how uncanny lol, I was thinking about asking you Rossy, I know about having to do 10 post holds, hoping no-one will post inbetween, hence your early mornings (or late nights PROBABILY lol) and all the extra work, and it's RST Copyright pmsl! Would you then? be the host? Please & thnx x

Naturally wayne, no probs thats why I offered! lol. Its the least I can do after ducking out of this one, but I had much outside work that had to be done before winter set in here in Wales, and it was all on a west facing end of a garage that takes the brunt of the prevailing winds off the coast!!

There it is then folks, well done Wayne for (dare I say it) "stimulating" folk allong till the full compliment was reached!!

So off you go folks and practice long and hard, and should you have "moments" then just think of poor me outside in the rain and windy, I would much rather be struggling in the warm and dry on the piano!!!

May all your practice sessions be productive and full of fun, and when you are done Pm me your Youtube link with a few of your thoughts.....
Any probs technically, like recording or uploading, just give me or wayne a shout ( see how I included you back wayne! lol) and we will endeavour to help as much as possible.

Any notation help or fingering probs or phrasing issues, just ask dipsy, believe me if she doesnt know, her dad does.... my musical nemesis!!!

My husband just told me he has one of those little Flip video cameras, so I'm less stressed now

Excellent, okay then it looks like it is "all systems go"
Happy practicing everyone.

Oh, wayne, If you pm me your addy, I will send a food parcel, thought you may need it when you get sacked from your job, after turning up dead tired because of all the gnos7 practice!! (joke)

It may be the only thing more taxing than this government. ( not joke)

pmsl

How's everyone doing?

I was still struggling through with the notes on page 1 and 2 and it recently dawned on me that I should try playing one hand at a time. Well! I should have done that right off the bat! I have most of the fingering down in both hands now, most of my hand changes figured out. Now I just have to practice it smoothly and add my hands together again, then on to pages 3 and 4!

I finally feel like I may have a slim chance of being able to put this together for November....

I'm okay with the notes for mine, but I always struggle with knowing what to do to make Satie sound more interesting. It sounds a bit boring to me at times, but I guess repetition and minimalism are the hallmarks of his compositional style.

You'll get there Becca,

Ladychen, just play it how you think it sounds best, make it yours!

I'm working on the dynamics now, but I've been a bit short of time lately, but we still got a month or so left. These recitals are ace!

Becca you're so brave to do this, Satie looks easy but I'm quite sure it isn't.
I'm not even sure I'll have a simple piece ready for the ABF November recital.

I'll be getting back to my piece in the next few days. It was going pretty well until I had to put more time on my publication. That will soon be done and I'll have time to focus my attention back on the piece.

Lady Chen, i understand what youre talking about with regards to repetitiveness. I'm enjoying exploring his style. My teacher was very supportive of me taking this on. It's a nice contrast to a far more difficult French impressionist piece I'm studying. While I'm comfortable with the notes in Satie's piece, there are a few fractures I'll focus on this weekend while I work on the dynamics and voicing.

Becca, hang in there. You're definitely on the right track now. Separating the hands is often forgotten. Also, I know a bigger challenge for me is to slow way down. That was particularly hard for me with the Gymnopedie because it is already real slow . However, I must admit it is worth it to slow it down even a bit more.

I'm not sure about the memorization. I'll see how things go after I get more time with it this weekend.

Well I must be off to work. The publication is almost done. I'll check in later.

Thanks everyone!

Glad to know I'm on the right track. There are moments that are complete despair and the next minute it's like a light bulb goes off! LOL Slow isn't the word for my pace, hehe. I have no choice but to go at a turtle pace since everything in the score is brand new to me.

The repetition is a lifesaver for me. I doubt I'd be able to learn this in such a short time if it didn't repeat itself!

I'm not going to worry about memorizing this at all. I'd rather focus on making this sound like music. I'm planning on having the score up for my performance (I figure it's allowed for someone doing level 1 work!) If I happen to memorize it along the way, bonus.

Keep up the good work everyone! I'm excited to hear what you all will learn and interpret!

Sinophillia: thank you! Sometimes I think it's stupidity on my part, lol, but it's lots of fun and I know I'm learning a ton by trying this. I don't think it's easy but it's way ahead of my level so I have no real idea of how hard a piece this is considered. Hopefully you will join us in a future Themed Recital yourself!

I think I’m improving little by little on my Gnossienne, but I still make random mistakes. I hate this kind of faults, surely because of they come from a lack of concentration.

I'm sort of done with my Gnossienne, I've already made a video and sent it to Rossy. I'm thrilled as well as worried about my Mendelssohn piece too much! That's why I was in a real hurry to finish Gnossienne so that I can manage to "decode" the sheet of op. 85-4 within finite time

I'm so lame at reading sheet music! I always try to memorize the piece as quickly as I can, so that I'd never have to look at the sheet again.

Best wishes to all of you for this and the BIG recital. I can hardly wait to enjoy all of your performances.

Wow your done already Rupak? I'm so jealous. I think we need to trade skills or meet halfway in the middle! That way both of us could choose whether to read or memorize! Congrats on finishing! Can't wait to hear it.


I feel your pain Recardo! I do that on pieces I've almost got down pat and it drives me nuts. I think your right too... our minds just wander away! LOL

Thanks Becca! My brain probably get disappointed when I stare at the sheet for long, so it opens the door of my memory, piles up the notes there and locks them up
Trading skill is a good idea, but I think it'll be even better if we pirate our skills, so that whatever skill we have remains intact and we can copy each others' skill, LMAO

Recaredo, I think you're also almost there. I often make random mistakes too, my fingers slip here and there. If this kind of problems don't go away I start recording my performances. That way my nerves get stronger and my mind remains focused either on the performance or on the red dot But at least it can't wander away, so it ultimately helps

So... when we are done then what? I finished this morning and I'm going to be putting together my video soon. But where do I send it?

I'll PM you Peyton,

aww man.. am I supposed to memorize this thing too? Is everyone else playing from memory?

I did only because I played it so much I just ended up memorizing it. But I don't see why you should have to.

Lady Chen, I do not have time to memorize mine. I am definitely going to use sheet music while I perform my piece. I know your piece is more difficult than mine. You will not be alone!

+1
LadyChen, there are absolutely no rules or bindings on anybody's performance! We want to enjoy each others' OWN performances in our VERY OWN STYLE. Whatever suits you, you must follow that.

Phew .. thanks for that. I'm very much learning this 'off the side of my desk.. er, piano'.

I am looking forward, Rupak

I’ve followed Rupak’s advice, and I’ve been recording my practices this evening. The thing has gone better, and even I got a recording that is not too bad, I think.

My first recording today, not good lol oh well, 3weeks to go

Finally, I'm going to get some decent time in today to practice. Now that my publication is done, I should have more time to focus my attention on my piece. I'll check in later to let you know how things go.

Oh god! Three weeks! *feels panicky*

Okay looks like other than warm-ups, my practice is going to be solely this piece for the next few weeks! UGHHHHHH

Wow Becca, you're playing Gymnopédie no. 3? That's my favorite one . I look forward to hearin' it

Well, I’m done and sent the video link to Rossy.

I’m looking forward to listening to your performances, my mates!

Congratulations! You're way ahead of me Recaredo, though I feel like I have made some good progress today. I can see that my biggest challenge will be the dynamics. Yikes!