Dozen A Day exercises naturally lend themselves to written theory too, building on all the points made above. In her introduction to the books, Burnam gets straight to the point in explaining the value of A Dozen A Day:

A Dozen a Day, Book 3 - Edna Mae Burnam: 9780711960985 - AbeBooks A Dozen a Day, Book 3 - Edna Mae Burnam: 9780711960985 - AbeBooks

While various songbooks and extras have appeared over the years, the core Dozen A Day material comprises six short exercise books: Do not try to learn the entire first dozen exercises the first week you study this book! Just learn two or three exercises and do them each day before practising. When these are mastered, add another, then another, and keep adding until the twelve can be played perfectly. When the first dozen exercises, Group I, have been mastered and perfected, Group II may be introduced in the the same manner, and so on for the other Groups.”I hope that the suggestions in this review will help teachers and learners alike to find fresh engagement with these little marvels. Closing Thoughts Each book offers six groups of twelve exercises, totalling 60 exercises per book and thus 360 across the full series. All the exercises are named after physical exercises or activities, suitably (and quirkily) illustrated.

A Dozen A Day: Pre-Practice Technical Exercises For The Piano

Taken as a while, A Dozen a Day is a unique resource, and an extraordinary legacy that we are fortunate indeed to have at our disposal today. What is New? Together the exercises form a rich resource for piano teachers and students to draw upon, and with the addition of the book’s special thematic index, it’s easy to focus on specific areas of technique.” Many people do exercises every morning before they go to work. Likewise, we should all give our fingers exercises every day BEFORE we begin our practising.” There is much to enjoy in A Dozen A Day, including the exercises’ creative use of the whole instrument from the earliest stages, their adaptability, and the way that their good-natured, humorous characterisations stimulate the player’s imagination.With its brilliant Thematic Index, and kept ever within reach, this bumper book succeeds wonderfully as a teacher’s companion, making Burnam’s exercises ever-accessible without encroaching too seriously on lesson time. Hussey has also written a new performance piece to conclude each of the six books, bringing the total exercise count up to 366. All Year Round, indeed! Using the Material Understanding intervals, reworking an exercise using a different time signature (e.g. simple vs. compound), writing in different octaves, key signatures and clefs can all be explored as they relevantly relate to the learner’s ongoing music tuition. The Dozen a Day books are universally recognized as one of the most remarkable technique series on the market for all ages! Each book in this series contains short warm-up exercises to be played at the beginning of each practice session, providing excellent day-to-day training for the student.