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I'd like to congratulate you people. Success is sweet. Oongawa...congrats on the piano.

Lots of progress being made by many this week, keep it up!

@Carlos, Wow... that must have been quite something

This week I have started to learn simple chord progressions in numerical terms, while progress is slow at the moment steady progress is being made. When I really get into experimenting I find at times I can really surprise myself but it seems to come and go in random spurts which, as of yet... I cannot seem to turn on or off at will. On the bright side I am now able to play many things I had learnt previously in a variety of keys simply by figuring out the progression and using the numerals to transpose the chords

@eejake52

Hi Jake, I remember you from right around Christmastime. You posted "Angels We Have Heard On High" You inspired me to learn it over the holidays. Sounds like you're making pretty good progress with your piano studies. Yay!

@UKIarus

Isn't it fun when something like this happens out of the blue? keep at it, it's well worth the effort.

Thanks Cathy, I refuse to rush into a teaching situation I'll regret `cause parting can be ugly... or hurtful. I had three good years with my last teacher. So yah, I'll hook a sucker teacher soon I hope. I miss the guidance and theory parts especially.

AFA my approach to life/my humor, thanks for that. Henry James said, “I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.”

Sand Tiger I always love to read what you are up to and what your approach is. I especially felt encouraged by your last comment " All of you here continue on the beginner journey. Because of the forum, some might think that is normal behavior. Average, is people giving up, or finding something else to do. Sticking with it, especially with dedication and passion, is exceptional."

As I'm going through a challenging phase right now, I need to be reminded as often as possible that sometimes sticking with it IS the achievement of the week. Adding in a dash of dedication and passion is like having the whipped cream and cherry on top


Carlos: what a truly splendid experience - I do hope we'll get to see at least a sample of the documentary! (maybe there will be subtitles ) My Portuguese at the moment is limited to "thank you" "pleasure to meet you" "what's your name"

OOngawa - congrats on the piano purchase!!! Pictures please!

Malkin: Martha's pieces are fun -- which one are you working on ?

Wisebuff- I love that repertoire you are building and maintaining - what a superb collection of lovely music!

Eejake52 - what great, steady progress! Good for you! Don't forget if you'd like to post a recording you can go to the "Ecco Fatto Café" thread for your debut - or you can join in the upcoming ABF recital!

Stubbie: I know exactly which bars you're talking about in the waltz. Mastering them is a real AOTW...maybe of the season!

Wimpiano : now that must have been a very satisfying moment! I love those "yes, things are coming together" happenngs!

UKIkarus - that's a really useful thing to be able to do - and the more you do it the faster you'll get!

Well, I am perhaps premature in replying now... but I want to stay caught up.
My lesson is today... and I have no feel for how it will go. I'll report back later!

Oongawa - congratulations. That's a great piano!

malkin - playing well in a lesson is very satisfying

Wisebuff - I gotta do that too. Quite a selection.

CarlosCC - I love it. You are my star. Too bad I cannot get out to the European piano party to see you in person.

Cheryl - good luck on your lesson.

My achievement is now I can see avatars. Thanks to Kathy

Thank you all for the nice welcomes, I don't think I'd realised when I jumped straight in that I hadn't posted here before.

My Achievements of the Weeks are basically the same as last week's, only better :-)

My jazz-ish piece is really almost there. I did a lot of work on fingering, on accents, and really focusing on short sections over and over and it has really paid off.
For those of you who were asking, it's probably not "really" jazz, it's a piece by Pam Wedgewood called "Tequila Sunrise". I have just been playing the music as written rather than following a lead sheet (is that the expression?). That may come, but for starters this was a great challenge for me as the rhythms and syncopation were so different than I'm used to.

I also spent a lot of time on the sections of the Moonlight Sonata that were weak, and that too has really progressed well.

I had a lesson yesterday and my teacher was very pleased with the improvement in both pieces (notwithstanding all the extra errors that creep in when I play for anyone, even my teacher).

This week I want to go back to the Rondo Alla Turca which I made huge progress on but have neglected for the last month or two. It'll need relearning at this stage, but I had pretty much got there with all but the final 2 (really difficult for me) pages. Need to follow my resolve and start and the end when bringing this one back I think!

I have loved reading about everyone else's achievements and I'm only sorry I don't have time to go back with individual comments. I will single out Carlos though, what an amazing opportunity for you - fantastic! And wishing you the very best with your new piano Oongwa - I'm dreaming of a new one myself, but I'll have to content myself with dreaming for a long time to come and plug on with my humble DP :-)

Cathy

So, yesterday's lesson was really interesting and I came away from it feeling very positive

Last week I had some problems and my focus for this week was to slow down, focus on more relaxation and better hand positioning. I found it very difficult and I felt that I'd taken a step backwards.
When I got to the lesson I started talking to my teacher about this and asking if he thought I could improve on this piece (or in the future)! I told him I felt unable to evaluate what was going one, which is different from my past experiences. I've generally been able to have a good feel for progress or lack of it!


We had a very long discussion about pieces starting off on the right/wrong foot, adult expectations and ambitions, when a piece takes you to the edge of what you can do "at this moment in time". We also talked about how when you start as a child you (generally speaking) take a long time to lay the foundations of technique...whereas adults tend to work though the early phases much more quickly ( in part because they can grasp the concepts more quickly, in part because they are physically able to manage better...in some ways)...

In the end I really felt so much better.
I know I started on the wrong foot for one of the movements of my Sonatina - - trying to pick up speed on it before I'd really nailed down the fingerings - but the rest of the problems all come down to not having a strong enough foundation of being relaxed and hand positions (in part due to problems during my last year with my previous teacher, and in part due to my inability to relax...)

I told him I felt I was unable to evaluate where I was going with this piece now, I can't feel that I am really going to be able to improve it much at this point in time.

He listened to me play and though I still flubbed, I refused to stop or even to back up and replay any bars, I just kept going - even at one point when I couldn't get the left hand to join in right away. He would have prefered that I not mess up, of course!, but he was REALLY complimentary about my ability to recover and keep rolling.

We have decided that this piece has served its purpose in teaching me certain things from a technical and study point of view, and yes, I've reached what I can do on it "at this moment". I'm not "giving up on it", I'm just moving on. Who knows, I may come back to it in the future.

I will do a little more work on the 3rd movment and use it for my recital piece in Feb - but as of today I'm no longer "officially" working on the piece.

My homework this week is scales and arpeggios to focus on the hand postitioning and relaxation I fight with - and to select 2 new pieces to start on next week. After working on the new pieces he wants to start me out on a new sonatina, and I will get of on the "right foot" this time!
whew.

For me, the most important thing is that I feel, sure, I hit a wall in making progress with this piece. However, I've got a much better grasp of how to start and proceed on the next one I take on, I am putting it aside with no ill-will and no sense of failure.

Having fun focused on the repertoire. FOr me, more relaxation comes with familiarity and knowing what is coming. Yesterday I sounded pretty darn good. IMHO. Today less so but then I had 3 German Shepherd dogs all over me wanting attention. The Beethoven is really stretching my hands with all the chord work....less tension is a must. That piece rings in my head all day long which must mean I'm internalizing it.

This thread helps us keep our progress (or lack) in perspective. Thank you all for the encouragement. I love reading the day to day from each of you.

I know this has been a difficult chapter for you, so it's really nice to hear that it has come out on a positive note in the "end", which is of course not truly an end. Looking forward to hearing that 3rd movement on 2/15.

Hi Cheryl,
I'm very happy that you have resolved this difficulty in your mind and are able to move on without any sense of "failure" to achieve what you wanted from it. Brava!

@Oongawa
I missed this somehow but WOW an M&H! I'm completely jealous. congratulations.

This is major, n'est-ce pas? What a really great accomplishment. Now you can play at Carnegie Hall with an orchestra, because this is key. It's a hallmark of performance maturity, in my view. Talk about the right kind of focus. Very cool!

(And I know of someone who had to be asked to not play for dances because she just couldn't bring herself to do this Poor kid Poor dancers!)

Sounds like a great teacher, too. But congratulations on getting thru a tough time in great shape. Nice job.

Cathy

Cheryl, congratulations for getting rid of the piece
just kidding.

But sometimes it's healthy to move on after you reached a certain point.
Heck I have moved on many pieces even before I reached such stage. Nice to be an adult. I tell my teacher that I would have put up with the piece if I were young but I am OLD. The pieces I can play in my lifetime is limited at this "slow" pace of mastery (well no matter how mediocre that it!), I don't know how many more pieces I can learn. She usually gives in and give me a new piece.

It's good to take a step back to focus on techniques. My unsolicited suggestion is to select an achievable piece after the sonatina and ask him to give you predatory exercise for the piece and then tickle on the piece right from the beginning.

Beethoven's first sonata Op 2-1 I think it was F minor.. It starts with ascending ta ta ta ta ta- tata. It is beautiful and you will love learning it. It was my first sonata movement I ever learned in my life too. I think it's for many others as well. I recall how happy I was to play that after long years of Mr. Clementi Koulau, etc Probably I spelled them wrong..

Cathy - I so feel regret and remorse ever spelling your name incorrectly.

WiseBuff - good for you. It's nice to have fun. I have to create time to enjoy piano. I am in the process of reorganizing my life.

Everyone, I am not kidding you. Lately, I cannot find time to sleep. Not kidding you. Violin, choir, piano club, piano studio and good ol' piano practice on top of demanding job. I decided to not to go to Thursday piano studio and keep only Saturday ones. It was too much. Adding to my weekly lessons i felt like I go to school 3 hours every week for piano. Decided not to go to choir practice every week. We practice 3 hours a week (2 hours on Wed and 1 hour on Sunday before the church). It is too much. Also I decided not to practice violin more than 30 min a day. I was making rapid progress lately, so I even strained my arm..

Later

FarmGirl, I do not know how you can keep up with it all! That is a pretty heavy schedule even without working full time!

It has been a couple of weeks since I last reported in, because, well, I did not have any achievements to report! My first two lessons back after Christmas break were mostly repair and rework. My poor sonatina has all kinds of new pencil marks of nuances that I missed. I have been playing the wrong notes in the grace notes in the Tchaikovsky ("oh that is a Bb not an A"), etc. The good news, at this point, I have fixed those problems.

However, what came out of my lesson today is: I am still not practicing slowly enough! I think my teacher is going to take me out and shoot me. I know this has been frustrating for her. My concept of slow and her concept of slow are clearly not in sync, and after today's lesson, I think I get it. And, she said NO METRONOME. She wants me to maintain a steady, very slow place with full relaxation and correct movement, from internal control. I cannot use the metronome as a crutch. I managed to do that in the lesson with the Joplin for the first time. It was difficult to slow down all the choreography at first, but it grew on me. So, my AOTW is getting on the same page as my teacher on "slow".

In a similar vein to Casintaly I have released some pieces this week from my practice schedule and still am feeling good enough about it to call it an achievement. I seem to have settled on five or six new pieces on the go at once and some once memorized just stay very ordinary. Realizing they are still too hard for my level is probably the achievement. Sad as that maybe it leave more room for new pieces, so goodbye Merry Farmer, Vacation Time, The Old French Song & The Entertainer. Fur Elise your coats on a shaky nail (Scottish colloquialism) shape up or your next.