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I just have to post to see my birthday cake!

There are all sorts of accomplishments. Stravinsky Five Fingers is rolling along (My teacher's comment, "Wow"); I started the last one in the set. I got up to In the Hall of the Mt. King in Alfred 3 and that's pretty fun.

We are set up to have our living room floor redone and the kitchen finished by the end of the year, if all goes well. A couple weeks ago, Brewer made a call to Rick Baldassin (google him if you are curious)...more on that front later, after the floors of course.

Malkin, Happy birthday!

I don't have big achievement to post. Doing not so badly. Not a piano but with my piano I tuned my violin by myself today. I used to think I was a tone deaf since I could only get B in college theory class (with ear training) years ago when I was minoring in music. It was a theory class for a music major. i just wanted to learn theory. I was completely unprepared. I still remember the shock when I was told to write down what was played, identify various 7th chord, complex rhythmic patterns. I never knew theory class come with ear training. Now, to my surprise, I can tell violin is sharp or flat, and if it is, how much it is off, i.e., half step, a whole step, etc. I exclaimed to my husband, " honey, this is frigging amazing. a miracle has happened not I can hear". Practice wise, I am diligently playing my mozart. teacher told me to play nothing but mozart till our recital. but you know me. I had to play chopin and schubert. It may sound weird but for me, this mazurka is much more enjoyable than grieg's puck. good practicing everyone.

FarmGirl, what an achievement with violin! I AM tone deaf, sort of. During the recital in June there were several violinists, and my husband could tell when one was out of pitch (this is way down, this is ok and so on); I just had a "this I do not like" feeling.
Ear training is definitely one thing I need, but since I don't have much time to devote to music, I always chose to go to piano bench. I even downloaded a very nice app for ear training, but it sees no use...

Back to AOTW: none, for me. Yesterday I had my second lesson, at home. I butchered my pieces, even the Bach's Polonaise that I love and that I play always well (for my standards ) . The fact that my children and a friend of them were at home did not help, the same fot the fact that I had the bread in the oven and that we were really late for dinner... My mistake, of course, and a good lesson fot the future, also: I need to create a relaxed environment for my lessons!!

Greetings all,
A whirlwind week at work with classes and reports due. Also submitted a portfolio for promotion to professor (it's a long process...we'll see). We're leaving this morning after my mammogram (wish me luck) to go to Rapid City South Dakota for a dog show with our beautiful Mystique. Just hoping weather doesn't get us in the process. Unfortunately that means no piano because we're not driving the RV up (we have a keyboard in it). Maybe I need a break anyway.

Learning five pages of the first movement of Beethoven 14#1 (took out some of the middle pages to save for later). My teacher wants me to play it in November. Are you KIDDING me? I don't usually learn them that fast but I'm working small chunks and they are getting better. She thinks I can do it. LOL.

We had our midterm in the Music Theory class. FarmGirl, like you I'm amazed at everything we're covering. Ear training, rhythm (one-a-trip-a-let-a in all it's possible versions in 6/8 time) solfege (I can't get the up and down to come out right), musical dictation, rhythmic dictation is the worst for me. We practice as a group and are tested individually. That's just the lab part. In lecture we're whizzing through 7th chords and now composition. My two 8 measure compositions will not likely inspire anyone but I think they met basic counterpoint rules. On the midterm I'm hoping I finally figured out how to make diminished chords and make sure the leading tone is in the minor. On a positive note, I think I know all 15 key signatures now.

It's 3:30 and I need to get in an hour of practice before we're on the road. Have a great Thursday.

Karen my friend
Good luck with your mammo. I'm wishing you a long happy life. In my mind I picture you getting promoted and filled with hours sweating on the piano, mildly tortured by theories, busy with work, taking care of dogs, friends and hubby. I hope the only complaint you have in life is that you are too busy.

Malkin, sorry I missed your bd!!!! Hope it was a great day.
Do you like the Stravinsky? I have it in one of my books but haven't tried it yet.

Farmgirl - I read you were going to the opera, but on my phone it is hard to read and I missed it was Pinafore!!!! I am so jealous! I love G&S


Torquenale - ear training comes naturally, the more you read and play --- at least that's my opinion!! and a peaceful lesson environment is a must! Good luck on getting that next time.


Wisebuff: Sounds like the Beethoven is a very satisfying challenge!!
Sending big prayers over to you that your mammogram is clear!!!!!

Happy belated birthday Malkin!

Wisebuff - Good luck with your Mystique at the dog show! I know the pressure of having a piece that the teacher thinks you can play in recital that you are not done with yet. You can do it! At least, that is what I keep saying myself!

Hope you had a nice birthday, Malkin.

Better late than never....

My big AOTW... I actually played a piece with both hands at my lesson. It still wasn't the greatest. I did have spots where I had to hesitate/stop, get my orientation and focus back on the music. But I actually did it in that music store's practice room. My teacher was very happy with me. Said all I have to do is speed it up now. Just practice it more. Like I told her at the start of the lesson and she agreed at the end: I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of playing both hands.

Achievement of the week for me: first two sections of Rondo Alla Turca with focus on musicality.
Up to now I've been 100% focused on getting the notes right, yesterday I put all my attention on the musicality - really getting the slurs, staccatos, accents, ornaments, dynamics.
This really shouldn't have come as a surprise to me, but guess what, the difference was huge! It sounded great!
OK, not actually great when judged objectively - I still made mistakes, and hesitations, and a I'm long way off the tempo a professional would play it. But I was very happy indeed and felt validated in my choice to take on this piece which is a real challenge for me.

Yay!

FINISHED THE BOOK!

New book is hard though. An distracting myself from its difficulty by studying the information in the front of it in an attempt to convince myself I've tried enough.

Because I am currently without a teacher I have not recorded myself too much. I finally have all of Come back to Sorrento under both hands although not polished, and not to my satisfaction - hence the recording.

Anyway... I am not able to accurately assess my progress and/or errors by just my playing a piece. I have identified a couple of problems and their cause. I wrote these down and will concentrate on them exclusively in practice for now. AFA my AOTW, I can't express how pleased I am with my progress on this as it's been in the works for months. To play it as written is more difficult than it first appears. Also not able to find Alfred's Adult Basic Level#3 version on you tube that is played as written either.

I understand there are some folks that can do this assessment while they play, unfortunately, I myself cannot. I'm back to recording daily again

My other pieces are progressing nicely too. YAY!

Sounds like you are doing well! I am now working through pianoforall course. I am very pleased with it so far.I hope I will have some achievements to post about over the next few weeks.

Welcome to the thread barbaram.

Good for you Toastie. I don't know how your books compare to others.

rnaple, it has been a long road to two hands. I can tell you a story. I recently went back to working on Ashokan Farewell which was the second piece I learned. My left hand was not doing so well, so I tried to do the right hand parts alone. I found it difficult, actually more difficult than playing hands together for this well memorized piece.

Ragdoll, recording is a big help to me, though sometimes is humbling.

EdwardianPiano, hopefully the new course is something that works for you.

Week 84: Highlight of the week is a concert featuring Trio Celeste, a piano, a cello and violin. They perform Dvorak, Piazzolla and Beethoven. The violinist has a Stradivarius on a three-year loan from Canada. The instrument was part of a prize package for doing well in a competition. I imagine that some violinists get much more excited over their instruments than pianists because the most sought after ones are so old and so expensive. My niece had a violin that was over a hundred years old when she was in high school orchestra. Old pianos tend to break down after time, often they need to be completely redone, so it is not the same instrument.

I make progress on writing my new piece, though the working title of Tracks in the Snow is not fitting so well now. Writing new music is what tends to drive me.

/edit to add: there is cake? Oh, happy birthday week Malkin! Cheers.

Thank you, Sand Tiger. Compared to others my books are easy, but compared to my ability they are hard!

Of course there is cake! And champagne!
Around here birthdays last until whatever happens next, so yes, it is still my birthday! Especially since this is a big one (ending in 5 with both digits matching)!

My teacher is encouraging me to record the Stravinsky pieces. I'm not quite ready, but the other hangup is that I haven't seen our video camera since we moved 2 years ago. I have really learned a lot from them; the degree of difficulty/challenge has been good for me, but I certainly understand that they might not have universal appeal. Kind of a good balance for the predictability of Alfred 3.

Hi Toastie!

I'm not familiar with the method books you are using, but I love the title.
It sounds like an imperative:
Play Piano (NOW)!
or maybe
Play Piano OR ELSE!

Yes it does seem rather commanding - there is also an exclamation mark to add to the urgency.

Play Piano!

A belated happy birthday to you

Happy Birthday Malkin! I just played a bit of Fur Elise from Steve's first tutorial and used the pedal as well- so please about that. And did some chords from pianoforall. That was funny- was the oompah ooompah thing from Octopuse's Garden!