Intermediate Piano Technique Group Lesson Activities

Choose from the activities and tutorials below to learn more about BAPDARP.

Balance

Balance means bringing out the melody line with more arm weight.

Voicing Tutorial

Watch the Chord Voicing and Melody - Graham Fitch Tutorial to hear and see tips for practicing voicing.

Articulation 

Pictionary/Cranium

Illustrate a music dictionary as you watch excerpts from the videos below. 

Then take turns acting (silently), sculpting or drawing the words for your teammates to guess (large group) or play the VMT Articulation Ivy Game (small group).

14 Types of Articulation (slur, legato, phrases, tie, staccato, staccatissmo, portato, accent, sforzando, marcato, tenuto, tenuto/slur, fp, fermata)

Staccato Tutorial

Watch Graham Fitch's 4 Types of Staccato Tutorial Video  to hear examples of how and when to play varying levels of staccato and complete the "Four Types of Staccato Worksheet." 

Phrasing

Watch the first 3 minutes of this Shaping Phrases Video to see how speech relates to musical phrase expression.

Dynamics and Architecture

Pianote Dynamics and Expression- How do dynamics and expression add life to your piece?

Illustrate a poster representing various dynamic levels in music.

Watch an excerpt from the video below to hear an example of Micro and Macro Dynamics Example in Moonlight Sonata and move your hands up and down to match the volume in the example. 18:06

Expressive music is often like a story with moments of tension, rising action and resolution. Identify the form and the main phrase goals of each section in a piece to choose appropriate micro dynamics. Watch an example in the Moonlight Sonata Tutorial above starting at 20:30.

Rubato

Try to sing along with or lead the music of the Happy Birthday song examples in the video with strict time and rubato. 

Pedaling

Watch the video about Intermediate Pedaling Tips including clean pedal, timing and depth of pedaling

Advanced Pedaling Hear and see examples of Advanced Pedaling (Fractional Pedaling) in this tutorial by Graham Fitch

More Piano Technique Tips and Ideas

Piano Technique and Artistry Group Lesson Activities

Piano Technique Wizard Challenges

Piano Adventures 4: Caspian Sea and Balance

This lesson plan includes activities and tips for playing Caspian Sea in Piano Adventures 4 Technique Book. 

Music Samples

Add the chord names in your music as you listen to the samples below.

Caspian Sea Sample 1

Caspian Sea Sample 2

Voicing the Melody - Ghost Practice

Practice first by ghost playing the left hand to exaggerate the difference in balance between hands and help the melody to sing out. Watch this ghost practice tutorial  if needed to review this practice strategy and see it in action with a different piece.

Supplementary Music - Voicing the Melody

You are the One by Will Baily - Voice the Middle Melody (last piece on the teen page)

Piano Adventures 4: Excalibur and Two Hand Phrases

This lesson plan includes activities and tips for playing Excalibur in Piano Adventures 4 Technique Book. 

Music Sample and History

Listen to the 2 performance videos of Excalibur below. Do you notice any differences in expression, technique, tempo?

Excalibur Sample 1

Piano Adventures 4: Chasing Butterflies by Streabbog

This lesson plan includes activities and tips for playing Silver Rain Etude in Piano Adventures 4 Technique Book.

Music Sample and History

Watch the  Chasing Butterflies  video tips and imitate the empty fingers sound as you play the piano sections.

Piano Adventures 4: Silver Rain Etude

This lesson plan includes activities and tips for playing Silver Rain Etude in Piano Adventures 4 Technique Book. 

Listen to  Silver Rain Etude paying attention to how the varying arm weight and tempo changes add expression to the piece.

Piano Adventures 4: Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven

This lesson plan includes activities and tips for playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in Piano Adventures 4 Technique Book. 

Music Samples

Choose a version of Moonlight Sonata to listen to below.

Beethoven's Wig Moonlight Beep Beep Beep

Bastian Lit 1: Ecossaise in G and Staccatissimo Wedges

This post includes lesson plans and activities that correlate with Ecossaise in G by Beethoven WoO23 in Bastian Lit Vol 1.

Music Samples and History

 An ecossaise is an energetic country dance in 2/2. Listen for the "Jump-Drops" in the Ecossaise in G by Beethoven WoO23. What do you imagine the dancers doing during this part of the music?