Cat and Shanmao's blog

I was browsing around for articles on playing piano and turned up the web page of Carolyn Morenus who is an assistant professor of music at Illinois State University.

On her web page there are some mp3 samples from her playing which sound very good.

Interestingly, there's a checklist for non-music-majors students who want to get a credit for piano proficiency. The list includes the following items:

• Major and all three forms of minor scales: two octaves with two hands in steady rhythm.


• Chord Progressions: At sight, major and minor chord progressions, which may contain secondary dominants and chords in specific inversions. The right hand must play 3 voices while the left hand plays the root. The right hand may begin in any position. Smooth voice leading and close position chords must be used.


• Solo Performance: one solo at the repertoire level contained in Martha Hilley and Lynn Freeman Olson, Piano for the Developing Musician, Fifth Edition, Chapter 10 or higher


• Sight-read traditional, folk, and popular songs or simple piano pieces.


• Score Reading: Sight-read a 3-part vocal (including tenor) or instrumental including viola) score.


• Harmonize melodies at sight using primary, secondary and seventh chords. Chord symbols (lead sheet notation) will be given.


• Harmonize one prepared example taken from General Music Series books, which can be found in the Teaching Materials Center in Milner Library. At least three different chords must be used, and it must be done in sing-and-play style, that is, you must sing the melody while you play an appropriate accompaniment style. See Dr. Morenus for additional information on this requirement.


• Transpose at sight traditional, folk, or popular songs up or down intervals of up to a third.


• Transposing instruments: Sight-read at “concert pitch” a transposing instrument part (such as A Clarinet, F Horn, or B-flat Clarinet).


• Improvise two-handed accompaniment to be used for movement, such as skipping, swaying, or walking. Music should be suitable for use by a group of 7-year-olds.

I was thinking, from this list what could I do? I might have a little trouble with the Chord Progressions but it's probably managable. The score reading would be extremely difficult for me if it used alto or tenor clefs and simply difficult if it used only treble and bass clef. I took a harmony course before but definitely don't practise harmonized a melody. I've hardly ever tried transposing. As for improvising music that sounds like walking or running, perhaps I could do that.

A lot of these skills are basically things I've never really tried out even though I took piano lessons for a while and a couple of courses in school. But they all seem pretty reasonable for someone who be considered to have a basic level of piano proficiency. Oh well.