Picking Up the Pieces

 Now that the doctor has cleared me to play piano as much as I want, I sat down last night to work some more on the bluesy Silent Night from a few days ago . I just turned on the camera and started to play. I ended up cutting out about half of the video (the first half, where I was still working things out), so here is the second half. I want to give it more of a boogie-woogie bass (broken octaves, walking up and down), but for now I'm just using the familiar old blues shuffle. You can tell as the video progresses that I'm loosening up more and more. By the end I'm practically dancing in my seat. It is so good to be able to play like this! And I didn't even delve into the many runs and riffs I've learned! There will be time for that later!

I went to the orthopedist today so he could diagnose whatever is wrong with my wrist. He is pretty sure it's a small ganglion cyst. The cyst is the shiny area right next to the boo-boo on my hand. (Gotta love eczema in winter.) What is a ganglion cyst? From Google AI: A ganglion cyst is a fluid-filled bump that usually appears on the wrist or near a joint or tendon sheath. Ganglion cysts are round, small, and filled with a jelly-like fluid. They can feel firm or spongy, and can be translucent. They most often appear on the back of the wrist, but can also occur on the front of the wrist, base of a finger, ankle, or foot. Most ganglion cysts are painless and don't cause other symptoms. However, if a cyst presses on a nerve, it can cause tingling or muscle weakness. The cause is unknown, but they are thought to be caused by repetitive microtrauma. They are more common in younger people and women, and are often found in people who play sports or other activities that involve repeat...

Once upon a time, almost a year ago, I wrote about feeling like I was locked in a "gray little room," worlds away from feeling freedom at the piano. I'd had many years of lessons and could play, but I was tied to the sheet music. Or if I was improvising, I would fall into the same old pattern in the left hand and could hardly advance beyond the actual tune in the right hand. I felt trapped, and I'd felt trapped for nearly all of my piano life. I wanted to play jazz. I wanted to play blues. I wanted to be able to "ragtimify" any song. I could hear the arrangements in my head, but I didn't know how to play them. Last night, I started picking through "Silent Night" with a blues shuffle in the bass. And ... I improvised. I riffed. I rocked. I had so much fun. I hated having to go to work today because all I wanted to do was stay home and play this bluesy, boogie-style Silent Night. I feel like I am walking on air. That rusty lock has broken, and ...

Yesterday was the Piano With Jonny annual student awards, and I won a ragtime performance award! It was quite an honor because there are a lot of good pianists, including ragtime pianists, in the PWJ community. Most of the awardees had been in PWJ for multiple years, so I felt particularly honored as a first-year student. Here is the clip where they announced the award! This honor has inspired me to think about my future long-term goals. Barring further issues with my wrist (and elbow), I think I have big plans for 2025. Ragtime First, I want to learn three new Scott Joplin rags: Pineapple Rag, Elite Syncopations, and The Ragtime Dance. I want to learn them in that order--in other words, from the easiest to the most difficult. The plan is to average four months per piece, with the hope that Pineapple Rag will take a little less than that so I have more time for the others. These will be more challenging than my pieces from 2024 (Maple Leaf Rag, Solace, and The Entertainer). Not only a...

I started running again about three weeks ago. I used to run a lot, but I haven't run regularly in years. Every time I start to increase my distance, I end up with an injury. Every time--no matter how careful I am. Still, I'm trying again. I found a doable Couch-to-5K program online and started with an easy run-1-minute-walk-1-minute workout. Now I'm up to running 5 minutes and walking three minutes. For my next run (tomorrow night), I'll run 5 minutes and walk two minutes, four times. My latest run: Run 5 min, walk 3 min, X 4 (plus warmup and cooldown) It feels so good to feel like an athlete again. I'm definitely not an athlete, but I feel like one when I'm running. It feels good to break a sweat and to get short of breath and then recover and then run again. Piano isn't a sport, but the feelings are similar. It feels good to know I'm in shape, pianistically. I can't tell you the amazing feeling of looking at a difficult passage in Liszt, and then ...

I had wrist pain this weekend, so I wasn't able to move forward on some of my weekend goals . I still got some good practice in. I have dorsal wrist impingement , according to Dr. Google. Technique My plan was to work on Czerny Ex. 2. It's an exercise primarily for the left hand, and it was my left wrist that was hurting, so I started Ex. 4 instead. (I wasn't crazy about Ex. 3.) I learned it pretty easily and will work on getting it up to speed this week, and I'll return to Ex. 2 when my wrist pain is gone. Liszt I am through most of the C Major section in Liszt! It's not as difficult as the B Major section (though it sounds like it is). It's still not easy, so I'll work on it a bit more before moving on to what's next. Jingle Bells Rag The goal was to increase the tempo to 100. I spent quite a bit of time on the right hand since my left hand was hurting. Last night I finally brought the left hand in. I'm very close to having it hands-together at 100...