Germantown Friends School

News

Welcome students! Don't forget to bring all materials needed for your weekly lesson including:

All lessons will be taught as scheduled except:

Follow these guidelines to increase your progress.

grades 4-6 - each note of a major scale ascending for 8-12 seconds
grades 7-9 - each note of a chromatic scale ascending and descending for 8-12 seconds
grades 10-12 - each note of your instrument ascending chromatically from the lowest note to the highest note for 8-12 seconds
Advanced students - tone matching exercises should follow longtones warm-up to increase tone-color consistency throughout the range of your instrument

2. Use a metronome throughout your entire practice session, adjusting the tempo for each exercise or song. If you are unsure about which tempo to use, start between 60 and 80 beats per minute.
3. Always review your scales - they are the building blocks of our music.
4. When trying to play difficult songs or exercises, break them into phrases or parts of phrases and practice each part very slowly until it feels comfortable and natural. Then increase the tempo by 4 to 8 beats per minute (turning up the dial on your metronome).
5. When you have become technically capable of playing your songs and exersices, think of expression. Always remember - music is feelings and ideas translated through sound!
6. Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Scale requirements:

Grade 4 - C, F, G Major
Grade 5 - C, F, Bb, G, D Major
Grade 6 - C, F, Bb, Eb G, D, A Major
Grade 7 - C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, G, D, A, E Major
Grade 8 - all 12 Major scales
Grade 9 - 12 Major scales and arpeggios; 12 natural minor scales and arpeggios
Grade 10 - 12 Major scales and arpeggios; 12 natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales and arpeggios
Grade 11 - All Major and minor scales and arpeggios; scales in thirds

Jazz Students