Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Achievement of the week - what got you excited?

I'm working on the same piece, but I sure don't sound like that. It's a pretty piece, & not easy. This week my teacher wants me work on emphasizing the LH melody notes and lightening up on the drones (at least I call them drones - the G's that repeat in some of the LH passages.) And on getting LH & RH notes that are supposed to sound together to actually do that. I'm assuming that means that when I play it, they don't. It's challenging. But the fact he's focusing on these things means I'm hitting all the right notes & my timing's OK, if a bit sloppy. Which is an achievement of a sort, I guess.

Ragdoll - I'm glad your finger's getting better. What kind of digital do you have? I got a P-155 just before Christmas & haven't yet figured out how to save a recording, though I've been using the record + play back function a lot - especially to practice getting notes to sound together where they're supposed to. I also have a U-1.

StarrKeys - Congratulations on your successful audition for the performance class. Keep us posted on your progress.

FarmGirl - Great come back on your second studio class. Congrats for the bravos!

Dustin - Welcome back to the world of piano. With the pieces you were playing before, you should come back up to speed in no time!

SandTiger - Congratulations on your new digital piano. Will we hear it in the recital?

Welcome Saranoya. We would love to hear your Moonlight Sonata in the recital too!

CasInItaly - It sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your Jazz piece. I can't wait to hear it!

Ragdoll - I am glad you are able to play again. Have fun trying out your recorder. I have an Zoom H2 and I love it. It is simple enough for even a non-techie like me!

I don't have an AOTW, just steady progress. The nocturne is coming together very nicely now, and my teacher is pleased with my progress on it. We are into the fun, interpretive part now. I still have some work to do to get the ending up to speed, but it is getting better. I love the Arabesque! The polyrhythms are working well, but my teacher wants some HS practice to learn the choreography. The Invention is teaching me a lot about prepositioning. So, everything is coming along slowly!

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I had a Kohler D26 when I was trying to record but didn't have the necessary cords and stuff to do it right nor the knowledge to do so other than with an old cassett recorder

I recently traded it even for a new KORG SP250. Hard to get that Kohler D26 Console in the car when traveling plus it was 3 yrs old and gettin' kinda "clacky".

Thanks for the comments on my thumb, it's better every day. Still a bit awkward on those "thumb under" deals.

Starr - that is quite a momentous undertaking. Congrats on taking such a scary step.

Farmgirl - kudo's for staying focused after a couple of slips. Those audience Bravo's must have felt like Carnegie Hall! How are the 4 against 3's going?

Dustin - Welcome back to piano and welcome to the thread. Sounds like you are going to pick up right where you left off.

Saranoya - Another welcome to the thread. There is nothing better than sitting down to a newly acquired grand. We want pictures! As you can see Moonlight 1st Mvmt. is on my WIP also. Can't wait to hear yours if it goes to the recital or piano bar. Are you working your way through the whole Burgmuller Op. 100?

SandTiger - How exciting to jump into the 82 key swimming pool. You should treat yourself with some piece that uses the whole keyboard.

Ragdoll - Glad to hear you are on the mend. When I heard you cut yourself on a mandolin I really winced, as I know these innocent looking devices can do major damage with just one little slip. I've got a 1 inch scar on the top half of my #2 left finger resulting from an encounter with a standard cleaver while I was.....wait for it....... yes, cutting up beets long ago. LOL. Weird but true.

Carol - Melody is a little finger twister isn't it? Actually whenever I've had any Schuman to work on I've found it always harder than it looked.

SwissMs - Can't wait to hear your nocturne. I'm using the same invention as a special reading exercise and find I look forward to it every morning for 10 minutes or so.

Cheryl - Ooooooo, looking forward to the e-cital and hearing your Sneakin 'Round. Is it the same tune as this one (Phineas Newborn, Jr. on piano)? Ray Bryant also does a version on youtube.
[video:yahoo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLbLKf9GnY[/video]


Wow, sorry for such a long post. No real AOTW for me. This morning the trickiest (for me) three measures of Moonlight-1 came out just as I was trying to play them, voiced as I was trying, and sounding very musical. If I could just get it to do that consistently I'd almost be home on this one.

Hi Jim,
no that's not at all like my Sneakin' Round. Mine is pretty unsophisticated But fun.

Congrats on getting those three tricky measures voiced and musical! I hope we get to hear you playing this - I just love the Moonlight.

Ragdoll, I couldn't resist a trip down memory lane.....

Hi Jim,

Yeah, I am really looking forward to the arrival of the grand. Like I said, I never planned on buying one this early in the journey, but as fate would have it, I apparently did. Now I'm determined to wring every conceivable ounce of enjoyment out of it. And, as promised in a different thread, I will post pictures ASAP.

It seems a lot of people might like to hear my version of the Moonlight Sonata. I will do what I can. Just not sure an iPhone can do a grand piano justice ... and an iPhone is all I have right now, in terms of recording equipment. I may buy a Zoom H1 at some point, but I just bought a washing machine, and a vacuum cleaner, and a boatload of furniture ... and about 60% of the aforementioned grand piano. The Zoom can wait.

Re: working my way through the whole Burgmuller opus 100: yep. That's the idea, anyway.

And just out of curiosity: which three measures do you consider the most difficult ones in the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata? I'm rather curious to know whether they are the same three measures as my 'most difficult three'.

That was cruel Jim, now I'm gonna have to go get a glass of wine to settle me nerves.

Making progress on my recital piece! I've been practising the one hard passage for two weeks now. Should be able to get it in two more. This means I won't be on top of the submissions, but that's less important. There are four bars with fast arpeggios in the left hand and a relatively simple melody in the right. I got the final measure down, just got to get the rest up to speed.

Teacher says I can start working on a Chopin waltz after this is finished. Excited!

I had a couple of public playing experiences this last week. I accompanied the "treble choir" (that's the 5-9 year olds) at church which was a relatively last minute request due to the death of our assistant organist's mother-in-law

(Oh, and don't let organist confuse you - I was definitely playing a lovely 19th century Steinway we have at church!)

It wasn't a terribly difficult piece but it was quite fast. All in all I think I did OK, plenty of clunkers but people listen to the kids not me anyway.


And that evening we had one of our "adult" (high school kids are invited too) informal group performance sessions my piano teacher runs. I played Bach Invention in D minor and the Kuhlau Sonatina and I pretty much nailed both of them. My teacher wrapped up and played the Listz Paganini variations she has been working on - crazy, crazy stuff. Loved it!

Thanks so much Farm Girl, CasInItaly, Jim and SwissMs for your support. Youre right, Jim, it feels like a momentous step since I’ve been confined to playing at home up to now. The great thing about the performance class that motivated me to try for it is, once you get in, you can take it forever – one lady has been taking it for 17 years (ever since the teacher started teaching it). I’m also taking two other classes, one voice. Amazing how this all worked out. I had tried to take college music classes before but something always interfered with my even taking one. Now all of a sudden I’ve got three, when I really need to keep myself occupied.

I look forward to hearing you all play at the ecital. Farmgirl, it will be fun to read about your experiences with your class and see your progress, Jim I always enjoy your performances. Cas it will be nice to see you do jazz, I’m really looking forward to it, and SwissMs hearing you always makes me picture a sublime vista.

Well I had a relatively good lesson today considering the unwieldy R hoof. Teacher passed me on the Vivace and Snowflake Rag and wants me to start on Canon in D in Alfred's #2. I don't really want to do it but I guess I will try. Said I could start on the "Glad Cat Rag" in Faber's 3B if I wanted to do something in addition to Canon in D that wasn't classical. I had hoped we could stay in the Faber Series for awhile but looks like were going to do both concurrently.

While I can appreciate listening to classical piano, it's not something I desire to play very much. Still glad to have passed off the others already.

For me it is meas. 56,57 and 58. Getting the notes, voicing, and dynamics the way I want them (all at the same time, anyway) has been a challenge. It is a very beautiful phrase and really sets up the ending to sound great.

Now you have to tell me your trouble spot.

Ragdoll,

Sorry if the graphic startled you.

I had a good lesson today too. I played the troublesome three measures for my teacher and flubbed it the first time but nailed it the second. And I got compiments on my progress with the Beethoven Minuet and Trio. Lastly, she played three pieces for me and I chose one to learn for the Spring recital in May.
I'm pretty stoked right now.

Judging by the number and the 'angriness' of the various pencil markings on my score, I would say that my teacher and I both agree that the three measures I had the most trouble with were 35, 36 en 37.

But I have to admit that measure 57 took quite a while to sink in, too.

For me, it's not so much a finger-twister - there are a couple of places where the fingering took a lot of repetitions, but I got it eventually. It's more of a brain-twister. There are a few places where you have to use the finger next to the obvious one; the obvious next finger leads straight to a dead-end. So it's remembering which finger to use that's giving me problems. I guess this is partly due to my somewhat deficient reading skills, & I'm working on that, too.

Not really it was just an excuse to have that second glass of red.


I'll bet, I'm just beginning to do a few classical pieces and I do admire those who can play classical pieces and enjoy doing so. I just don't want to play them and can't seem to enjoy learning them. This may change if/when I learn a few. I'd rebel big time but I commited to try a bit in the 2013 Goals thread.

Hisashiburi desu! long time, no see.

I finally got my wrist problem diagnosed. It:s not tendonitis; it:s a small ganglion cyst. It feels very satisfying to have a definite diagnosis, even though I don:t know what it means for continuing with piano. The doctor said I should be able to play, so I:m hesitantly excited, if that makes sense. I have a lesson on Thursday. I can;t wait to put the left hand to all those right hand things I:ve been learning!

p.s. I have to admit, I stayed away for awhile because it was depressing to read about everyone else:s achievements when I was unable to play. But looking back through the last couple of pages, it makes me really happy to read about everyone:s accomplishments! well done, everyone :-)

MaryAnn, 久しぶり。しんぱいしてました (it's been a long time. I started getting worried).
It's great you can play again!

Ragdoll, happy birthday!

Isn't that the thing that was traditionally cured by a sharp blow from the family bible?