A whole week of not getting a full 60 in per day... bah! Well, I'm much better now, and in a few more days R will be feeling better too, I'm sure. She has a croupy cough that sounds pretty bad, but it's nothing serious. Just annoying, mostly (to others more than it is to her!). She also has a runny nose and a bad habit of wiping her snot on anything or anyone! You can tell a 2 year old to use a tissue, but they won't remember for more than .0000001 seconds.
Tonight's practicing was satisfactory. I went through my Nocturne and recorded it! I took just over 7 minutes and I think it sounds pretty darned good, especially considering I wasn't planning on having all the pages learned until the end of April! I've made good progress on this piece. I'd like to have it perfected to the note by the end of May so I can start working on recording it this summer. I'm not sure where I'm going to record it, but it sure won't be at my house! Maybe I'll convince my friend who has recording equipment and a really wonderful piano to borrow theirs for a while, but I don't think we're good enough friends for that ;) It could take all day. Maybe I'll wait for my parents to tune their Steinway and record it at their house.
I also worked on my Schubert Impromptu. Boy, that needs a LOT of fine tuning.
I also improved for about 10 minutes. That is one area that I really need to improve. I'd like to eventually become a singer/writer and it would be really fun to have a couple songs written by this summer. I'm not betting on it though! Maybe a goal for next year.
With no further ado, here is my Nocturne recording: It almost sounds good. Almost.
Showing posts with label Impromptu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Impromptu. Show all posts
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Another good practice day
I wanted to go on and on and on tonight, but the clock struck 12 and I needed to stop, so I did. I had a really great practice session tonight. One a forum I frequent (but don't post at often), there was a thread about biggest mistakes a person can make while practicing. I took the advice given there to heart. So my method of practicing I used tonight was to start playing the songs through and as soon as I hit a wrong note, I drilled that particular section 40, 50 times or more. I have no idea how many times. I didn't count. Some sections that I drilled were only a measure long, or sometimes even shorter. I played my Schubert Impromptu through once and it took me 40 minutes with all the drills I did. This piece normally takes 10 minutes to play, and I'm fairly proficient at it. I believe this may have been one of the pieces I auditioned with for my piano scholarship, but it's been 13 years so don't quote me on that. Since it was so perfected at one point, my fingers still "know" the piece pretty well, but there's always improvements to be made.
Then I went to my Chopin Nocturne and I used the same technique. I got through 3 measures before the clock struck 12. I think this piece will take me a full hour or, more likely, longer to practice in this manner. I'd like to continue practicing this way, though. I feel like I accomplished a lot more today. Perhaps I'll work on one page at a time in this way until I can practice it this way with it only taking me a half hour. Hm.
So I got in a full hour of practicing today. But I did do some improve earlier in the day. My husband stayed up at a coworker's this evening because he was so tired and traffic was so bad, so I intended to practice from about 9 or 10 until midnight, and I put the kids to bed at 7 to plan for that. Alas, they didn't fall asleep until about 10, 10:15, and I didn't want to risk waking them up by practicing right away! So I made crackers until 11 and then got in my hour. Maybe someday I'll be able to get in the 2-3 hours a day that I really need.
Then I went to my Chopin Nocturne and I used the same technique. I got through 3 measures before the clock struck 12. I think this piece will take me a full hour or, more likely, longer to practice in this manner. I'd like to continue practicing this way, though. I feel like I accomplished a lot more today. Perhaps I'll work on one page at a time in this way until I can practice it this way with it only taking me a half hour. Hm.
So I got in a full hour of practicing today. But I did do some improve earlier in the day. My husband stayed up at a coworker's this evening because he was so tired and traffic was so bad, so I intended to practice from about 9 or 10 until midnight, and I put the kids to bed at 7 to plan for that. Alas, they didn't fall asleep until about 10, 10:15, and I didn't want to risk waking them up by practicing right away! So I made crackers until 11 and then got in my hour. Maybe someday I'll be able to get in the 2-3 hours a day that I really need.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Amazing
I'm feeling so good after today's session. I only got in 55 minutes before midnight tonight, but the minutes I got really counted today. I made some amazing progress in all the pieces I worked on today, specifically my nocturne. There are three sections where I just can't get up to speed, as they are lightning fast. But I know I can play fast because my fingers move very quickly with my Schubert piece, so fast that if I look down, they look blurry to me. I know I can do it. It's just getting my fingers to move that way that is the tricky part. I learned the Schubert 13 or 14 years ago and my fingers still remember it, so I have a lot of years with that one, and the Chopin is new as of November. I've been thinking about how to make my fingers move, and it dawned on me as I was drilling one of the super-fast sections. Movement. Limited movement. I noticed on my way up, I wasn't crossing my thumb under the rest of my fingers to get up the scale, but I was on the descent, and I am much faster ascending. So I started working on lifting my thumb and moving my whole hand down, not just the fourth finger, in order to work on getting up to speed.
It's working. And I'm thrilled. I played through the whole piece today after I was done with my drills. I had the *sigh* feeling when I finished like I get when I play Clair de Lune. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy that makes me feel. I seriously felt like I was floating on air. I could have played piano for hours after that, but I have to get up for 9 am church in the morning, so I couldn't. Not tonight.
I also worked on my Schubert number, which is so beautiful. I really only played it through, but it is sounding so much better. I'll probably have it memorized again within a week or two, and the trouble spots are really starting to disappear, though there are a couple more places I need to drill through before I will feel like I'm really there again. I am so close to allowing myself to pass this piece off.
I also worked on the Bach Fugue today. That is also coming along nicely. I didn't have an epiphany on this piece like I did the Chopin, but it is coming together so nicely. This piece will likely be ready in a few more weeks to where I am confident, and memorization will follow soon afterward. I don't really feel like I understand a piece of music until it is memorized. Once that happens, more good things follow, and soon it is so imprinted in my mind that it is hard to leave, unless I happen to have a 10 year hiatus on the piano (which won't happen again!).
Unfortunately, I had to kiss my piano good night and blog about my wonderful session instead of playing the whole night through like I wanted. I'm really hoping for more sessions like this in the coming week. I feel so good now.
It's working. And I'm thrilled. I played through the whole piece today after I was done with my drills. I had the *sigh* feeling when I finished like I get when I play Clair de Lune. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy that makes me feel. I seriously felt like I was floating on air. I could have played piano for hours after that, but I have to get up for 9 am church in the morning, so I couldn't. Not tonight.
I also worked on my Schubert number, which is so beautiful. I really only played it through, but it is sounding so much better. I'll probably have it memorized again within a week or two, and the trouble spots are really starting to disappear, though there are a couple more places I need to drill through before I will feel like I'm really there again. I am so close to allowing myself to pass this piece off.
I also worked on the Bach Fugue today. That is also coming along nicely. I didn't have an epiphany on this piece like I did the Chopin, but it is coming together so nicely. This piece will likely be ready in a few more weeks to where I am confident, and memorization will follow soon afterward. I don't really feel like I understand a piece of music until it is memorized. Once that happens, more good things follow, and soon it is so imprinted in my mind that it is hard to leave, unless I happen to have a 10 year hiatus on the piano (which won't happen again!).
Unfortunately, I had to kiss my piano good night and blog about my wonderful session instead of playing the whole night through like I wanted. I'm really hoping for more sessions like this in the coming week. I feel so good now.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Today was just one of those days
You know, the kind where you're moving from the minute you wake up until it's bedtime? Yeah, that was today. Except a lot of my day was spent sitting down doing taxes. Fun. Thankfully, we got a nice big return, so it wasn't all that bad. But I did have to spend some time on the phone with the IRS. That was a joy. All I needed was my ARI from last year, and somehow I don't have a copy of my last year's tax return. How did that happen?
Tonight I started practicing at 10:20. I decided that there was no way I would be able to get in a full day of practicing and exercise, and since practicing is more important to me (I'm only 10 pounds above my goal weight, after all), I decided it'd be better to skip the exercise. I practiced 'till 11, when I was starting to get droopy eyed. I needed to start a load of laundry (it is piling up big time!) and get a couple more things ready, so now at almost 11:30 I'm pooped.
Today I started working on my new method for practicing my Schubert piece. It went well-ish. I passed off one drill section at half speed.
I also practiced the prelude and fugue 21 by Bach. I'm starting to figure out the fingering, which is tough with these pieces. It's just not intuitive to me, so I have to really work it and figure it out in order to get it right.
I played through May Song twice today, and worked on a couple of spots. I think I'm okay there for a while. As long as I can play it once every week or two, I think I'll be fine on this piece.
No warm ups, since 40 minutes is hardly any time at all for practicing.
Now I'm almost off to bed. Tomorrow should be a better practice day.
Tonight I started practicing at 10:20. I decided that there was no way I would be able to get in a full day of practicing and exercise, and since practicing is more important to me (I'm only 10 pounds above my goal weight, after all), I decided it'd be better to skip the exercise. I practiced 'till 11, when I was starting to get droopy eyed. I needed to start a load of laundry (it is piling up big time!) and get a couple more things ready, so now at almost 11:30 I'm pooped.
Today I started working on my new method for practicing my Schubert piece. It went well-ish. I passed off one drill section at half speed.
I also practiced the prelude and fugue 21 by Bach. I'm starting to figure out the fingering, which is tough with these pieces. It's just not intuitive to me, so I have to really work it and figure it out in order to get it right.
I played through May Song twice today, and worked on a couple of spots. I think I'm okay there for a while. As long as I can play it once every week or two, I think I'll be fine on this piece.
No warm ups, since 40 minutes is hardly any time at all for practicing.
Now I'm almost off to bed. Tomorrow should be a better practice day.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
60 minutes really isn't enough.
At my level, I really should be practicing a minimum of 120 minutes per day. But right now, it ain't going to happen. There's no way I can do the type of practicing I need to do in just one hour per day. But what I'm doing now is keeping me from going downhill in my skill level. If it wasn't ten o'clock when I began my practicing, I would have probably practiced much more today than just one hour. Since I had a busy day out of the home, I was unable to practice during the day, so I had to settle for all night time practicing today.
I wish I had practiced more when I was young, 17, 18, 19, 20... Suddenly I feel the urge to sing "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger."
Today was the day of impromptus. I started off with my Impromptu by Tcherepnin. I played through that a few times then moved on to my Schubert Impromptu, which is probably one of my favorite pieces that I've ever played (it's up there with Clair de Lune and Beethoven's Sonata no. 8). I played it through once at my regular speed, which is a bit slower than "full speed" (144/123 bpm in 3/4 time). Because my fingers were so clumsy, I decided to play it at half speed. I still made mistakes, but I think it's because I played it the whole way through. I need to get my fingers to the point where they don't make mistakes, but not be so far-reaching as to try to get the whole song at once. So I'm breaking it down, section by section. It's 11 pages long, and I have three major trouble spots that I've been drilling for the last several days. So my plan of action is this: Practice each of the trouble spots at half speed 10x perfectly before moving on to a faster speed, working up till I can play each trouble spot full speed perfectly 10x in a row; once that is achieved, play through each page at 1/2 time 10x perfectly, then increase the speed on each page, until full speed is achieved. I think I'll be able to reduce my practice time on this piece to 20 minutes per day if I just take it one section/speed per day.
At this point, I had 10 minutes left, so instead of starting another piece (I was starting to get tired), I played through May Song a couple of time. Oy. I hadn't played it in a few weeks. It's amazing what a few weeks off will do to you! It was quite clumsy sounding.
I'd better play that nocturne soon before I lose what I have gained!
I wish I had practiced more when I was young, 17, 18, 19, 20... Suddenly I feel the urge to sing "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger."
Today was the day of impromptus. I started off with my Impromptu by Tcherepnin. I played through that a few times then moved on to my Schubert Impromptu, which is probably one of my favorite pieces that I've ever played (it's up there with Clair de Lune and Beethoven's Sonata no. 8). I played it through once at my regular speed, which is a bit slower than "full speed" (144/123 bpm in 3/4 time). Because my fingers were so clumsy, I decided to play it at half speed. I still made mistakes, but I think it's because I played it the whole way through. I need to get my fingers to the point where they don't make mistakes, but not be so far-reaching as to try to get the whole song at once. So I'm breaking it down, section by section. It's 11 pages long, and I have three major trouble spots that I've been drilling for the last several days. So my plan of action is this: Practice each of the trouble spots at half speed 10x perfectly before moving on to a faster speed, working up till I can play each trouble spot full speed perfectly 10x in a row; once that is achieved, play through each page at 1/2 time 10x perfectly, then increase the speed on each page, until full speed is achieved. I think I'll be able to reduce my practice time on this piece to 20 minutes per day if I just take it one section/speed per day.
At this point, I had 10 minutes left, so instead of starting another piece (I was starting to get tired), I played through May Song a couple of time. Oy. I hadn't played it in a few weeks. It's amazing what a few weeks off will do to you! It was quite clumsy sounding.
I'd better play that nocturne soon before I lose what I have gained!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Yes, I have been slacking.
But not on my piano playing. Just my blogging. I haven't been playing too much of the Nocturne lately. I think because I'm so close to having all the notes down, and because I'm just a little bit burned out on it. Plus I am frustrated with it, because I am unable to get up to the speed I need to get to. It has scales that need to be played as quickly as a trill. My fingers just don't move that fast. Yet.
I can't really remember what I've been practicing for the past few days, so I'll just go over today's menu.
I practiced Schubert's Impromptu #10 for about 25 minutes today. I am drilling a couple of trouble spots and working on dynamics. I am a little clumsy throughout the whole piece, so I need to play it slower and work up to a faster speed.
I also played Bach's Fugue 21. I got out my "counting beans" and played a couple sections through ten times each. With the counting beans, I get to move the bean over from the middle of the saucer to the outside ridge every time I play through it perfectly. I pass when I get all ten beans to the outside ridge. Often, when I mess up, I have to put a bean back. If I'm really being hard on myself, if I mess up I have to put all the beans back and start over from the beginning. One section I worked on counting beans hands separately, the other hands together (I don't really pass off a section until I can complete the "counting beans" HT, though).
Lastly, I played Tcherepnin. I drilled the beginning couple of lines. In the past week I've been drilling trouble spots, but this isn't a trouble spot that I worked on today. It's the beginning, which has gotten a teensy bit clumsy.
All totaled I got in 80 minutes today. Not too bad.
I can't really remember what I've been practicing for the past few days, so I'll just go over today's menu.
I practiced Schubert's Impromptu #10 for about 25 minutes today. I am drilling a couple of trouble spots and working on dynamics. I am a little clumsy throughout the whole piece, so I need to play it slower and work up to a faster speed.
I also played Bach's Fugue 21. I got out my "counting beans" and played a couple sections through ten times each. With the counting beans, I get to move the bean over from the middle of the saucer to the outside ridge every time I play through it perfectly. I pass when I get all ten beans to the outside ridge. Often, when I mess up, I have to put a bean back. If I'm really being hard on myself, if I mess up I have to put all the beans back and start over from the beginning. One section I worked on counting beans hands separately, the other hands together (I don't really pass off a section until I can complete the "counting beans" HT, though).
Lastly, I played Tcherepnin. I drilled the beginning couple of lines. In the past week I've been drilling trouble spots, but this isn't a trouble spot that I worked on today. It's the beginning, which has gotten a teensy bit clumsy.
All totaled I got in 80 minutes today. Not too bad.
Monday, January 26, 2009
57 minutes
Not a full 60. 57. I tried so hard to get my full practice time in today, but alas, it was not to be. R woke up needing to go potty, and once she's woken up, I don't want to plunk the keys and keep her awake, even if I'm sure she's back to sleep! She's been very testy lately with sleep, so I take what I can get. She either has asthma or a cold with no symptoms other than coughing, and she's been coughing now for 2 weeks, so it's tough for her to sleep.
For today, I did 20 minutes of warm ups in the morning-- Hanon 11-20, arpeggios in C, G, D and scales in B and F#. Then on to the fugue. I'm continuing to work out fingering issues on the second page and hopefully I'll get that done in a few more days so I can move on to page 3. I hope to polish this piece within the month.
I also played through my Schubert Impromptu, which was lots of fun. I planned on working out some fingering today as well, but I was babysitting a little boy from church so I couldn't devote quite as much time to practice as I would have liked. All totaled, I practiced 3o minutes this morning. Which sounds like not very much considering 20 of it was with warm ups. How did I manage that one I wonder?
Tonight I worked on the Nocturne finally! It's been about a week now since I've played it, and I'm glad for the break. I was getting weary of working out fingering and getting frustrated at not being able to play through the whole piece yet, and especially not being able to play some of the faster parts up to speed yet that I can play perfectly. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm proud of the progress I've made so far. 27 minutes into tonight's practicing R woke up with a full bladder and a cranky disposition. Bummer.
But thinking back on it... perhaps I did actually get in more than 60 minutes today. There is no way that I played the impromptu in under 5 minutes-- it's 11 pages long! And I worked on a couple sections of it as well for a few minutes! I must have practiced the impromptu and fugue each for 10 minutes. There's no way possible that I practiced for shorter than that with either of those pieces today.
So I'm giving myself 67 minutes. Weird.
For today, I did 20 minutes of warm ups in the morning-- Hanon 11-20, arpeggios in C, G, D and scales in B and F#. Then on to the fugue. I'm continuing to work out fingering issues on the second page and hopefully I'll get that done in a few more days so I can move on to page 3. I hope to polish this piece within the month.
I also played through my Schubert Impromptu, which was lots of fun. I planned on working out some fingering today as well, but I was babysitting a little boy from church so I couldn't devote quite as much time to practice as I would have liked. All totaled, I practiced 3o minutes this morning. Which sounds like not very much considering 20 of it was with warm ups. How did I manage that one I wonder?
Tonight I worked on the Nocturne finally! It's been about a week now since I've played it, and I'm glad for the break. I was getting weary of working out fingering and getting frustrated at not being able to play through the whole piece yet, and especially not being able to play some of the faster parts up to speed yet that I can play perfectly. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm proud of the progress I've made so far. 27 minutes into tonight's practicing R woke up with a full bladder and a cranky disposition. Bummer.
But thinking back on it... perhaps I did actually get in more than 60 minutes today. There is no way that I played the impromptu in under 5 minutes-- it's 11 pages long! And I worked on a couple sections of it as well for a few minutes! I must have practiced the impromptu and fugue each for 10 minutes. There's no way possible that I practiced for shorter than that with either of those pieces today.
So I'm giving myself 67 minutes. Weird.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Two days in a row
Today and yesterday I took a break from The Nocturne. I enjoy playing it, but playing it day in and day out really makes me weary. Darn my ADD! That is why I have so many songs that I'm working on. I can't just focus on two or three. I have to have ten.
Today I got the opportunity to play on the grand at church. I don't get to play on it often, but I enjoy playing it when I do. I'm used to playing my Kia, but at church I get to play the Lexus. In a few years, I'm hoping the Steinway at my parent's house will be refurbished so I can play on a Rolls Royce :)
Yesterday I worked through Hannon 1-10 and today I did 11-20. Yesterday I did arpeggios but today I did none, and I haven't done scales either day.
I've been working really hard on my Schubert Impromptu no. 4, and also my Tcherepnin Bagatelle. I enjoy the first because it is just so beautiful and flowy, light and airy, but has a lovely heavier trio in the middle. The Tcherpnin is a lot of fun, almost like a joke. It is the last Bagatelle in a series of 10, and the end you have to scoot yourself up to the end of the bench to really get the notes hit right-- you play the very highest note, so it's like you're scooting off the bench ready to be done with it already.
I read up on Tcherepnin yesterday. He is from a family of composers, with his father and son both being composers as well. So, kind of like a 20th century Bach.
Speaking of Bach, I worked on the Fugue yesteday for a bit. Today I worked on Clair de Lune. I have three measures toward the end that trip me up every time. I'm going to work those three measures every day 10 times before I work on other sections, just so I can memorize it again. I also have a couple trouble spots in the key change area.
Today's practice total was 80 minutes, which surprises me because I almost didn't practice at all. I had a rough day, and my kids were making me insane. Usually I get practicing in a little while dinner's in the oven or while the kids are in the bath, but not tonight. I had 10 minutes at the church and the rest was at home.
Yesterday I got in 65 minutes. I would have gotten in a lot more but I was preparing to teach preschool today (which is partly why I had such a rough day-- L never listens to me during preschool and it can get to be overwhelming, but I found out it's not just me at least!).
Today I got the opportunity to play on the grand at church. I don't get to play on it often, but I enjoy playing it when I do. I'm used to playing my Kia, but at church I get to play the Lexus. In a few years, I'm hoping the Steinway at my parent's house will be refurbished so I can play on a Rolls Royce :)
Yesterday I worked through Hannon 1-10 and today I did 11-20. Yesterday I did arpeggios but today I did none, and I haven't done scales either day.
I've been working really hard on my Schubert Impromptu no. 4, and also my Tcherepnin Bagatelle. I enjoy the first because it is just so beautiful and flowy, light and airy, but has a lovely heavier trio in the middle. The Tcherpnin is a lot of fun, almost like a joke. It is the last Bagatelle in a series of 10, and the end you have to scoot yourself up to the end of the bench to really get the notes hit right-- you play the very highest note, so it's like you're scooting off the bench ready to be done with it already.
I read up on Tcherepnin yesterday. He is from a family of composers, with his father and son both being composers as well. So, kind of like a 20th century Bach.
Speaking of Bach, I worked on the Fugue yesteday for a bit. Today I worked on Clair de Lune. I have three measures toward the end that trip me up every time. I'm going to work those three measures every day 10 times before I work on other sections, just so I can memorize it again. I also have a couple trouble spots in the key change area.
Today's practice total was 80 minutes, which surprises me because I almost didn't practice at all. I had a rough day, and my kids were making me insane. Usually I get practicing in a little while dinner's in the oven or while the kids are in the bath, but not tonight. I had 10 minutes at the church and the rest was at home.
Yesterday I got in 65 minutes. I would have gotten in a lot more but I was preparing to teach preschool today (which is partly why I had such a rough day-- L never listens to me during preschool and it can get to be overwhelming, but I found out it's not just me at least!).
Monday, January 19, 2009
Starting to feel confident again
Finally I'm feeling like I'm a decent pianist. I'm not awesome, and I'm no virtuoso by any stretch of the imagination, but I am good enough to put on a show (or I will be in the near future, anyway!). Today I got in 90 minutes. I'd like to get more days like this in. The thing is, playing the piano is so good for me. It helps my mental capacity, it keeps me more level-headed, I love playing, and while I'm playing I am not eating, which is great for my waistline.
Let's review what I played today. Before the kids went to bed, I practiced for about 30 minutes. About 20 minutes were spent working on the Chopin Nocturne. Then I got out some of my old piano books and played a couple songs out of them. They're really fun songs, and I will be adding them to my list of songs that I'm working on. I hope to have a repitoire 10 or 12 songs that I have memorized and perfected so when I am requested to play, I can just sit down and plunk out a couple pieces. Both of these that I worked on today are quite fast (I kind of have a thing for fast and loud, but as I get older I'm discovering my tastes are changing). First I picked up my Schubert Impromtus book (opus 90). I played no. 4. It is so gorgeous. This video is Rubinstein playing. I could actually play this piece very, very well in my prime. Hopefully I'll get back to that level. Next was a Tcherepnin bagatelle, opus 5, no. 10. I can't find a professional recording of this piece, but it is quite lovely, as well. Very fast and furious (speed is presto!). Fun piece to play, and to hear. This is the kind of 20th century music that hubby can appreciate, I think.
After the kiddos went to bed, I got back on the piano and did some warm-ups first. That's two days in a row! I did about 15 minutes of Hannon, working on 11-20 (yesterday I did 1-10, and I plan to keep working on 10 per day). I then worked on my scales, B Major and F sharp Major. I am working on those two keys in particular for the benefit of the Nocturne. The Nocturne doesn't have anything written in F sharp Major, but there is a part where you basically play an F sharp Major scale, really really fast, so I'd better learn it! Finally, I did about 3 minutes of arpeggios, in C Major. Just a little floating up and down the keys to really get my fingers working on accuracy.
Then I pulled out Bach's Prelude 21 and ran through that a few times, trying to work out a few kinks. I mostly have it memorized, but there are a few parts in there where my fingers slip, and I want to correct that. Of course, I worked on the Fugue following that, for quite a while. I have the Fugue divided up into about 4 sections, and I'm working the fingering section by section, and then I'll be able to put it all together and it will sound fantastic. Baroque music needs to be very smooth and seamless. You typically don't use the sustain pedal with Baroque music, so you have to really hold the keys down for it to sound good. When I first started playing Baroque music, I got scolded for using the pedals, so now I never use the pedals when playing Baroque, and I actually use the pedals a lot less than I did before, because my skill at holding keys down has improved. I think I practiced the Prelude and Fugue for 20 minutes.
After the prelude, I pulled out May Song and worked on that for about ten minutes. I hadn't played it in a long time, so I was a little rusty. It is perfected and memorized, but if I don't play it regularly I'll lose it again. I don't want to risk that. Lastly, I worked on Clair de Lune by Debussy for about 5 minutes, only playing through it once. I need to work on it tomorrow for a bit longer-- the ending still needs some work, as does the key change. I'm close on that piece. Hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll have it down again.
Let's review what I played today. Before the kids went to bed, I practiced for about 30 minutes. About 20 minutes were spent working on the Chopin Nocturne. Then I got out some of my old piano books and played a couple songs out of them. They're really fun songs, and I will be adding them to my list of songs that I'm working on. I hope to have a repitoire 10 or 12 songs that I have memorized and perfected so when I am requested to play, I can just sit down and plunk out a couple pieces. Both of these that I worked on today are quite fast (I kind of have a thing for fast and loud, but as I get older I'm discovering my tastes are changing). First I picked up my Schubert Impromtus book (opus 90). I played no. 4. It is so gorgeous. This video is Rubinstein playing. I could actually play this piece very, very well in my prime. Hopefully I'll get back to that level. Next was a Tcherepnin bagatelle, opus 5, no. 10. I can't find a professional recording of this piece, but it is quite lovely, as well. Very fast and furious (speed is presto!). Fun piece to play, and to hear. This is the kind of 20th century music that hubby can appreciate, I think.
After the kiddos went to bed, I got back on the piano and did some warm-ups first. That's two days in a row! I did about 15 minutes of Hannon, working on 11-20 (yesterday I did 1-10, and I plan to keep working on 10 per day). I then worked on my scales, B Major and F sharp Major. I am working on those two keys in particular for the benefit of the Nocturne. The Nocturne doesn't have anything written in F sharp Major, but there is a part where you basically play an F sharp Major scale, really really fast, so I'd better learn it! Finally, I did about 3 minutes of arpeggios, in C Major. Just a little floating up and down the keys to really get my fingers working on accuracy.
Then I pulled out Bach's Prelude 21 and ran through that a few times, trying to work out a few kinks. I mostly have it memorized, but there are a few parts in there where my fingers slip, and I want to correct that. Of course, I worked on the Fugue following that, for quite a while. I have the Fugue divided up into about 4 sections, and I'm working the fingering section by section, and then I'll be able to put it all together and it will sound fantastic. Baroque music needs to be very smooth and seamless. You typically don't use the sustain pedal with Baroque music, so you have to really hold the keys down for it to sound good. When I first started playing Baroque music, I got scolded for using the pedals, so now I never use the pedals when playing Baroque, and I actually use the pedals a lot less than I did before, because my skill at holding keys down has improved. I think I practiced the Prelude and Fugue for 20 minutes.
After the prelude, I pulled out May Song and worked on that for about ten minutes. I hadn't played it in a long time, so I was a little rusty. It is perfected and memorized, but if I don't play it regularly I'll lose it again. I don't want to risk that. Lastly, I worked on Clair de Lune by Debussy for about 5 minutes, only playing through it once. I need to work on it tomorrow for a bit longer-- the ending still needs some work, as does the key change. I'm close on that piece. Hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll have it down again.
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