Andrea, 5yo, USA

Hi, Andrea!

Thank you very much for participating in our recital!

I was very amazed, how much did you learn during such a short time! You play on real piano with weighted keys, with no piano stikers or key guides! You also memorized all of your pieces!

I enjoyed your classy look and how you announce your piano pieces.

You have very strong, independant fingers. Your fine motor skills are great and coordination of both hands is excellent.

The 'Happy Cowboy' was played with good flow. There is some secret in the song, though. Is the cowboy always really happy? It starts happy ( in major key), but end up a little sad. You may use dynamic of your piano and play first part a little louder and second a little softer. If you will watch and play alone with my TEACHING VIDEOS, you will see, what I mean: softmozart.com/forum/55-teaching-videos/5517-boogie-1.html There are 2 videos - one with the metronome and another is for performance. It will be so much FUN to see you playing alone with the video!

The 'Radetsky March'. This is not an easy piano piece for very beginner! You did a wonderful job learning and memorizing the piece! I am very proud of you! Great job!

The 'Ode to Joy'. You have excellent memory! This is a very tricky piece for memorization. There are 2 sentences in this piece *first 8 bars* ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(music) ) with the different endings. First ends with Mi Re Re (E D D) and second with Re Do Do (D C C). Many beginners confuse the ending. It takes good music practice and logic reasoning to catch the difference - and you did! I would make middle part of the piece (Re Re Mi Do) softer. Please, find the TEACHING VIDEOS to see, what I mean.

Here is what I suggest for your further development:
- please, find the way to make your seat higher. Your wrists and elbows should be above the piano. You will notice that to play using the tips of your fingers much easier this way!
- always keep your feet on the floor or on a stand. You have to feel solid ground under your feet.
- exercises. Please, practice as much of them as you can. You have excellent musical aptitude, but tiny fingers of 5-year-old girl. Your piano technique should keep up with your music talent.
- practice more with TEACHING VIDEOS. In fact, I would recommend you choosing the piano pieces that already been supplied with teaching videos. You will see, how to lift your hands, build music phrases and will be able to pick up many other important skills by playing alone with these videos.
- Please, check Simona's Albums as a source for your new pieces. The pieces from there will bring your piano development to the next level.

I am looking forward to see you at our Summer classes and next semesters.

I am going to send you a certificate and little present in a memory of your another great recital!

Sincerely,
Hellene Hiner, Professor of Herzen University (St Petersburg, Russia) - Developer of the Course 'Additional vocational training program and Interactive network technologies'. The author of 'Soft Way to Mozart computer based curriculum for teaching music and piano.

Please, follow the link to find Andrea's performance on facebook and like it there too! Don't forget to LIKE the page as well! www.facebook.com/SoftMozart