I hope that the suggestions in this review will help teachers and learners alike to find fresh engagement with these little marvels. Closing Thoughts A Dozen A Day Book One: Primary contains pre-practice technical exercises for the Piano. The purpose of this book is to help develop strong hands and flexible fingers. As a teacher using this material over several decades, I have found that while A Dozen A Day can be tremendously helpful as a set of technical exercises, the resource can also be used holistically to support many other learning objectives, as appropriate to each student’s needs and musical interests.

A Dozen A Day_ Book 1 - Edna Mae Burnam.pdf - Documents and E A Dozen A Day_ Book 1 - Edna Mae Burnam.pdf - Documents and E

A bonus: it can be helpful to talk to the student about technical problems the exercise helps with, asking them to identify passages in their new, active and recent repertoire which will benefit. Dozen A Day exercises can even be used for aural development, for example by altering the exercise and playing ‘spot the difference’, comparing sound with symbol. Dozen A Day exercises naturally lend themselves to written theory too, building on all the points made above. The combination of simple joy and pedagogic value embedded in this classic material has not only stood the test of time, but remains as accessible, worthwhile and engaging as ever, seemingly transcending the fads of fashion.This book helped me with a series of very small and manageable exercises to improve my finger dexterity and flexibility. Some exercises gradually get harder and test your hand and finger coordination and geography (playing both hands together). It tests and improves different aspects of your piano practice and should be done daily to achieve the best results. Hussey has also written a new performance piece to conclude each of the six books, bringing the total exercise count up to 366. All Year Round, indeed! Using the Material Do not try to learn the entire first dozen exercises the first week you study this book! Just learn two or three exercises and do them each day before practising. When these are mastered, add another, then another, and keep adding until the twelve can be played perfectly. When the first dozen exercises, Group I, have been mastered and perfected, Group II may be introduced in the the same manner, and so on for the other Groups.” I was struggling with the main pieces and especially with finger strength, flexibility and familiarity with common shapes and notes.

A Dozen A Day - Mini Book PDF | PDF - Scribd A Dozen A Day - Mini Book PDF | PDF - Scribd

It is also worth noting at this point that Burnam herself suggested learning a couple of exercises at a time, playing them slowly and softly at first, then introducing a range of dynamics and speeding up the tempi. Many people do physical exercises every morning before they go to work. Likewise—we should give our fingers exercises every day before we begin our practising.Understanding intervals, reworking an exercise using a different time signature (e.g. simple vs. compound), writing in different octaves, key signatures and clefs can all be explored as they relevantly relate to the learner’s ongoing music tuition. The aim is to learn two or three exercises at a time, which should be played each day before practising. Only when these are mastered should you add another. When all in the first group are mastered, the next group may be introduced. Many of these exercises may be transposed to different keys. Together the exercises form a rich resource for piano teachers and students to draw upon, and with the addition of the book’s special thematic index, it’s easy to focus on specific areas of technique.”