This continues her series of books, each with five groups of a dozen exercises. She recommends practicing 2 or 3 a week, and adding more as these are mastered until the entire group can be played well. Once Group I is mastered, students should proceed to Group II in the same manner.
This book teaches and reinforces several things: slurs, staccato, sixteenth, eighth, quarter, half, and whole notes and rests, contrary motion, dynamics, finger crossovers (121, 131, 141), accent, 8va, 3- and 4- note chords in a single hand, holding down notes while playing others, stretching the fifth finger, key signatures of C, Key of G, Key of D, chromatic scale, arpeggios, accidentals, both hands playing the same notes, RH & LH crossover, trill, octaves in one hand, grace notes, finger changes on the same note, large stretches, parallel sixths, silent finger changes, sequences,
This book is available from Sheet Music Plus for $3.99. The book is also available with a CD for $8.99.
I admit I have not used the CD personally, but the description in the back of the book states "The CD is playable on any CD player and features fabulous backing tracks by Ric Iannone. For Windows and Mac users, the CD is enhanced so you can access MIDI files for each exercise and adjust the tempo."
I have several students who utilize this series. The exercises are short, the illustrations are fun. The students enjoy the sense of progress these exercises give, and I, as teacher, enjoy the fact that they use the book. Because it's only "once through these exercises" (whether that's 3 new ones, or review last weeks and add these two) the students tend to not "forget to practice" this book.
As a teacher, it is great to find books that teach technique that the students actually use at home.
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