40-Piece Challenge Results for 2019!
Yes, this number is true! Five hundred fifty! Each student keeps track of pieces they have learned over the year as part of the 40 piece challenge. 40 pieces, you ask, is this for real? It is a huge challenge, especially as they advance and pieces become harder. Even if a student learns 10 pieces, this is a substantial accomplishment! 30 pieces... Astounding. And 40 is positively Monumental!
As a teacher, I love to have students learn pieces of many styles and periods. It broadens their repertoire and helps them learn to read on sight. The more one reads through music, the better reader they will become! They also learn more composers’ styles and ways to express themselves.
There was one problem with this challenge: beginner students had much shorter pieces to learn, while some advanced students are tackling pieces that may be 500+ hundred measures in length! So to make it more fair, this year we allowed for advanced students to count each 50 measures as a piece (75, if it was a concerto, due to the orchestral tutti sections).
We have a tie for first place with 36 pieces: congratulations go to Lilia & Linnea! Good job! 2nd place with over 30 pieces go to: Chloe and Landon! 3rd place, yet another tie with 26 pieces: Judson and Gavin! There were quite a few others not far behind that, and with every piece, each of you accomplished something with the amazing and beautiful pieces you learned. These are now *your* pieces! WAY TO GO, EVERYONE!