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Thank you for your post on the Moonlight, Irene. Much appreciated.

Welcome back, Cas. You we missed. Five weeks away from your piano is a long time. I bet you are happy to be back on the bench!

Thanks SwissMS, nice to be missed, and yes, I am indeed happy to be back (it wasn't quite 5 weeks away from piano as my sister does have one and I did play most days when I was with her. I just didn't manage to play every day because we were so busy!)

I have been trying to decide what my next piece is going to be. This has entailed some sight reading today to get the feel of various pieces. I am as yet completely undecided. .... but having fun!

Managed to work out some decent fingering by myself I think. I'm sure the teacher will let me know if I've screwed it up.

Managed to get a couple of clear sounding tones out of the viola. Of course they disappeared immediately but now I know they are in there somewhere.

congrats on both your piano and your viola progress, pg2. I've been left to my own devices on the fingering of a Schumann piece (honestly, what was my teacher thinking?!). Predictably, my fingers are in knots, though even with good fingering Schumann has a way of doing that. Unfortunately, my lesson has been postponed twice (once because my teacher lucked out on a last minute opera ticket, the second time, because of the typhoon), so I've been practicing with this fingering and it might be hard to unlearn if she has a better suggestion. We'll see on Friday...

Finally got to the end of Jeux D'eau!!!

Tubbie: Jeux D'eau -- wow, I just listened to a version of this on youtube. That's a tough one! Congrats.

My teacher does that too, but when you are figuring out the fingering yourself, that's a learning process too. When your teacher has a better suggestion, you learn these better fingering as well. The more you do it, the more independent you become when learning a new piece.

It is annoying when you have to unlearn fingering you've spent hours practising then spend some more hours learning the new ones!

Woohoo!! I just learned the final measure of my very first 'real' song!! It only took 4 months of hammering away at it.

Of course that includes the 'weeks' I took off because I was hitting walls.

I never realized how beautiful the last few measures were... I didn't learn it from reading the sheet music as much as I did from 'feeling' what the note progression was. That was a really cool feeling as I was playing it. Now I just need to practice practice practice to get the finger memory going better!

heh... I'm almost too happy to go to bed now.

Catching up!

Carlos....good call on turning down the performance idea from work. I think it sounded like a recipe for disaster.
I also see your point on why you play and why having an audience (especially such a large one) isn't what you are looking for.

Irene, that sounds like very satisfying progress on your Beethoven! Good for you!

Pg2, sounds like you are making progress in figuring things out - on two instruments nonetheless! How lovely to be working with the viola as well as the piano. With modern technology you could even play a duet with yourself some day!

MaryAnn, I've had lessons cancelled before, but never because of a typhoon. That sounds unnerving to me. I've yet to play any Schumann so I will have to see how knotty my fingers get some time in the future!

Tubbie, I had to look up Jeux d'eau too. Wow! How long did you have to work to learn that piece? That is quite an accomplishment!

Stryder, you sound justifiably proud of yourself! What an exciting moment. Which piece did you learn? Have you recorded it ? I have found that by recording my pieces I get to really hear the progress I've made over time. You might get some satisfaction out of recording it now, and then again in a few months! Congrats!

My teacher left me with Jeux D'eau with some fingering for the first 4 pages before he disappeared for a holiday. It's been 6 or 7 weeks now and I've finally learned all the notes (13 pages). At almost half the speed, the first 5 pages are ok. Pages 6-8 is tricky but I reckon I'll just need a week or 2 before I'll have it under my belt. Pages 9-10 is relatively easy but still new to me. Pages 11-13 has the most technically and harmonically challenging bits. I'll be needing my teacher to show me his take on the fingerings and techniques to use.

I'll be playing this piece to my teacher for the first time this Sunday. That's why I've been hiring a piano practice room while holidaying in Sydney. I reckon it will take me another 2-3 months before I can play the piece in its entirety, still at a slower tempo.

I don't think my teacher expects me to play this to performance level since it is more difficult than what I'm capable of. But I'm having lots of fun, satisfaction and will learn a lot of techniques and musicality from it.

I hope I get assigned Chopin's Ballade No. 1 next ;-)

I try to do my own fingering for new pieces. My teacher will suggest a different one if I'm struggling in a particular section. It is a great learning opportunity and helps you figure out effective hand movements.

My biggest achievement is I bought myself a grand piano a few weeks ago! I have not had much chance to play as when it was delivered we left for vacation two days later! Now we're back and I'm very motivated to play. It was almost torture having to leave but what a cool thing to see when we walked back in the house. I've posted details on the Piano Forum if anybody wants to see pictures. Now to work on some real musical accomplishments like all the other folks here!

Its a beauty, ZoeCalgary! It doesn't get much better than sitting down at your new baby, does it?

Congratulations. I'm sure you will make some beautiful music together.

Zoe, that is a stunning piano! How exciting for you!
Many wishes for hours and hours of beautiful music over the years!

No AOTW for me, but I just got out of my lesson and have a new assignment.... Moonlight first movement.

I'm juiced.

JimF and CasinItaly thanks so much. There is nothing like it! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I would own a grand!

JimF - congratulations on the new piece! Wow! My teacher doesn't assign me music though I wish she would! But then again it's not like I don't have enough on my plate already!

Oh wow, that is going to be fun! I would be juiced too.

Congrats on your new piano, Zoe; and congrats on your new piece, JimF!

Congrats on your new grand Zoe! I know how pumped I am over getting a new digital, I can't even imagine the joy of a grand!

Jim: That is awesome news! I was working on it but put it aside as it's still too far ahead of me yet. Enjoy it!