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LESS THAN 24 HOURS TO GO........

Looking forward to the pictures!

Teodor, I have to be really careful about the relaxing too - I'm starting to get a lot better at it! - Do be careful not to overstress. Remember, you aren't "whining" about it - you're learning to play properly so you don't do long term damage!
I wish I could play something more challenging, but the reality is (aside from still being careful about the hands) my skills just aren't moving along very much at the moment. I'm improving technique, which is great - but my memory and coordination still need some help! lol.

Groucho - that's really impressive - will you let us hear your piece?

JimF ......... you must be SO EXCITED!!!!!!! Can't wait to see pics!!!!!

We had friends over last night and they were suitably enthusiastic over my piano and listened to me play a few pieces. It was fun. First time I've played "live" for anyone , other than my husband this year.

Hello AOTW
I am back from the business trip to east coast and back to piano as well. The trip was very hectic. I could not touch a piano at all. But it's done and over. My teacher gave me a replacement lesson on Saturday. I practiced my first two hours in the week on Saturday just before the lesson. To my surprise, the lesson went extremely well. I played through the 1st movement of Pathetique sonata from memory first time. well, it was not smooth. At many spots, I had either slowed down or memory issues. But I did remember the correct notes. I ended well since I always practice endings as a warm up. I cannot understand why I played well for the week I did not practice... There may be some deep reason. My teacher was sooo excited and expanded my 1 hour lesson to 2 hours (extra lesson for me). She marked about 15 spots where I have to fine tune. 5 of the 15 spots, she wanted me to use as a daily warm up exercises. It's still not like professinals but I was elated with my good lesson. I am now really energized to make it better.

So, I'm back from my piano tuning holiday.

A small disclaimer: it was a course in tuning for beginners, using Dirk's Piano Tuner. We did discuss tuning by ear for a bit, and practiced tuning to a A4 tuning fork, and tuning unisons and octaves by ear, but we let the software calculate the temperament.

Anyway, I had a great week and learned a lot. We started of with some basic theory of sound, followed by a little hands-on experience in tuning unisons in the middle octaves. For most of us, it took quite a lot of time to find that sweet spot, and getting it reasonably stable.

During the week we revisited that section a couple of times, and instead of 10 minutes per unison, I managed to decrease the time to 1 or 2 minutes.

We ended the week with some more practice tuning the upper treble on the grand. Where in the middle octaves a small nudge on the tuning hammer was enough to get to the final position, here a similar nudge was almost enough to change the pitch to the next note

Besides learning the basics of tuning, we also learned the mechanics of the vertical and grand action, and the basics of regulating, including some practice on action models (both vertical and grand). We also practiced making new strings and putting them in (also on a model).

The achievement of the week is that I worked on my own piano yesterday. Tuned a rogue unison, and lowered the action a bit. The upper treble had hardly any sustain, and after testing with a guitar plectrum, I found that the hammers were striking the strings too high. After lowering the action it started to sing! Without this course, I would never have had the courage to do so, and wouldn't have known what to adjust. Took a bit more work than expected though: not only lowering the action and regulating the capstan screws, but I also had to adjust the silent system.

A second achievement (yes there were more) is that I could easily adjust from an upright that was quite difficult to play to a nicely regulated grand.

The location was also very beautiful. In France, in the Dordogne area, in a very rural area. Weather was great, 20 C in the afternoon, with strong sun. It's a great area if you like chateaus/castles/churches/old villages/etc.

Oudeis, that sounds like a fantastic week!
Absolutely fascinating - and so practical too.

Excellent AOTW!

Welcome back, Farm Girl! Maybe you had "beginner's luck" after being off the piano awhile - Actually, breaks are good sometimes, because they give your brain a chance to consolidate some stuff.

oudeis - what a wonderful vacation! Thanks for all the details - made me salivate And how cool that your piano now sings - sounds like a perfect outcome.

Cathy

Played for about 30 people today in uni. It was spontaneous, I was practicing and they walked in for a lecture, so I decided to play 4-5 pieces for them to see how I handle the stress. Easy, there was no stress. Mostly because I thought only 2 girls walked into the room but when I turned around after I was done the room was full of people :S

So that's what I need to do next time I have a recital. Imagine I'm playing alone and enjoying myself.

Achievement of the week: I can now play through Fur Elise and I can't remember what was hard about the hard parts anymore. It's not up to tempo yet but everything except for 1-2 bars is going smoothly.



Today I really overdid it during practice. I was bashing at those chords ff all the time and that wasn't a good idea... But I was so excited to play that one part of the piece that I couldn't help it. Which is ok, do it once like for a performance but there is absolutely no need to play so hard when practicing a passage 10 times in a roll, not to mention nowhere in the dynamics does it say to play so loud

My hand is ok by now. I ran a couple of miles and it really helped me relax the muscles.

JimF - today's the day, right?

Cathy

Hi everyone. I feel like I've been gone for a long time. I was sick for a week or so, and work was hectic for a while, so I barely had enough energy just to get my daily practice in (and on a couple days, it was only for a few minutes). But I'm feeling good again now, and back to reading the piano forums.

I did something interesting and fun the other day. My teacher suggested that I might tend to listen more closely to my playing if I raised the lid on my piano (an upright), or even removed the front cover. So I tried it; I took the front off my piano, and played it that way for a few days. I remember as a child I use to prop open the front of our big upright and watch the hammers move as I pounded the keys. But I had forgotten how fascinating that was. Doing it again after so long, seeing the hammers move in response to my playing and pedaling, I felt a much stronger physical connection to the instrument that usual.

The other interesting thing about it was that my 6-year-old grandson usually shows very little interest in playing the piano, but with the front open, he spent about 20 minutes the first day and a half hour the second day, playing and watching. That was unexpected!

I started a new piece a few weeks ago -- Clair de Lune. My teacher had me try something different with a tricky section of this. He called it playing "note-by-note". You play the section as slowly as you need to, but you must play the notes with absolutely no mistakes. You repeat this 3-5 times in a row. If you make a mistake, you have to start the repetitions all over again. I didn't think it would help much, but I did it anyway. And surprise! When I went back the next day to play that section, it was fairly easy. Another successful practice technique!

Jim - thinking of you today - and hoping for pics before the sun sets in my part of the world!

Teodor, good for you - that's fun, and a great experience.

Marybee! Welcome back, I was wondering where you'd gone !
I took the front off my piano a few weeks ago (just for a little while during the lesson - it was really interesting to hear how much richer the sound was - as though it had been "unchained" - I can imagine how fascinated your grandson was. My husband also like to look at the "works" in motion.

Great news about your new practice technique. I've tried that too and find that it does indeed make a difference.

Yesterday I played duets with my teacher (prima vista material) and it was great fun. She had a collection of material (I didn't see the name on the cover, I'll have to check what they were called). I did better than usual on some of them, but what the REAL achievement was that when my fingers got confused, I was able to keep my place well, (I sang the notes I wasn't playing lol) and then pick up again fairly quickly. She said I am really good at this (probably because I played in band and I'm good at following what is going on)....She said I understand how to work with another musician. That put a smile on my face!

When we were playing the duets, there were some parts where she had to play notes I had just finished playing and everytime her hand slipped into the space where mine had just been (or still was!) I started to crack up, it just struck me as very funny.

I LOVE playing duets - it makes me feel like I can play a lot better than I really do.

MaryBee,
I use the "note-by-note" practice tip all the time on difficult parts. Sounds like you have a very good teacher. Also Practicing V-E-R-Y S L O W L Y has helped me to be able to play a section perfectly, playing the right notes in the right time.
A few other tips: practice for short periods rather than long sessions. Master 2 measures (or 1 phase) perfectly in 2 minutes rather than playing a whole page and learning nothing. And finally start at the “end” of a piece, the last 2 measures and work backwards. Keep adding one or two more measures until you are at the beginning of the piece.
“Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.Only perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing mistakes will be more likely to make mistakes permanent.”

This sounds like a musician's tongue twister!

Great post Butteman - (I liked the part I didn't quote too!)

Today was a great day! GREAT! I mean AWESOME! First I sight read some really difficult pieces. Then about 20 people showed up for a lecture and I played for them carefree. I had no worries at all, I just enjoyed playing for them! I think I am on the right track by practicing in a public place like that. The more exposure I get to performing, the better I will become one day when I am a good player and I will play with no nerves. If you do something a hundred times it's no longer a problem, right? So no more stage fright.


BTW tomorrow will be an even BETTER day. I'm going to a concert and will hear Mozart's Requiem live!! FINALLY! As well as two of his operas!!!!

Teodor, I feel charged with energy just reading your post.

Good for you - keep it up! and enjoy your Mozart concert!

Thank you. Yeah I mean, I realize I am happy for no big reason but sometimes you can manipulate yourself into being happy if you manage to find value in the little things that happen. I keep really busy these days and I have zero time for feeling down. I spent half a year being depressed because of the tendonitis, so I'm making up for that.

I'm taking a pianist friend with me. Thank god, I remembered to call her, all my other friends bailed on me and I already had tickets for the best seats. At least I know she will appreciate the good music.

Thank you all for thinking of me. Yes! My beautiful new piano has arrived and I am loving it. We removed most of the old living room furniture, so the room doesn't presently have much in it except the piano. I was hoping at least the rug would arrive in time but it is supposedly being delivered later today. I can't resist posting a pic anyway. (hope I did this right) It was taken with my phone so its not very good. Will try to do the piano justice at a later date when the room looks a bit more inviting. The sound is incredible. I'm learning Chopin's B-minor prelude and those beautiful bass arpeggios sound so gorgeous it makes me stop playing so I can just hear them sustain a little longer.

That's awesome Jim! Now update your sig, it has arrived!

JimF - wow. Just wow. It's a beauty, and it's so cool that it sounds good, too.

Teodor - what a great post. Made me smile.

Cathy

Jim - How beautiful! I'm just imagining the sound - it must be wonderful.