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Saranoya - thanks --- And thank you for the explanation of the school system in Belgium. I found some paralells to how music is studied here in Italy - but your country's system is really quite something -in a wonderful way!

Keystring - I don't think any of us find these posts boring - we delight in small steps forward and hearing the satisfaction and joy expressed by the posters! Congrats on getting rid of that tension!

Earlofmar - I agree, getting that blues progression down is a thrill.

Andy - I don't have an hour right now to watch the video, I 'll give it a try later. I am envious of your freshly tuned piano and hope to get my tech-tuner over very soon!

Rmaple - I don't think anyone should feel obliged to reply to all the posts. I do it because I got in the habit right off the bat --- I started the thread and felt it was simply good manners to reply to those who posted to me! And it just grew from there.
I say reply to things that realy stike a chord (pun fully intended)with you, that you can relate to, when and as you can. No one thinks you're inconsiderate.

MaryBee -it's been ages since we've seen you here! Welcome back. It sounds as though you've been working hard! Fluidity is one thing --- fast and fluid -that's a double challenge! Will we hear your piece in the recital?

Eglantine - you have a freshly tuned instrument too! Ah, the green eyed-monster raises its head again! I think getting over a psychological barrier is as hard as reaching a goal of coordination! Have fun with your Fantasy, now that you know it isn't as scary as you thought!

SwissMS - congrats on the pass! -- Dreaming in polyrhythms? A true reflection of how hard you've been focusing !

Lesson tomorrow - I haven't practiced as much as I would have liked - I'm super busy with work (which I love, but darn, it does take away from piano time).
The important thing is that I have fixed 2 things my teacher wanted me to work on, so.. that's good.

Well my lesson wasn't a shambles. I "fessed up" on the lack of practice time, but showed my teacher what I'd been focusing on. He pointed out a few other weak spots and offered some specific solutions, also gave me some pointers on being more prepared for notes to come.

I was having trouble with figuring out the fingering for one of the very last 4 note chords in my Schumann piece (A, B, D#, F#) and he showed me that I could use my thumb to hold BOTH the A&B at the same time. Tricky!

We were also looking at other Schumann pieces in my book and there is one called Sicilienne which I said looked "scary" -and he showed me it wasn't and even penciled in some fingering notes on it.."just in case" I decided to start working on it.

I've also booked the tuner to come on 30 April -- and 1 May is a holiday here, so that's when I plan to record my recital piece !

I have found myself doing what I have told others was not a good thing. I catch myself wanting to play the Canon from the beginning and fumble into the 16ths. Sooo I will work on nothing except measures 51-54 until I can play this particular passage of 16ths. I wont start practice from the first measure AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!

I guess my determined resolve on this is my only AOTW.

There are about 10 of them I think! I've watched a couple of them - wonderfully informative though the mannerisms of David Kadouch, when playing, almost made me turn it off!

Oh, and never trust your teacher to show you a piece isn't scary!

This week I have a nice AOTW: I played the duet with one of my sons at tempo and smoothly (this the easiest one). The other one is ok but only at slow tempo, now I have to work on this one with my elder son...

Casinitaly, I studied the Sicilienne last year: not really scary for the notes, but I never rendered it musically (I find Schumann always difficult). Nice piece, though!

Andy - Another thank you for the Barenboim links. I'm saving it for when I get a chance to view on the big screen at home.

Ragdoll - That is a great AOTW. Isn't it amazing how hard we find it to have that discipline to just laser in on one little thing? Even when I do focus on the shakiest measure or two, invariably I then continue on for a few more measures or even to the end... all the while knowing I'm supposed to just stop, rinse, repeat. And when you do practice properly, it seems to take no time at all. Just do it right five times or so, and then stop.

Cheryl and Torquenale - I always seem to struggle with Schumann too - the required fingering usually feels strange for some reason. I remember Burgmueller being the opposite, the fingering somehow mostly felt natural to me.


Today I had a really good lesson, which hasn't happened that often lately. I spent last week mostly playing the Chopin piece left hand only while singing the right hand melody. That really did wonders for solidifying it once I put it hands together. Also played the Scarlatti HS all week as I normally would in my first week with a baroque piece. At the lesson though I was able to play it HT on the first try...not perfect, but actually pretty decent. To top it off she had me do a song out of the fake book and I got to all the chord changes RH with melody on top...not up to performance speed, but fast enough to maintain the flow of the song (it was Moonlight in Vermont, which I had tried for the first time this morning). Yep, chuffed.

Jim! What a delightful mix of genres you're playing - and having a good lesson with that blend - most satisfying! And getting the swing of Moonlight in Vermont?! Great stuff -- you should be chuffed!

I figure it is about time someone gave YOU a pic!



Torquenale - sounds like you had fun working on the duets! I bet your boys did too! I've been listening to the Sicilienne.... I think I'm going to take it on next !


--- lol....well, so far my teacher hasn't lead me astray.... I think I'll trust him on this one, but I'll stay alert... you never know when he might pull a fast one!

Ragdoll --- love your determination! I'm sure it will pay off! Keep us posted!

and on that note....

buona notte a tutti!

It's nice to be back. Yes, it is challenging! So much so, that this piece is probably not going to be ready until the August recital. For the upcoming one, I'm thinking of going with another movement from the Mozart sonata I've been learning.

It's tough, isn't it? I've sometimes resorted to sticking large post-it notes just before and after the measures I have to work on, leaving only that small section visible. (Kind of like the surgical drapes? ) Since I don't usually memorize my pieces, that makes it impossible for me to "cheat".

I have been coming here and reading this thread for a few weeks now, but I haven't ever commented. I find you all inspiring however I thought I would join in the discussion and try to keep up from now on.

So my achievement of the week is that I learned how to memorize my pieces. And I am thrilled! And I have a newfound excitement for my piano adventures.

I posted about it in another thread, but I wanted to join in this conversation too and I used this new (to me) method today again on another piece and it helped me tremendously again, so I think it's truly a good thing.

I do the post-its too. It is a big reminder about which section to practice (the one I can't play rather than the one I like playing!).

Heather--Your new memorization skill is so cool!

Usually it's not too bad for me except this particular piece. It is just so nice and relaxing to play that I tend to do this. I'll try that suggestion of 5 times and quit, then play up to the tricky bits. Thanks.

Oh, I love Moonlight in Vermont. I always think of that movie Baby Boom when I hear it; though in the movie it's a trio not piano. A great slow dance song.

Thanks SwissMS, it was pretty disgusting and so was I . "She's still in her jammies at 11:00 am?" UGH!

Will do, hope you don't get tired of hearing about it `cause it's gonna be a long haul. First to learn it, then probably months to put some finesse on it.

Thanks Sara, my piano and music are my greatest joy after my kids.

HAHAHAHAHA What a great metaphor! That's also a great idea with the post-its, I'm gonna try that. Thanks MaryBee.

Yeah! I've finished with Czerny's Op.849, 30 New Studies in Technics. I didn't do every exercise (teacher's suggestions) and certainly didn't get any of them to the printed metronome marking ("that's not the point" as my teacher would say multiple times.) My technique has certainly improved during the time (not just from the Czerny but I do find isolated studies very useful.)

Some don't like Czerny but I find his pieces very musical and that's the main thing.

So, now it's "Op.299, The School of Velocity" - you have to love that title! We discussed moving straight to Opus 740 (Art of Finger Dexterity) but I preferred to not rush.

What a great page of achievements...from your contemplation of your hands, Ragdoll, and your fingers BB you share the real images in your inner speech as you experience piano. FarmGirl you admire the young ones but share a personal judgment that you like your own the best. This is what I love about this forum...it's seeing the inside of musical people.

This weekend we spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday engaged with the birth of our puppies. Mystique (German Shepherd Dog) gave birth to four beautiful girls and made it look practically effortless.

Now that is not to say that I neglected my piano. My dear teacher (who hates Mendelssohn but loves me) came to my house and worked for an hour with me on my SWW. Every little measure she found something that I was neglecting and helped me play it better. Now if I could just put it all together. My little finger definitely needs more strength on a piece like this. The beauty of bringing out the top note is my AOTW.

Two great songs, cheechako. It's always good to have fun with this song.

Today I memorized the bass line from Purcell's Ground 3.5 bars, about 28 notes. Nothing at all. But it's all I need in London , as I have repeated then repeats 15 more times.
A bit like Seven Nation Army!!!!!

Practised for the first time today in more than a decade! Was able to play the first page of "River flows in you" by Yiruma by the end of my 1 hr rental session without mistakes. Check out this song on youtube! It's quite simple but sounds really soothing.

Can't wait to finally buy my piano next week!

Nice idea, I'll try it because I usually start when I have to but don't stop at the end of the measures I'm working on...