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.

What's going on with the short days?

I really tried to get in a full hour of practice today. The problem is, I haven't been at home as much lately so I haven't been practicing during the day. Tonight I began practicing at 10 pm after a busy day of cooking and baking and running around. I also got in 20 minutes of exercise somehow and began my finger workout after that. Alas, 30 minutes into it my sweet 2 year old R woke up and was inconsolable when her dad tried to calm her, so of course when he's gone through all the tricks in the book it's time for mom to take action. And now that she's back to sleep, I'm afraid to play for fear of waking her!

Tomorrow is the day of rest, so I'm hoping I can get some restful playing in then.

Today I did Hannon 1-10, arpeggios in C, G and D, and scales in B Major and F# Major. This was 20 minutes of warming up. I was planning for a full hour or more of practice tonight since I've had several 30 minute days this week. I went through my prelude 21 and started in on the Fugue when she awoke. I was barely able to work on the fingering before I had to go back there.

Hey, with as much as I have to do, I'm proud to get 30 minutes in per day! In a few years, I'll be able to dedicate a lot more time to the piano. For now, I'm grateful I can get in any time at all.

Just 30 minutes today, again.

I was interrupted tonight by a crying little girl, so I was unable to completely my practice. Since I didn't start until 11 pm, that means the practice is over for today. I only worked on the Fugue today, but I intended to work on some other pieces as well. Mostly I worked on the fingering. With baroque music, the fingering has to be absolutely perfect. I'm working on the second section of it, and I will soon have that fingering down. I'm hoping in another few weeks I will have the fingering perfected and I can really fine tune it and work on the dynamics.

I also warmed up with Hannon 11-20 today.

So far, no Nocturne

I have done about half my practicing today, and I haven't played the nocturne in quite a while. I think I just needed a break! I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to play it again yet, but I'm sure I will be soon. I feel a little burnt out on that one.

Today I did Hannon 1-10, and I worked on my Fugue for about 15 minutes and I worked on my trouble spot in Clair de Lune. I *almost* played the grand at church tonight, but I had a super tired little darling that is asleep on my lap right now (finally). She had major bags under her eyes all evening, but Hubby and I both had to be at the church tonight, so she had to tag along. Poor little thing.

I'm not sure if I'm going to get any more practicing in tonight. I have data entry stuff to work on, and I haven't done any yoga yet today! Eep!

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!).

Making up for lost time

Today I practiced at total of 85 minutes.

The first 5ish minutes were during the day when everyone was awake. I would have practiced more, but our house is small and the playoffs were on. So I got booted. Bummer. I mostly practiced Clair de Lune during this time.

I started practicing again after the kids were in bed. Hubby was gone at the moment, so I took advantage of the time and worked on "Ballet of Unhatched Chickens." It is his favorite and all, but I just needed peace and quiet to get it done. I worked on that for about 20 minutes.

I needed to finish off my 20th century stuff with "O Polichinelo," so I worked on that for about 1o minutes. It's sounding better!

Then I actually did warm ups! I can't believe it! It felt good, and I need to do them every day. I did 11 Hannon exercises, which took about 15 minutes, and scales in B major for about 5 minutes. I'm hoping working on these will improve my overall speed and accuracy.

Then I worked on The Nocturne. And I played it through, the whole way! It was awesome. I worked on this piece for 30 minutes. Loving it so much! Can't wait till I can actually perform it. I'll record it in a few days so you can here where I am right now, played through from the beginning. I'm not that good yet, and I'm not nearly as fast as I need to be, but I'll get there. Soon. I hope!