Here is the listening list for the ROMANTIC era. As always, students will be expected to know the name of the piece AND its composer. Listen to these pieces on a regular basis for optimum results and be sure that the student always knows what they’re listening to. Now would also be a good time to discuss the stylistic differences you’ve noticed between the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras of music. We’ll briefly discuss them during studio class in April. These are just a few of the musical masters of the Romantic era of music. This was the era where composers REALLY took piano music to the limits. A fortune of the best pieces in the piano repertoire come from this era! I challenge you to listen to more piano music from this era. It’s amazing! 

1. Liebestraum (“Love Dream”)  – Franz Liszt (A very famous piece of Liszt’s. So gorgeous!)

2. Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 – Frederic Chopin (Nocturne comes from the word “nocturnal” and is considered “night music.”)

3. Traumerei – Robert Schumann (This is a movement from his collection of pieces “Scenes from Childhood”. Traumerei means “Dreaming”.) Have you noticed how much more programmatic Romantic era music is vs. Classical or Baroque? Classical = Sonata no. ? in ? major. Romantic = Liebstraum or Traumerei. I personally think it’s very fascinating.

4. Prelude in C-sharp minor – Sergei Rachmaninov (This is one of the most recognizable pieces of the entire era.)

5. Etude Op. 10 No. 1 – Frederic Chopin (As you can imagine, this is an etude to practice intricate arpeggios.)

6. Transcendental Etude (S.139) No. 4 – Franz Liszt (Observe the moments where there’s so much going on, that the music is written on 3 staves instead of 2!)

Here are the photos from the 2014 Multi-Piano Concerts and rehearsals. This was the first year we participated and it was definitely worth the experience! Congratulations to those who participated: Hannah Levy, Michael McFadden, Ashlyn Norwood, Janae Norwood, Jenna Pollard, and Harini Venkatesh!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Here is the listening list for the Classical Era. Students will be expected to know the name of the piece AND its composer. PLEASE LISTEN FREQUENTLY.  Please notice that some of these pieces have VERY similar names. Discuss with your students the difference between a piano sonata vs. piano concerto vs. symphony. For younger students, it may be wise to have them write the names of the pieces and their composers down on paper to reinforce visual recognition. Yes, these recordings are very long. No, you do not need to listen to them all at once. We will have a listening exam on this list during the March studio class. 

1. Piano Concerto No. 20 in d minor – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

2. Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major – Joseph Haydn

3. Piano Sonata No. 5 in c minor – Ludwig van Beethoven 

4. Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” in C major – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5. Symphony No. 45 “Farewell” in F-sharp minor – Joseph Haydn

 Johann Sebastien Bach

Hello Students! We are continuing our Listening Exam activity this Spring semester. Here is your first listening list! All of these pieces are from the BAROQUE Era. Listen to them carefully because we will have an exam on these recordings at your February studio class! Students are expected to know the name of the piece AND its composer.

1. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – George Frederic Handel

2. Le Coucou – Louis-Claude Daquin

3. Goldberg Variations (Aria) – J.S. Bach

4. The Four Seasons (Spring) – Antonio Vivaldi

5. Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in c minor – J.S. Bach

New Website Updates!

We have just changed over to a new theme customized by Sean Metzinger of seanmetzinger.com  . The theme is called Custom Community. The current logo is designed by Sean as well. A new set of logos are being made by Maria Daily of aquilinoarts.com/ .  We will continue to update and add to the website. If you have any suggestion just let me know.

2013 Winter Recital

As a reminder the 2013 Winter Recital will be at Free State High School Auditorium at 1 pm. If you are a Performer please arrive at 12:30 pm.

~Jamie Bone

For Fall 2013, we’ll be using the app Flashnote Derby to increase our note identification skills! This app is available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Kindle. High Scores will be reported at every lesson for the semester. Students with the best scores will receive prizes at the end of the semester!

Man, I wish we’d had this app when I was a kid!

Here is the final listening list for the semester! The exam will take place during our May Studio Class. As always, the students will be expected to know the name of the piece and its composer. IMPORTANT: There will be 5 bonus questions from listening exams 1-4. I will NOT list the bonus answers in the list of possible answers, so the students will have to remember both the name and composer with no hints. So make sure they are still listening to the previous listening lists.

1. Ballade No. 2 in F major – Chopin

2. Spring from the Four Seasons – Vivaldi

3. Moment Musical Op. 94 No. 3 in F minor – Schubert

4. Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor Concerto) – Beethoven

5. Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66 – Chopin

6. Jeux d’eau – Ravel