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This was a barrier for me, too, and I imagine most beginners. My teacher had me memorize some of these pieces so that I could continue playing while I looked at my hands. I wonder, though, if it might have been better to force me to get the feeling of moving my hand to the right position without looking. (I say that because I still look at my hands a lot and lose my place reading the music) Another bad habit I picked up was stretching my hand to reach the key, rather than moving my hand to the new position. I find it easier to measure a stretch than a movement, so I still do this one a lot too.

It probably is worth asking your teacher the best way to deal with it. I'm sure you'll figure it out though!

I'm not far away then, because I live in Verona! Actually right now I'm on the hills near Soave. I can't complain, as the place is beautiful. I'd like a change of air though.

Sorry guys for the OT!

I love Verona - and I've been ot Soave too, including the castello. Gorgeous place...ok, enough OT... I'll send you a PM !!!

I finally organized my classical ipod pieces. My kids had taken over my I-tunes.. and boy did they mess up my carefully organized selections. oh well - they are great kids and worth the aggravation. I can now enter my ipod, find the 1955 edition of Gould's Goldberg Variations and find the first one in under 20 seconds. I don't know why they aren't called the Gouldberg variations.

I also organized by piano scores by name... alphabetically by composer. I feel like a musical secretary.

(emphasis added)

Actually it may be the perfect time...when you feel that frustration level rise.....to stop practicing, or at least stop practicing in the exact same way. I can't tell you how much time I've wasted in the last three years doing "just a few more repetitions and I'll get it" after something has begun to frustrate me. Most often all the extra reps did was to bake in whatever mistake I kept making, which meant it took even longer later on to work out the problem.

For your current problem with moving the hands you might try this:

Identify exactly which note is the first one you have to look away on.

Now back up no more than a measure before that and play only up to that one note, do NOT go past it even one more note. Do this until you can do it five times without error, then try doing it with just a quick peek or no look at all...still ending on that one note.

Now play the ending note and a few notes after it. After that is comfortable go back and try to do it like the first step except with the added few notes.

Do all of this slow, slower and reallllllly sloooowwwwww, till it feels like second nature.

edit: to add that you should allow yourself to sleep on it before you evaluate whether or not what you have tried has worked. Your brain needs sleep-time to assimilate these new skills.

Achievement - made a complete fool out of myself in MaryAnn's thread. Seriously the best thing i did today is that I took Cheryl's advice and just practiced my pieces before I work on technique. I got a lot done within an hour ... I think I can surprise my teacher this week with my Brahms piece. Bach - I am reading the f minor fugue from wtc book ii. Fun. One reason why I like this f minor P&F is it reminds me of concerto grosso in the period. I hear strings and lute.. Anyway I'm peachy happy. I will do Phillip's exercise after I walk doggies and feed doggies + husband.

I liked your suggestions for Musette, FarmGirl. And I will return to the piece one day (if my left wrist ever improves).

MaryAnn, you are so kind. But you don't need to do that. There are a lot of pieces you can use similar technique AND won't strain your wrist.

The trick is to find a natural cadence and lift (breathe, as well). Otherwise we all feel like an endless energy bunny when we play Bach. Hold the whole note value before the jump is important too. I try to remind it to myself all the time as well.

Not much of an AOTW, but we got our ancient upright tuned, so I can play on that as well as the digital that I normally practice on late at night.

I'm trying to decide what to start in on next... I'm thinking either Chopin's prelude in Em, or the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata. Thoughts welcome... both are probably (surely?) a stretch for me, but I'd like to play something I really like and I'm willing to be patient. Perhaps deciding on that will be my next AOTW.

The Em prelude isn't technically difficult but musically it can be tough to bring out the repeated chords correctly. There are just about three measures that you need to really work on technically where there are some leaps in the left hand and a two against three pattern. I found it difficult to memorize but simple to read - your mileage may differ on that.

I've read through the first movement of the Moonlight a couple of times. I suspect it would be tougher and it's certainly a lot longer.

bessel,

Andy is right. The Em prelude is quite a bit easier than Moonlight 1. How about the B minor prelude, that's just a hair tougher than the E minor or about the same depending who you talk to.

How about chopin's A minor waltz .. Forgot the opus num.
but it starts out E A B C C D E F. .. It's sweet, lovely, approacheable and every bit Chopin. Apologies for misspelling I'm on iPhone and it's not easy to type.

Andy, JimF, and FarmGirl - thanks for the thoughts and suggestions! I listened to the Bm prelude - really like it. The waltz is nice, but I think something in a more somber mood fits me better right now. Perhaps I'll try that one in the spring?

Casinitaly, JimF, Maryann (hope I've not missed anyone), Thanks for the advice the other day, I tried the techniques that were suggested and things are looking much better now. It no longer seems difficult at all now that I've worked on it further and have had a few nights of sleep to let my brain assimilate the new skills. I love when that happens - something that seemed impossible no longer seems like an issue. I need to remember this next time I run out of patience!

What a great thing to discover! And the more you play, the more you're going to find this happening. After a few successes like this, the next time you get stuck on something, you'll know that even though it takes some time, you're going to eventually be able to work through it. It helps so much to reduce the frustration of not being able to do something when you can tell yourself that it's not a permanent condition.

Well done MaryBee!

I've been wanting to get into composition, so I've been studying music theory on my own like crazy lately.

A full notebook of notes and a few weeks later, and everything's starting to make sense. Circle of 5ths, chord structure, scales and keys, etc. It's all just starting to really click.

Now I don't know anything past, what I guess is, the basics. Advanced melody/harmony stuff, counterpoint, etc. All in due time though

Brilliant dbush! I am studying chords too- like Jermaine Griggs' online materials- they are very helpful.
Are you reading music too?

Reading it, listening to it, studying it, just about everything really

I always get flak from my buddies. I listen to everything on Spotify, so everyone can see what my most played are. That list mostly includes David Nevue, Ludovico, and Yiruma right now. None of my buddies ever really saw me as someone who'd listen to piano pieces, especially as much as I do right now =p

I'm afraid if I might have to go to UK for a week or so. I do not like Business travel any more. I have to look for a piano to practice in London and Brighton. Potentially Jersey too. I'm wining.