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.

Today I practiced in spurts during the day. This is unusual for me, as I usually practice at night after the kiddos are in bed. My main focus today was on two different Chopin works. I practiced both for approximately 30 minutes.

The first piece I focused on was a waltz, opus 69 no. 2 (posthumous). It is a beautiful piece. Just take a listen to this beautiful waltz on YouTube performed by Arthur Rubinstein. My method is working one line at a time, figuring out the fingering first and practicing each section over and over until I can continue to the next. I overlap the sections so there is continuity when I put them together.

Later, I started working on my big piece, the piece that will probably take up most of my attention during this year. This is a Chopin Nocturne, opus 62 no. 1. Here's what it's supposed to sound like, as performed by Rubinstein. So far, I have the first 9-10 measures basically down (though you wouldn't be able to tell by my recording), and the last two pages, starting with the key change (at about 4'25" in the YouTube recording). I'm terribly slow with all the ornamentals, but I'll get there, darn it. I have until October, and it's coming together much faster than I anticipated! My goal was to have the 4th page down, at least as far as the notes are concerned by 1/31, but I already have it down and am starting on the 3rd page (last line). And here's my pathetic attempt at this beautiful nocturne, minus the middle. Normally, I would keep this to myself, but since I'm blogging my progress this year, this will make for a great comparison when this song is recital-ready!

I didn't get in any theory study or music history study today.