Grade 1 - LCM Piano

[Ragtime Clown]

I am restarting lessons in September and my new teacher tells me he uses LCM. Today I bought the LCM book and CD and plan on making some head start myself.

I really want to focus on discipline, scales, technique and sight-reading. I also need to develop the ability of read with my eyes and play with my fingers - I just cannot stop looking at my hands.

Can anyone offer any experiences of LCM Grade 1?

[markymark]

If you have only just gotten back into playing the piano, your problem may largely be a confidence issue. With experience of playing, you literally just acquire a knowledge of where notes are. Scales and arpeggios can be useful for this too. For younger children, I used to play a game that basically got them to play a note - without looking at the keyboard. You can do this yourself only say the note within a specified range, but say the note as you play it. That way you won't be tempted to play and then say - do the two simultaneously. Then progress to short phrases, saying and playing at the same time. Try not to give yourself thinking time. You need to develop that fast head to hand signal.

[markymark]

Of course, if you are going to read music, the head to eye thought process while have to transfer to "eye-to-hand" and that it what you need to do in order to cope with the sight-reading aspect of your preparation, not to mention, the sight-reading element of your test as well!