters March in a more confident way. Well done! 26/11/07: John Stephenson found out this week that he got a distinction for Grade 3 Jazz Piano. You're right - that is me, but I did teach myself, so I must have been a pupil as well!! 19/11/07: Steve Frost is beginning to play most of the scales to a good standard. Not long to go now! 12/11/07: Amy Webb is making further progress with an interesting GCSE composition. 05/11/07: Jonathan Taylor has really worked hard at counting and playing two pieces this week. A big improvement - well done! 29/10/07: Steve Airey is now making a pretty good job of Mini-Rag. Keep up the good work! 22/10/07: Rosie Brown played and sang some of her latest compositions. Some really good ideas! 15/10/07: Steve Frost had made a substantial difference to how he played Jackson St Blues. Super! Now for the scales. 08/10/07: Clare Palmer has started writing down her own arrangement of The Scientist - a good start! 01/10/07: Matthew Stevens is now playing Yellow Submarine like it should be played - at last. Well done! 24/09/07: Sam Cooper played Ballade in a very stylish manner with lots of attention to detail. A new instrument has certainly helped! 17/09/07: Both Emma Hall and Sam Cooper completed theory past papers to a high level. Well done! 10/09/07: Clare Palmer had made great strides in playing the James Bond Theme this week. Would you like it shaken or stirred? 03/09/07: Joshua Preston made a good start at playing New World Symphony, even doing it HT! 27/08/07: Steve Frost had obviously enjoyed perfecting Knight. A great feel. Much better! 20/08/07: Jonathan Taylor had vastly improved many of his scales and arpeggios. Now to work on the pieces! 13/08/07: Jade Evans experimented with pedalling for Close Every Door. She also made a good start at Mission Impossible. 06/08/07: Sam Cooper did more theory than she needed to and it was all good. 30/07/07: Rachael Pearce got 140 in her Grade 5 piano exam. Brilliant! 23/07/07: Rebekah Ward made the melody in Romance much more prominent. It's starting to take shape. 09/07/07: Stefan Hirst played Tales of the Unexpected with fingered chords and rhythm to a good standard. 02/07/07: Rachel Pargetor played 59th Street Bridge Song with a good steady pulse. 25/06/07: Aaliyah Stokes played 3s Company much more confidently and accurately. Well done! 18/06/07: Yasmin Rona successfully made her LH motif to Happy Day more interesting. 11/06/07: David Averre has continued to put his theoretical knowledge to good effect. 04/06/07: Both Rebekah and Rachel Ward had made a concerted effort to improve this week. What great lessons! 28/05/07: Aaliyah Stokes had obviously worked hard at home this week. The difference was startling! 21/05/07: Amy Webb made a great start to Somewhere over the Rainbow. Greg Flavell is doing very well in the run up to his theory exam. 14/05/07: Emily Elmer played Tinker much more confidently. The timing for moving your hands was a lot quicker. Well done. 07/05/07: Joshua Preston played the melody of the National Anthem by ear. HT soon! 30/04/07: Sam Cooper has almost perfected Singing Cowboy in only a short time. Good work! 23/04/07: Jon Hepplewhite played Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days much better. Lots of details were included with more confidence. Good! 16/04/07: Lots of interesting work this week. Jackie Lowe performed Wheels and Yesterday in a very musical manner. Rachel Pargetor was able to count in quavers for Antics. Dan Creighton had obviously worked much harder at Big Spender. Well done to you all! 09/04/07: Steve Airey played Let it Be in a confident manner. A good sound! 02/04/07: Well done to all those that had their music exam results recently. Wonderful marks for all! Jade Evans (Gr 5 Theory), Maria Fielder (Gr 1 Keyboard), Greg Flavell (Gr 3 Piano), Steven Frost (Gr 3 T.), Blake Sperrin (Gr 2 P.), Rachel Squires (Gr 5 T.), Amy Webb (Gr 3 K.), Holly Webb (Gr 2 K.) and Ben Wright (Gr 5 T.). 26/03/07: Abbie Palmer had certainly worked hard at improving Garage Sale, Balletto and Bee this week. They were so much more musical. Eggsellent! 19/03/07: Steve Frost made his own arrangement of Bad Day harder, yet still played it really well. Joshua Preston remembered the rests in Cockles and Mussles. Well done to you both! 12/03/07: Jade Evans sight-read Gymnopedie III really well. Well done. 05/03/07: Rachel Ward is becoming more creative in her own arrangement to the Titanic theme. It's sounding good! 26/02/07: Rachel Pargetor was very good at counting whilst playing Apple Pie Waltz.That's a good skill to keep working at. Well done. 19/02/07: Jade Evans gave many good answers on her theory paper. You're timing it just nicely! 12/02/07: Chris Keogh played Largo very well. Excellent. 05/02/07: Emily Elmer played 2 pieces at the end of Play Piano really well without being asked to. A nice surprise! 29/01/07: Stefan Hirst remembered where all the letters on the keyboard were. That's great! 22/01/07: Rebekah Ward played the 8 scales I'd asked her to practise very well. They were in a totally different league to the week before. Matthew Gunn played several pieces by Muse really well, even though he'd only had the book a day! Well done to you both. 15/01/07: Marianne Brown played Hots Shots much more confidently and accurately. Wayhey! 08/01/07: Jackie Lowe performed Argentina with good rhythm and pace. 01/01/07: Steve Frost made a great start to completing a series of Theory Specimen Papers. Well done! 18/12/06: Clare and Abbie Palmer are playing We wish you a merry Christmas very well as duet together. Good work! 11/12/06: Well done to all those that had their music exam results recently. Great marks for all! Laura Hughes (Gr 6 Piano), Kate Pargetor (Gr 4 Piano), David Hill (Gr 1 Piano), Harriet Johnson (Gr 1 Theory) and Rachel Pargetor (Gr 1 Theory). 04/12/06: Ruth Hardwick got a distinction for her Grade 8 bassoon. Brilliant! 27/11/06: Laura Hughes has certainly put a lot of effort this week into the three pieces she is playing at the moment. Well done! 20/11/06: Matthew Stevens made the pulse to the LH of Sailing much more in time. Good! 13/11/06: Clare Palmer played The Pink Panther much more accurately. It had style too! 06/11/06: Katherine Stevens played and sang Marching Up and Down very well. Yankee Doodle was also played with both hands to a high standard. Great stuff! 30/10/06: Rosie Brown sang and improvised around Streets of London very effectively. John Tebbutt also played and sang Yellow with lots of skill. Well done to you both. 23/10/06: Steve Frost is playing a Harry Potter piece in a truly chilling way! 16/10/06: Harriet Johnson has been steadily improving at completing specimen papers for her forthcoming theory exam. Well done! 09/010/06: David Hill is starting to get on top of his exam pieces. Keep it going! 02/10/06: Joshua Preston has made a very confident start at learning to play the piano for his first two lessons. 25/09/06: Rachel Pargetor made a very good start to a series of Theory speciman papers. Keep it up for a few weeks now! 18/09/06: It's a three-way tie this week. Lucy Boote had obviously worked hard on Freeway - it was much better. Millie Smith is becoming much more confident at playing with both hands together and with a rhythm on her keyboard. Kate Pargetor has become more accurate with her scale fingering. Well done to all three. 11/09/06: Jonathan Taylor played the 1st page of Argentina more rhythmically precise. Amy Webb played Pink Panther much more stylishly. Well done to you both! 04/09/06: Blake Sperrin is starting to get to grips with La Rejouissance. Keep at it! 28/08/06: John Tebbutt played several pieces with greater accuracy and skill. Well done. 21/08/06: Dominic Sperrin cleverly composed and wrote down an excellent RH to a given LH of Summer Song. The original RH was discarded to do it. 14/08/06: Ruth Hardwick played the middle section of Take 5 much more confidently. Great stuff! 07/08/06: Liz Buckley played Who Will Buy? really well this week. Time to work on an original intro now! 24/07/06: John Tebbutt was much more secure at playing Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Well done. 17/07/06: Steven Frost played some of his own arrangements of some Robbie Williams songs. Very interesting! 10/07/06: Millie Smith has covered a lot of ground recently. Good work! 03/07/06: Laura Hughes played Vals in a much more confident manner. The hard work is paying off! 26/06/06: Louise Wright played an inspiring arrangement of How Deep the Father's love. Well done! 19/06/06: Katherine Stevens played the Moccasin Dance very well. Good playing!. 12/06/06: Liz Buckley got a great mark for her last practise theory paper. Well done! 05/06/06: Jade Evans has made lots of progress recently with her exam pieces. They're sounding good! 29/05/06: Steven Frost played many scales to a good standard. Keep it up! 22/05/06: Emily Elmer played Leaps and Bounds very confidently. Well done. 15/05/06: Thomas Buckby played Nuts in May so much better. Good work! 08/05/06: Ben Wright is getting to grips with his exam preparation now. Spaghetti Polonaise was much better in particular. Well done. 01/05/06: Jonathan Neale has spent a fair amount of time improving Phantom of the Opera. It's going well! 24/04/06: Two people to congratulate this week. Ellie Watts improved Yellow Submarine really well. Rachel Pargetor played Greatest Show on Earth to a high standard. Well done to you both! 17/04/06: Ruth Hardwick's solo section for It Don't Mean a Thing is taking real shape. I'm looking forward to the Big Bang finish! 10/04/06: Marianne Brown continued to play enthusiastically, absorbing new ideas. It was great! 03/04/06: Thomas Buckby made a wonderful start to A Little Mouse. Well done! 27/03/06: Ellie Watts played William Tell really well. It was enjoyable to listen to! 20/03/06: Ben Wright for getting his theory homework done quickly and well! 13/03/06: Dominic Sperrin's scales and exam pieces are SO much better. Keep it going! 06/03/06: Kate Pargetor played Music of the Night really well - in Db major and having only tried it for a few days. Great. 27/02/06: Greg Flavell is timing his exam preparation to the wire! All of the pieces are getting much better. Well done. 20/02/06: Toby Wright had obviously worked hard this week. Progress was played nicely HT and he made a useful start to Sandman's Lullaby. A pat on the back to you! 13/02/06: Mathew Lane composed some good sustaining dance motifs this week. Gravity is becoming more accurate as well. Well done. 06/02/06: Matthew Gunn completed a very good Grade 4 sample theory paper - in record time too! 30/01/06: Alex Payne-Dwyer composed some really good jazz riffs. 23/01/06: Liz Buckley 'accompanied' Irene Cara really well this week. Great! 16/01/06: Steven Frost was asked to choose any 5 scales to practise from the Gr 4 syllabus. He made a good attempt at five of the hardest ones! Well done. 09/01/06: Sam Barratt played "All through the night" really well - some good ideas are emerging. A few scales were played excellently too. 02/01/06: Lucy Albrighton made a good start to "Let it be to me" and has started her own accompaniment arrangement of it. That's great! 19/12/05: Liz Buckley got my feet dancing this week to "Fame" - well done! 12/12/05: Ruth Hardwick played Ding Dong Merrily by ear in various keys - including a minor one. Harmony was used too. Exciting playing! 05/12/05: Jenny Painter played a large section of Prelude to a higher standard. Laura Hughes did the same to Corant. Well done to you both! 28/11/05: Thomas Buckby has made a good start to learning how to play the piano. In only five weeks he has mastered a few pieces and can easily recognise several notes. Good work! 21/11/05: Jackie Lowe continues to learn quickly. Well done. 14/11/05: Alex Payne-Dwyer improved both Dance and Marche. Well done. Not long to go now! 07/11/05: Ellie Watts played William Tell and a selection of scales to a much better standard this week. Regular practice resulted in a confident and "smiling" lesson. Amy Bason played nearly all of Bohemian Rhapsody in a swell manner. Well done to you both! 31/10/05: Rosie Brown performed Sonatina with much greater clarity. Good work! 24/10/05: Olivia Roost completed two theory past papers to a much higher standard. Well done - you're peaking at the right time! 17/10/05: It's the three Matthews this week! Matthew Stevens played Cakewalk with a much better rhythm; Matthew Gunn is making great strides with Fur Elise and Matthew Lane played a great solo improvisation based on Clocks. Well done to you all. 10/10/05: Blake Sperrin worked much harder on 'Jerusalem' this week. The result was obvious! Alex Mak sight-read 'Don't stop me now' HT in a convincing manner. Well done to you both. 03/10/05: Three people stand out this week. Laura Hughes made a much better attempt at her latest Grade 5 theory paper; Amy Webb got the rhythm spot on for Love Changes Everything; and Lucy Albrighton got the fingering totally correct for 3 scales. Well done to you all! 26/09/05: Dominic Sperrin is beginning to master the first movement of Beethoven's piano sonata in C# minor. It had improved markedly this week. 19/09/05: Steven Frost played Money Money Money wonderfully this week. Jenny Painter easily wrote all key names and their signatures up to five sharps/flats - great! 12/09/05: Kate Pargetor must have had a personal visit from Reg as her own arrangement of Goodbye Yellow Brick has come on leaps and bounds this week. Harry completed his theory really well and Amy W improved Beauty and the Beast a lot too. Well done to all three of you. 05/09/05: A few contenders this week! Rachel Pargetor won through, as her two octave scale fingering was much more secure than previously (including HT) and "Ghosts at Midnight" was played with more style. Well done. Amy B, Holly and Louise all deserve a mention for the great efforts they made too. 29/08/05: Elizabeth Lau - Khatachurian would have been impressed by the improvement to his Waltz this week. Keep it going! 22/08/05: Lucy Albrighton - a big improvement to Le Petit Negro - well done! Scales teach an understanding of and familiarity with key signatures and the underlying harmonic structure of the music. By studying the scales and arpeggios associated with a piece of music you are studying, you gain a deeper knowledge of the building blocks of the music, a deeper harmonic awareness and improved sight-reading skills. Scales teach us the fingerings associated with particular tonalites and how these feel under the fingers on the keyboard. Scales teach an understanding and awareness of the techniques of lateral movement around the keyboard, including finger action, passing the thumb under the hand and bringing the hand over the thumb, and evenness of touch.

Source: http://www.nuneatonmusiclessons.co.uk/resources/Pupils+of+the+Week.pdf