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From the very beginning we must strive for the utmost beauty of tone at the piano. Loud, harsh, crashing, and ugly sounds are infrequently met with in PianoLiterature^?? and easily played without injury by the skilled player. Learning to play from the heart with a consistently beautiful tone throughout the dynamic capabilities of the instrument requires many hours of careful patient study.

The Variations on the Theme of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star constitute both our laboratory and our tools for the intense study of the wonderful sounds that the piano is capable of making. These first attempts to produce lovely sounds at the piano might be compared to an infant's growing palette of pre lanuage sounds and early attempts to imitate speech. Just as the infant is enthusiastically rewarded for his efforts even as correct renditions are offered and repetitions are tirelessly elicited, so must teachers and parents lovingly encourage students to continuously work on improving their playing.

The goal of Twinkle Variation A is to discover what must be done with ones' body to produce the best possible tone at the piano.

Things To Listen for

• A clear, ringing, bell-like tone on every note (at first, the same sound for each note in the pattern)
• An absolutely accurate rhythmic pattern

Things To Watch for

• PlayingPosition
• HandPosition
• MovingFingers^?

Practice Notes

• M. D. (Right hand)

• • Play many, many repetitions with finger one (thumb) on Treble C. TheParent^? or the InnerParent^?, should say' "Ready . . . Go!" just as the teacher does at lessons. Evaluate each one - ask "was that better than the previous one?" - "what can I do to make the next one more beautiful?
  • Practice jumping from "ready" on C with finger 1 to "ready" on G with finger 4 (touching with the pad just inside the black keys and the thumb tucked.)
  • Practice with finger 4 just like you practiced with finger 1.
  • Practice finger 5 next on A next. Then practice finger 4 again on G, followed by 3 on F, 2 on E, and 1 again on D and C. (This is each note of the first line, many, many times each.)
  • Practice the whole first line with a "Ready. . . Go!" before each note.
  • Practice the middle section with a "Ready. . . Go!" before each note.
  • Play the whole variation without stopping (like the recording) for fun!

• M. S. (Left hand)

• • Do not start Left hand work until you have can play all of the Twinkles well with your Right hand.
  • Then, use the same procedure for the Left hand.
  • If you are right-handed, please practice the Left hand even more that you do the Right hand.

RelatedLinks

• Please read Parts 2 and 3 of "How to Teach Beginners" by SenseiHarukoKataoka.
• 

-- FloydPerryThistle - 04 Jun 2003
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