Author Archives: Sarah MacDonald

Lesson Focus: Equalizing the sound quality of the octaves Find the music for this one HERE. Oh boy I’m not going to lie, this one was HARD to record and I never got a totally clean take. Aside from the technical challenges presented these etudes are proving to be a wonderful challenge for concentration asContinue reading “Caprice No. 18, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37, Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Controlling the volume of higher pitches Find the music for this one HERE. This etude provided a great opportunity to address a fundamental that is often overlooked in students until they become very advanced. The consistent writing of the second note higher than the first in each group of four eighth notes providesContinue reading “Caprice No. 17, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37 by Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Even Chromatic Scale and Sudden Dynamic Changes Find the music for this one HERE. This etude was odd to me. I’m not going to lie, it didn’t feel organic to learn and the end resulting performance didn’t feel like it had a lot of depth. That said, I think that training ourselves toContinue reading “Caprice No. 16, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37 by Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Mordents Find the music for this one HERE. I found this etude to be a nice little oasis somehow. I suspect my brain enjoyed the key signature after the previous few etudes required more concentration in that arena. The tempo of this etude is also very manageable and I found it relaxing toContinue reading “Caprice No. 15, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37, Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Articulation and Pulse Find the music for this etude HERE. This is a great study. It is melodically interesting and the marked dynamics provide a sense of melody and accompaniment that I found fun to explore and I would encourage you to do the same. By and large the most valuable fundamental toContinue reading “Caprice No. 14, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37, Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Rhythmic accuracy. Find the music for this one HERE. Originally I found this one a challenge because of the key signature and the very long, very repetitive writing.  The rhythmic challenges are very important, as it’s a common pitfall to play rhythms that oscillate between triplets and dotted eighth sixteenth notes inaccurately. BeginContinue reading “No. 13, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37 Joachim Andersen”

Lesson Focus: Phrasing smoothly across a leap in register Find the music for this study HERE. Another gorgeous one with a tricky key signature and a minor key! At first glance it might be easy to write this one off as pretty easy, especially when compared to the one that came just before it. RestContinue reading “No. 12, 26 Little Caprices, Op. 37, Joachim Andersen”