Picking Up the Pieces: A Piano Practice Journal

Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m on a bit of a piano high: a good experience at the assisted living facility on Thursday, then a TikTok Live with a friend last night. And this morning I finally shared my weeks-old You Are My Sunshine video on a few platforms, flubs and all. I’m tired of being my own worst critic. So I posted it, and the response has been very kind. Anyway, enough coasting. Back to work! Day 13 In my journey through the Learn New Repertoire Faster Challenge at Piano with Rebecca B , I’ve reached Day 13 of Jonny May’s stride arrangement of Ode to Joy .   Today's assignment was to begin a three-day revisit of Batch 3 and continue with Batch 4 . Batch 3 and 4 Work I started with Batch 3 , drilling two- and four-measure sections: five minutes each, then three minutes each, all in random order . To choose the next section, I numbered them lightly in colored pencil and pulled a number from a jar. Then I moved to Batch 4 using the same basic format, except all the sect...

One hole in the ceiling down, one to go. And a wayward stove. Yesterday was a mess. We had workmen in the house all morning—a plumber to track down a leak, an electrician to install a new outlet, and the bug man—so I worked from home. I was also scheduled to play piano at a local assisted living facility that afternoon. The plumber arrived first. We had two water spots in the kitchen ceiling, one new and one very new. To find the leak, he cut two holes—one under the shower and one under the toilet. The shower wasn’t the issue. The toilet was. One flush later, we had a small rain shower in the kitchen. He fixed it, but the kitchen was a disaster. Meanwhile, our electric stove had died last week, and we’d been preparing to switch to gas. We paid $400 to install a gas valve on Tuesday. Then the electrician came yesterday to install the outlet—and said it couldn’t be done without tearing out half the kitchen drywall. No thanks. We’ve had enough drywall removed for one day. So we’re returni...

In my journey through the Learn New Repertoire Faster Challenge at Piano with Rebecca B , I’ve reached Day 12 of Jonny May’s stride arrangement of Ode to Joy . I recorded a video for Day 11 yesterday but didn't post anything because I was wiped out. So you get to read about two days today! Day 11 (Yesterday) Yesterday’s assignments were to continue reviewing Batch 2 (measures 24–31 and 40–47) and start Batch 4 (measures 60–71). When I sat down to work on Batch 4, I realized I’d already included Passage 1 (measures 60–63) in Batch 3. So Batch 4 is now just eight measures. I briefly considered adding the next section, but decided to keep it as-is and use the extra time on the revisited batches. Batch 4 These eight measures deliver the biggest bang in the whole arrangement so far: a climbing pattern of diminished chords, leading to syncopated four-note chords, a sparkling downward arpeggio, and then another transition. The first measure is probably the hardest in the piece—stretchy...

In my journey through the  Learn New Repertoire Faster Challenge  at  Piano with Rebecca B , I’ve reached Day 10 of Jonny May’s stride arrangement of  Ode to Joy . Each day of the challenge has a particular topic, and today’s topic is chunking (focusing on small chunks of just one or two measures). This is a regular practice technique for me, and I’ve been using it a lot lately. Day 10 Today I continued with Batch 3 (measures 48–59) and reintroduced Batch 2 (measures 24–31 and 40–47) into the rotation. I started this morning with Batch 2. My chunking work consisted of 4-minute sessions on 1- or 2-measure sections before moving to the next one for another four minutes. I rotated through four different chunks, hitting each one twice, for a total of about 35 minutes. I was pleased to find I retained most of what I worked on last week. I did need to clean up a few spots, including the one where I had changed the fingering. It turns out the original works better, so I h...

Well… I had a major piano development last weekend and somehow didn’t write about it. I PLAYED BACH'S C MAJOR PRELUDE (BWV 846) IN ALL 12 KEYS! Folks, I transposed this baby. No sheet music, no written progressions, no lead sheet. Just what’s been settling into my brain over the past couple of weeks. I’d been experimenting with transposing it here and there, but the switch flipped sometime Saturday evening. I played it from memory in C, then transposed to G. Then F. Then B♭. Then E♭. Those went pretty smoothly, since I've tried transposing to those keys before. But then, at some point, I thought, “What about A♭?” So I tried it ... and it wasn't hard. So I moved on to D♭. Then G♭ (not exactly a friendly key). Still worked. Then B (even less friendly). A few stumbles, but I made it through. Then E, A, and D ... and they felt easy. Then G, then C ... full circle! I was in a serious flow state. Part of it was the prelude itself—I could listen to it all day—but a bigger part was...

In my journey through the Learn New Repertoire Faster Challenge at Piano with Rebecca B , I’ve reached Day 9 of Jonny May’s stride arrangement of Ode to Joy . Each day of the challenge has a particular topic, and today’s topic was interval timers, so I integrated that into my work on Batches 1 and 3 today. Interval Timers There is a wealth of options (apps) for anyone wanting to use an interval timer, but I just use the timer in my phone clock. Which I guess is another app. Anyway, sometimes I use the timer for interleaving (spending just a few minutes on one section before switching), and other times it’s just to avoid losing track of time. I also track how many minutes I spend on each piece/project, so the timer is essential. Left Hand Work and Interleaving Today I isolated the left hand in both batches. I’ve been practicing mostly hands together, but this is stride. The left hand has to be smooth and steady, with little room for error. It needs to feel automatic at any tempo. I use...