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My AOW is finally having a lesson after my teacher's 21 day absence for vacation. Boy, did I miss her input during the last few weeks. The little Mozart minuet is done and put to rest. The Bach C Prelude is hands together accurate and going into the smoothing, dynamics mode. The Chopin B-minor Prelude is getting there -- working very hard on voicing, pedaling, and dynamics. It seems like there are infinite ways to fiddle with the sounds we can make. For fun I've been working on The Shadow of Your Smile from the book of Dan Coates jazz arrangements. I'm such a sucker for a great melody.

Cheryl- I may consider getting some kind of recording device if thats the only way I can get a group hug when I need it

I just made a major breakthrough with The Entertainer!!! I don't know if I will sleep tonight. I've been really struggling with page 3 for the last week. I can play it now! I was ready to give up on this one....maybe another week and I should be able to play the whole piece.

Ben I don't know your Witch piece, but if you are having difficulty with it, then it must be "witchy" indeed!
Teodor - you're really steaming along! Best wishes for your recital today!
Michael - good for you! I hope some day I'll have the coordination to work on the Entertainer!

Jim - just to hold you ((((((group hug)))))) (I tried to get a .gif, but I don't have time to search upload and insert! )
I can imagine how much you enjoyed sitting down with your teacher after 3 weeks!
Shadow of your Smile is a tune I like. I've got a Dan Coates book too, ...top 50 Jazz Standards (though I wouldn't really call them jazz).

I have no great AOW to report. Beethoven is very slow, and I've got a Burgmuller to work on that just isn't grabbing me.

Michael
Which book are you playing the Entertainer from? I have it in a "greatest hits" type book but mine may be an "easy" version. For sure the easy is good for me at the moment. Do you think it's possible to regress? I mean really regress? Some of the pieces that I know I played years ago now seem way over my head.

Casinitaly
Love the Shadow of your Smile sound too. I've played that one in the same "greatest hits" book. I want it to flow beautifully out of the piano and some days it gets closer...must depend on the weather. :-)

Just bought a new ergonomic computer keyboard and mouse to reduce the right hand strain from way too much computer time. I'm in research/writing mode. It interferes with my piano work for sure.

Oh yeah The Witch is a beast of a piece. Doesn't look too bad, but playing it faster than plod is challenging! Good luck!

Do share your recording when you make one. I'd love to hear it!

The book that I am using is a titled "Simply Joplin" arranged by Mary Sallee. It is an easy version. When I bought it, I thought "since it was easy" I should be able to play the music without too much difficulty......NOT! My 7 months of (in)experience reared it's head from the beginning. The good news is that I didn't give up!

My achievement of the week is that I found a new composer. There was a sheet from my teacher of a piece that was very bad in shape and barely readible, but so beautiful. There was no composer name or the name of the piece on it. It was from a spanish composer, that was the only thing we knew.

Finally on the Internet I found the piece and composer name, so I could make a good copy that I can read well. It's the second song of 12 spanish dances of Enrique Gradanos, named Oriental.

Here's a youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiN7LTgV6Ps

The copy I found, was on the ismlp website.

I'm so happy I found the name of the composer. Otherwise the piece would be like an orphan to me.

Michael - yea! on The Entertainer! I've been working for the last month or so on bringing it to a faster tempo than I originally played it, and last night I played it at 1/4-note = 130, including that blessed 1/16-note octave run in the C part. At some point all of us who can play, in some form or other, The Entertainer should do a thread with all TE recordings, just to hear all the versions and interpretations.

I keep hearing about Dan Coates. Maybe I should put a book on my piano projects list. But wait - do I *really* need another piano project?

Cathy

Two pieces, not a single wrong note no worrying about it being a recital, I was actually charged by the audience. It let me play slightly better than I usually care to. The Bach needs more work with a metronome. I keep rushing. You can see it in the piano bar

Paperclip,

Good for you for discovering Granados and his Danzas. I have a great recording of all twelve by Alicia de Larrocha, who is sort of a Granados specialist. Other beautiful Granados works include Valses Poeticos and from the Goyescas Suite - Quejas o La Maja y el Ruisenor (The Maiden and the Nightengale).

If you like Granados you may also like the works of Albeniz. I really like the pieces in his Suite Espanola(try Sevilla from this suite).

Like you, it was a revelation when I discovered these famous Spanish composers. That's the nice thing about learning to play the piano - all the music we get exposed to that might have been missed. I don't know how long it will be before I'm able to play something by Granados or Albeniz, but I'd sure like to try.

JimF,

Yes, it's like finding a pot of gold. I'm so happy I find a key to a treasure of beautiful spanish classical music, I never know it existed until now. Thanks for the tips. I will check out Albeniz for sure!

Olivier Messiaen said about the Albéniz's Iberia:

Iberia is the wonder for the piano; it is perhaps on the highest place among the more brilliant pieces for the king of the instruments.

Recaredo,
I listened to the Iberia of Albéniz and it's indeed quite impressive Now I'm going to listen to Pedrell as well.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Iberia, Paperclip.

I'm listening to the Granados as I type - wow. I like it a lot.
A new door has opened! I love it here - as Jim said we really have such wonderful opportunities for being introduced to new music here.

I'm going to listen to some Albéniz too!

Teodor- congrats on your recital work! I'll pop over to the Piano Bar to have a listen.

FINALLY I have an achievement ....... I can now play the first page of my Sonatina. Not up to speed, but with all the correct fingering and if I focus REALLY WELL, my errors are few and far between. My optimism is returning.

edited to add: I'm listening to Iberia - I can very easily imagine this being played on a guitar.

I'm totally enchanted!!!!! I know what is going on my wishlist for cds !!!!
(I'm certainly not able to play any of this yet, but listening to it will be a marevellous experience)

THANK YOU for mentioning these composers !

Good news for all of the Granados lovers:

You might attempt a beautiful piece he wrote and dedicated to his son, called Dedication. According to Jane Magrath its level is 5. I have had this piece on my "to do" list and intend to work on it relatively soon. An additional clue to its difficulty, Magrath compares it to Schumann's About Strange Lands and People (op. 68, no. 1).

Casinitaly, It would be marvellous playing so difficult music. But one day we will be able to do it.

EASY apparently means level 4-5. I found that a bit condescending when I first realized it. They seemed hard enough to me. Enjoy the Joplin...they are crowd pleasers and sound very accomplished. My versions of Entertainer and another Joplin are in my EASY book.

Finally spent my bookstore rebate card and bought David Dubal's The Essential Canon of Classical Music. Discovering a lot of new music now!