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

my achievement of the week or i should say...my lifetime....i'm pregnant with my first baby.

ElleC how nice for you. You know you'll always have and audience now and the experts say it's good to expose the unborn to music. BIG Congradulations

I also played the duet with my young friend - we played the whole march this time (Radetsky) and we are getting better at listening to each other and getting over flubs. Our teacher suggested that we continue working on duets next year if our schedules permit back to back lessons as we have now. (We use the last 10 min of my lesson and the first 10 of his for duet work).

Wisebuff - I hope you do get to play a piano while you are away.


I had my last lesson of the school year today . sniff. I really wish the summer break wasn't so long here, it is nuts. I won't have lessons again til mid September.

I played my 2 Schumann pieces in "performance mode" though we acknowledged that I am not yet up to the right tempo. I did better than I have, though I did have a little flub in the Sicilienne. He gave me a few pointers for things to work on in both pieces (the other being First Loss). I hope to play both at the EPP in July!

I also played the duet with my young friend - we played the whole march this time (Radetsky) and we are getting better at listening to each other and getting over flubs. Our teacher suggested that we continue working on duets next year if our schedules permit back to back lessons as we have now. (We use the last 10 min of my lesson and the first 10 of his for duet work).

It was a good lesson, I just wish I were going back next week!

I love to read this thread but I can't give an individual comment to every achievement... Sorry about that and congratulations everyone.

Just to say that I was in the audition for the contest that my company is organizing.

Well, the ambiance was like "America got talent" or similar, and I wasn't expecting something so "serious". There was a small stage and 3 judges: the HR director of my company - he's pianist -, the administrator of the largest concert hall in Lisbon - he's who organizes the largest and the best music concerts in Portugal -, and the last winner of the Portuguese "America got talent" - yes, we have a contest like this, too. They are who will decide the 3 finalists. And, I saw some staff guys beyond a sound table and a cameraman surrounding the stage and some other people in the audience.

After presenting myself I asked If I could play something before starting playing "Indaco". I explained that It's not easy to play an acoustic piano at 11AM without doing a warming up... They accepted and I play 2 or 3 minutes of "Life" - the piece I'm working on -, and I felt it was my day. The piano had a celestial sound, perfect for "Indaco". I was relaxing.
Then, I play the version I did of "Indaco". I made two or three imperceptible errors, but I was concentrated and I was really enjoying my playing. The cameraman was surrounding me which was a little bit annoying, but I was doing my job. At the end I ear enthusiastic applauses. I wasn't expecting that...

Now, among various, the most interesting comments:
- The administrator of concerts was the first to speak: "How many years did you studied in the Conservatory?" Note: The Conservatory of Lisbon is the most important high school of arts in the country. I said: "None. I'm a self learner since December 2009.". He wasn't believing. He said that I had born with "natural talent".

- The HR director asked: "Why did you entered in this contest?... Because I can fell you play for your own enjoyment; it's like an intimidated playing.". I said: "Just because I love to play and I wouldn't miss the opportunity to have a professional video of me playing."

- The portuguese "America got talent" star: he was amazed... He asked again what was the theme and the composer and how could I play with such dynamics without having a teacher and only with 3 years of work... He was interested about the steps I do in order to achieve such level. Well, frankly I explained that I just like to play and that it's all about work and dedication. He was impressed.

So, I think I was fine. It was not my best interpretation because I'm not use to play in acoustics and the atmosphere was more serious than I could guess. I don't know If I will pass to finals - I don't know the other 11 competitors -, but, at least, I won a beautiful BIC pen with the logo of the company. Let's wait for the results.