8th Notes
Notes whose lengths are equal to one-eighth the value of a whole note or half the value of a quarter note.
8th Rests
Silence that equals the length of one 8th note.
Accidentals
Sharps, flats and naturals that do not appear in a key signature.
Bar Lines
Vertical lines on the staff that separate notated music into measures.
Blocked Chord Accompaniment
A type of accompaniment pattern that primarily uses root-position major and minor triads with simple or slow-moving rhythms.
Chord Inversions
Chords with alternate ordering of their tones where the root is placed either in the middle or at the top of the chord.
Crescendo and Diminuendo
Indications instructing the player to play gradually louder (crescendo) or softer (diminuendo).
Crossing Thumb Under
The physical motion of crossing the thumb under fingers 2, 3, 4, or 5; used when playing scalar passages or outside of five finger scales.
Dominant Seventh Chords
Four-note chords comprised of the root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, and minor 7th.
Grand Staff Notation
A type of notation that uses two standard five-line staves combined together with a brace; usually indicating right hand and left hand notes.
Half Notes
Notes whose lengths are equal to one half the value of a whole note.
Hands Separate
A technique that involves only one hand playing at a time throughout most or all of a piece; used only at lower levels.
Melodic 2nds
Two notes played in succession, usually in one hand but sometimes in both, whose distance is the interval of a 2nd of any quality.
Syncopation
Temporary displacement of established meter by the stressing of a weak beat.
- Choose Good Fingerings
- Demonstrate
- Focus On Expressive Markings
- Hands Separate Practice
- Help Student Achieve Sensitive and Musical Playing
- Highlight Dynamic Contrasts
- Practice Scalar Passages in Rhythms
- Work on a Smooth Legato Touch