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Welcome to the AOTW thread squiggyflop. There are no lame achievements here. Many of us were right where you are just a short time ago, including starting out on a cheapo keyboard. Keep up the good work.

Jim

I participated in my teacher's studio recital today. It went great. No memory slips at all . Some finger slips but I didn't dwell on them and I cannot even remember where they occurred.

My teacher's embarrassing exercises in making up images/stories to go with the pieces seem to have payed off in some way. I still don't think that such a "visual" method is best for me; the best piece was where I could feel myself dancing, not conjure up pictures. And I had plenty of more "explicit" thoughts about dynamics and pedaling and phrasing, and I don't think that did me any harm. But those images were a great way to occupy the mind "as much as possible" and not give it any leisure to form destructive thoughts.

Congratulations Syboor. I'm sure someone here in can point you to the little piano that you can now put in your sig line. I'm going to have to look into this techinique for next year's recital.


I just returned from my lesson where I played the Chopin and the Bach preludes. Although there were a few slips, both went well. I'm feeling particularly good because she actually called my tones 'beautiful'. I've worked very hard on every single note of the Chopin, so that really feels like it paid off. Moreover I feel like I learned so much from this piece, particularly about pedaling (left and right) and chord voicing. I was actually a little sorry when she said she didn't need to hear either one any more - I may keep working on the Chopin a bit anyway, as I'm going on a cruise later this summer and would like to have something to play if I happen to stumble upon a piano.

For the moment I have one of these glued to my face.

AOTW playing a twelve bar pattern in F with three note left hand AND using F7 2nd inversion, Bb7 2nd inversion and C7 root. Must have played the same 12 bars for about half an hour last night and the inversions ALMOST beginning to feel natural.

Nice, I still need to work on chord inversions while sight reading.

First of all I want to say that finding a really good teacher has had me excited every week, but, more to the point he's had me working on Burgmullers Arabesque which isn't a piece that I would say I like, but it has been fun to learn and play; Anyway, I played it well enough today that it passed inspection. It still needs a little more polish but I get to learn something new, and the piece that he assigned me was Chopin!!! Op.28 Prelude #4 a piece I know and like! so happy!.
On the other side of the excited spectrum, my teacher is heading for Prague all of next month to work on some 30 min long piece by Liszt, he's excited but i'm a little bummed.
Guess I will just have to surprise him with this little prelude when he returns.

Dave T

I came back from a two-week vacation on Sunday. Sat down at my piano and tried to play the Chopin and Debussy pieces that I had been working on (and that had been in pretty good shape) before I left. Yikes! How many wrong notes can you play and still have the piece be recognizable? But the exciting thing was, even with all those wrong notes, I felt, after months of trying to understand how to do this, that I was finally playing musically. It felt almost as if I was listening to and watching someone else play this beautiful music. What a strange and wonderful feeling that was!

Funny thing is, my teacher has been telling me to do this for a while -- just play expressively without worrying about the wrong notes, but I was never able to do it before. Can't wait to tell him about it!

Now I have to get back to work on relearning the notes I've forgotten.

Playing musically is the best way to enjoy the instrument. Tomorrow, the wrong notes will become right notes, for sure.

[quote=Recaredo]Playing musically ...[/quote

I'm not entirely sure I know what people mean by 'musically' in this context?

Yes I had this happen to me yesterday. After about, I don't know, 20 hours working on Penny Lane (with left hand bass part)and getting it to a good standard about a week ago, I sat down to play it yesterday ... plinkety, plink. But AOTW, I found myself, from memory and by ear able to work out a simple version of "It's all in the game" a song I have liked since very young.

After almost no time at the bench during the month of May, I had an excellent month of June. I began jotting down the dates on my current score - when I started and when I finished - and realized that I covered 3 sections this month to bring me to about 85% completion. When I say "finished" I meant learning the notes, the fingering, and memorizing. I can play most of the piece at 50 to 75% tempo so now I'm just about ready to "put everything together" for July.

Anyway, great month! I practiced my butt off.

My butt is still on - haven't been practicing so intensely lately - too much maintenance work on my "country estate" and too many golf courses in the area (shot a 77 last time out!)

But, I did manage to finish work on a Minuet (in C) by Haydn and get a decent recording of it - now starting work on a Dan Coates arrangement of the beautiful Cole Porter song "So In Love" (from the Broadway musical "Kiss Me, Kate").

Trap

Well, everyone has been busy little bees, haven't they?

Syboor - complimenti on your recital! Isn't it exciting to perform live (ok, terifying, too, I agree )

Jim FI love it when my teacher tells me I'm doing something well, so I understand that moment of bliss you had during your lesson! I am encouraged that you're making progress with the pedal. Congrats on both points to you !
I personally am NOT making progress on this front, so need some inspiration - thanks!

CaptainKawai It is marvellous when something you've been struggling with starts to feel smooth, and you feel that all the hours of hard work are starting to pay off. It sort of makes you wonder what was so hard about it in the first place, (sometimes) doesn't it?

DMT339 If you are working from the Burgmuller book of 25 progressive pieces (Op100 I think) there are several pieces that are really charming.
I personally like Limpid Stream and Innocence (I also prefer the titles in Italian - Limpido Ruscello, Candore)
Congrats on having the Chopin to work on . I have yet to be assigned any of his pieces. .....I can dream.....

MaryBee What an interesting milestone. I think you must have crossed some physical awareness (or maybe moved on to some level of UNawaremess ) - I agree that sometimes it isn't about getting all the notes right (of course that's nice too, and eventually we aim to get most of them right )

Recaredo - you always have something kind and supportive to say. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your adventures and successes.

Cebukid...and more satisfaction - may I ask what your current piece is?

Trapper JohnGlad your butt is still in the right place I LOVE Haydn - will we be hearing your piece at the recital?


and me, my turn..My Beethoven Sonatina saga continues My teacher told me I have been studying very well and she can see my focus has improved. I can feel that too - it is really quite an interesting sensation of mental absorption. I thought I'd been focused before, but now I realize how many distractions I've been allowing to filter in - and I see that I probably have even more potential for deeper concentration and focus. That's a pretty exciting sensation to have.

I can play all the first page of my Sonatina - not up to speed yet, but getting there - and I have started on the Rondo. Several months back, I distinctly remember having enormous difficulties with getting my left hand to do a 1-2-3 waltz beat while the right was doing something else ..... today I finally got the swing of it.

My husband hums the Rondo while he putters about in the kitchen... I love it.

cas, what's your key for concentrating and focusing more? I've tried to focus and concentrate better also, but really have no mental "key" - I just basically tell myself to try harder and "stop making mistakes." lol

Husband humming the Rondo...hahaha. Our loved ones know all of our piano pieces - that's the price to be paid...and I am working on "The Chrysanthemum". Here's a preview of it I(an instrumental version).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDAEKyzQuHw

Cebukid, the Chrysanthemum is delightful! I have a book that has about 10 Joplin pieces in it, among others, but they are way above my level. I love listening to them though.

A key for focus and concentrating.....
I don't know that I have a key. What I can say is that saying the names of the notes, outloud with HS while playing slowly, and then doing repetitions HT and saying the notes of one hand then the other in alternate reps seems to help.
I think in part the change I feel is due to a combination of factors.
1. hitting a new level of "I know where the keys are" confidence.
2. working with combinations of looking at the score, looking at my hands, practicing to look at hands only when necessary. (My teacher isn't strict about what I do, but tries to get me to do what is sensible and necessary - to find the right balance of looking and not looking).
3. really and truly slowing down and playing eighth notes as if they were quarter notes, focusing on the physical sensation of the right fingers going down in the right order and right combination.

I did some relaxation therapy years ago, where one of the activities was to tense muscles and then relax them - focusing on different muscle groups. I think that probably is helping me now.

Overall I think the change is just a bit of a "growth spurt" after a plateau - certain things are clicking and falling into place.

Congratulations Casinitaly, for your good feeling on the Beethoven's Sonatina. It's a beatiful piece. Maybe Beethoven composed this piece for us, Adult Beginners, so we can to get the pleasure to playing the music of Bonn's genius .


I'm still learning the Fantasia No. 2 by Telemann. It is being really hard for me. Now I can play the first twenty four bars; this is the half of the piece, more or less. But the piece is so amazing, that it deserves all my efforts.

Regards.

Thanks Recaredo I think you could be right about Beethoven composing for us, and surely, everyone deserves to be able to play a little Beethoven?

I looked for your piece on youtube - I know nothing of Telemann - but I love the Baroque period. I have so much to learn! How did I miss hearing about this composer ?
Music from this period is very challenging - even the simplest pieces are delightfully complicated. I do hope you'll post a recording when you are ready - or maybe you'll play it in one of the recitals?

(Next recital is only 6 weeks away!!!! ack!!!!)

Maybe you will and maybe you won't (not that I want to be too devious about this ) - there's a fairly good chance if only by default since I haven't been working on much else and those Recitals tend to sneak up on us before we know it

I'm a big fan of Haydn too - he's highly neglected and largely underplayed - and he's the "Father of Classical Music" after all!

Trap

Trapper, you're now officially my new hero here. Great at golf and piano - my 2 favorite things on the planet. You are living my dream.