Piano Week 39: Q3 checkpoint recording

Weekly Focus

Week 39 is the Q3 checkpoint. The objective is one polished keeper take showing control of form, transitions, and ending.

Success this week means you finish with one no-stop keeper and three fluency priorities for Q4.

Repertoire & Chord Map

Primary checkpoint tune is My Romance, with Fly Me to the Moon as alternate. Keep checkpoint format fixed for all takes.

Checkpoint structure loop:

intro | A | A | B | A short solo | A | ending

Daily map task: use same section map and ending choice across every checkpoint take.

Supplementary Listening & Ear Training (Required)

This selection is deliberate for “Q3 checkpoint recording” and should feed immediately into your comping/improv decisions.

Weekly listening pick:

• Nica’s Dream — Horace Silver

Why this track now: It highlights minor-major contrasts and form control, which matches Week 39’s goals.

Ear tasks (10–15 min, at least 3 sessions this week):

1. Listen once without the instrument and name the key center by ear (major/minor/modal). Then verify the key at piano.
2. Find one cadence or arrival point, then play: root + shell ii-V-I (or closest functional equivalent) in that key.
3. Lift a short 4–8 bar fragment by ear, play it slowly, and record ~30s so you can compare your hearing vs. the recording.

Extra challenge (optional): transpose your lifted fragment to the weekly priority ladder when possible (F → Eb → G → Bb → C).

End-of-Week Reflection

What clearly improved between early Q3 and this keeper take, and what still blocks consistency? Start Q4 with one concrete form goal, one groove goal, and one phrase goal.