Learning "Misty," Part 2

A few days ago, I wrote about how I'm learning "Misty" as part of a challenge group on Facebook. Week 1 focused on learning the melody only. The notes weren't hard at all, but the challenge was in memorizing it. Week 2's challenge--the stride-style left hand (LH)--was harder. Not only was I dealing with rootless voicings (something relatively new to me), but there were things like 13th chords with flatted ninths, and such. I studied and understood the theory (to a point), but mostly I just memorized hand shapes/positions.

Yes. I have memorized the LH section. I can't believe it, really. I mean, I can't remember why I walk into a room most days. Or where my keys are, or what I did with my phone, which was in my hand not two minutes ago. But I memorized the LH to "Misty."

In this video, you might notice that my hand gets to the chords a fraction of a second before I actually have to play them. This is because (1) it's good practice to get into this habit, and (2) my brain was dictating where to go, and I didn't allow my hand to play the keys until my brain deemed it to be in the proper position. I really need to make sure I've memorized this in my mind, and that it isn't all muscle memory. Muscle memory is involved, of course ... but as soon as I turn on the video camera, or try to play in front of an audience, my brain suddenly thinks, "Oh no! I don't really know this! Hand! Don't depend on your muscle memory! Try ... um ... THIS .. instead!"

And then it all goes to heck.

So, when I get in front of that audience and the nerves hit, I want my brain to think, "Yeah, I know this. No need to panic. So go ahead, hand. You know what to do."

Week 3 is the right hand (RH), with added chords, runs, and other ornaments. I'm learning it now, but I'm also practicing it with the LH. I'll plan to post a Week 3 video here before moving on to Week 4 (hands together + solo techniques).

For now, here is my Week 2 video!

Comments

Rethinking Bare Necessities

Today's breakthrough moment (there are actually two of them) focuses on "Bare Necessities." As you'll remember, I discovered Jonny May's arrangement back in early March and immediately decided to learn it. I printed out the music, started the course, and proceeded to learn the stride section, posting a few videos of my progress. Ha. I bet those videos make it look like I was making progress. I guess I was ... but not really. And I realized something this weekend that I hadn't before: Because I was thinking of "Bare Necessities" as a "fun" piece, I wasn't practicing it seriously or diligently. I wasn't treating it as something I wanted to master. This mindset might work with an easier piece, but this arrangement isn't easy. The result: despite a little progress at the outset, I wasn't moving forward. I was stalled. Breakthrough #1 The first breakthrough was realizing that if I truly want to learn this piece and play it well,

Maple Leaf Rag Breakthrough

Oh, Maple Leaf. Where to begin? At the Beginning I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I learned the A and B sections of Maple Leaf Rag back in the 1990s. I can’t tell you if it was early, mid- or late 90s, but it was during those 10 years after I’d graduated college, when I was playing a good bit of piano but not taking regular lessons from anyone. I don’t remember teaching it to myself at all. I just know that, at some point, the first half of Maple Leaf Rag was part of my two- or three-song repertoire of pieces I’d be able to play by memory over the next 25 years. It was always sloppy and I knew it, but people loved it, and so I played it if there was ever a piano around. Back in January, I decided to properly re-learn those two sections, and to finally learn the C and D sections of this wonderful piece. I worked on these over the next month or two, learning (and-relearning) the notes pretty quickly ... but it took time to memorize, and also to get everything to tempo surpassing a

The Rusty Lock and Key

I'm in a room. There's a door in front of me. On the other side of that door is a whole world of adventure and imagination and joy and delight, but for the moment, I'm locked in this gray little room. The door itself has a lock that is all rusted. I've tried to open it in the past, but I've never gotten very far. Sometimes I try to scrape the rust off the lock. I also have a rusty old key that I occasionally try to polish. Each time, after I've made a little progress, I'll put it into the keyhole in hopes of opening the door. It turns a half a millimeter or so, but the brief excitement at my progress dies quickly when I realize, once again, it's not going to open the lock. I set the old key aside, and from there I can forget about the door, the lock, and the world outside, for months—years, even. But then something happens—I hear birdsong, or I catch a glimpse of color—and I pick up the key and start picking away at the stubborn rust. That dark little ro

Picking Up the Pieces

Search This Blog