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Maple Leaf Rag, Progress Video

This weekend, I decided to (finally) figure out the tempo at which I can play Maple Leaf Rag (MLR) without missing notes in the octaves. It looks like 72 is the magic number. I can play parts of MLR at a faster tempo, but Section C, along with the final line of Section D, keeps me stuck at 72. Now that I have all the notes and the piece is memorized, today begins the journey of picking up speed, just a few metronome notches every few days. As I'm doing this, I'll work more on articulation and working a few ornaments into the repeats. Here is MLR at 72. The goal? Technically 100, but I'm going to push it a little higher (120?) so that (1) 100 is easy, and (2) I'm prepared to play a fast "show off" rendition for an audience if I so desire. It will be a long journey even to 100, but I'm on my way!
Recent posts

Bare Necessities, Page 2

As mentioned in a couple of previous posts, I'm planning to spend one week per page learning Jonny May's arrangement of the Disney classic song "Bare Necessities." I started Week 3/Page 3 today(the ragtime section) and realized I'd never posted a video for page 2. So, friends, here is page 2. I'm playing slowly, still working on muscle memory and getting the notes right.

Weekend Plans

I am so excited about this weekend! It's weird to think that just a month and a half ago, I dreaded waking up every day, even if it was a weekend. Now? I'm so excited about getting home from work this evening because I know that Roland Nicholas the Piano is waiting for me! Goals for This Weekend: Make a video of me playing the F minor nocturne beautifully. Practice Maple Leaf at 80, multiple times, and don't go any faster. Do similar slow practice on page 2 of Bare Necessities, also combining with page 1. Start Lesson 3 of the 10-Lesson Blues Challenge. Work on dominant sevenths. Work on shell chords with several lead sheets. By the end of the weekend, I hope to have at least three videos to share: Chopin F Minor Nocturne Bare Necessities Progress Video A nice arrangement of one of my lead sheet songs In addition to that, we have volleyball practice tonight, team pictures tomorrow afternoon, church on Sunday, and a short hike in the woods to celebrate my husband's birth

Playing the Blues: Easy Blues Shuffle

Did I mention I also want to learn blues piano? To be honest, I'm feeling more of a pull from blues than from jazz. It was a little disturbing to realize this, as I've wanted to learn jazz for such a long time. But blues feels much more like my music, for some reason. Jazz feels ... like a person I don't know that well, and who might not like me all that much anyway. Blues, on the other hand, feels like family. In a good way. Maybe it's because I spent so much of my life in Baton Rouge, going to those blues festivals every year, and hitting Tabby's Blues Box whenever I could in my early 20s. Maybe that's why blues feels like home. But playing the blues has been a whole new thing for me. I might be at an advanced classical level, but I'm a rank beginner when it comes to playing the blues. Here is a video of me playing something called an "easy blues shuffle" ... which I didn't find easy at all! It felt more natural with practice and repetition,

Chopin Quote from Josh Wright

Here is a wonderful quote from Chopin from the book Chopin: Pianist and Teacher , as read by pianist and teacher Josh Wright: The passage was written by a student of Chopin's, regarding how Chopin responded when the student felt inhibited and unable to express himself (herself?) at the piano. "With what delicate nuances of behavior he adapts his own being with that of another," they write about Chopin as a teacher. "Imagine you're at the conservatoire ," Chopin said, "listening to the most beautiful performance in the world. Make yourself want to hear it, and then you'll hear yourself playing it, right here." He told the student, "I see that timidity and lack of self-confidence form a kind of armor around you, but through this armor I perceive something else that you don't always dare to express, and so you deprive us all." "Be bold and confident in your own powers and strengths." There are good reminders, from the mouth

Maple Leaf Rag - 3/13/24 Update

 "Maple Leaf Rag" continues to be coming together . I have reached a point where I'm thinking about style -- which octaves I will bring out, where I'll play forte or piano , where which notes in a chord I want to bring out most -- but I'm still also focusing on playing cleanly, without missing notes, without accidentally hitting more notes than anticipated, etc. This video is an example of that. I'm still playing at a moderately slow tempo, and I'm focusing hard on playing cleanly and with an even tempo. I still have memory lapses here and there (particularly in the D section, which I learned most recently), and I still plunk a few notes I shouldn't, but it's coming along. I'm not worried that it sounds a little wooden; that's all part of the process. This weekend, I'm going do another brief fast practice  of it, and then I hope to spend most of next week continuing with "clean practice" while upping the tempo. I'm also pl

Lesson Report for March 13, 2024

  Yesterday was my mostly-classical piano lesson. As a reminder, I meet with this teacher for a half-hour once every other week. It really isn't enough -- I mean, it's enough time for me to play something and get feedback, but there really isn't time for a lesson that covers more than one piece. While I've enjoyed the lessons and really like the teacher, I'll have to think about whether to renew the lessons later this spring. At yesterday's lesson, I'd hoped to spend a few minutes on Chopin and then move on to Maple Leaf Rag for the bulk of the lesson. I played through the Chopin, quite badly I might add. I have so much trouble adjusting to an acoustic piano after doing all of my practicing on a digital. Nothing sounds or feels right. Anyway, I made it through the piece, and, as usual, he made some observations and gave me some valuable feedback, as well as a few things to think about regarding interpretation. And that was it. No time for Maple Leaf. Time to