It's time for me to address something I've never addressed. It's something I've thought about, but never too seriously. But I think I'm at a point where I need to think about it.
I dance with I play. Call it channeling Stevie Wonder, but I sway and rock and move. Even worst, my body contorts a little bit, sometimes in ways that aren't all that attractive. When I see other classical pianists play this way, I find it distracting, and it sends out a (however unconscious) message that the performance is about the performer's emotional state, rather than about the music itself.
It's an unconscious thing with me. I only know that I do it because I've been told, sometimes in painfully polite terms. Once, after playing my Bach C#-major prelude and fugue for a class, one of the visiting professors asked, "Do you suffer from back pain?" He went on to say that I looked uncomfortable when I played.
No, I'd actually been extremely comfortable and very much "into" what I'd been playing. But my body contorts and I'm not sure what to do about it, other than force myself to think about staying still.
I do the same thing when I sing. My voice teacher has called attention to this fact, explaining that all of this upper-body swaying is not helping my voice because it is keeping me constantly off-balance.
My response: "Was I swaying?"
I do it when I write, too. When I'm really into writing, I start rocking and swaying. I guess maybe it's the whole creativity-as-religious-experience thing, and yes, it's great that I feel art with such intensity that it courses through my entire body, but ...
It's got to stop. Or at least I need to learn to control the outward expression of it.
I want it to stop. Not only do I not want my body to distract an audience from the music, but the swaying is hurting my piano-playing as well. As with the balance-thing in voice, it's hard to play with consistent weight on the keys when you're constantly moving.
This may require me to make some videos of myself playing (which I will not share here!). Because I don't realize what I'm doing, I'm not sure how to stop. I think I may try to channel Horowitz, who remains to still that sometimes his hands don't even seem to be moving. But I think will be the best first step to learning to control the unconscious movement.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Friday, February 15, 2019
Listening to Schubert
It's been a while since I've listened to someone else besides myself playing the Schubert Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2, so I watched/listened to a few YouTube videos this morning. I just wanted to remind myself of what this piece is supposed to sound like--the tempo, the phrasing, and particularly the ben marcato section. I'm never quite sure how much emphasis I should give to the triplets in the middle of each measure. Here are a some examples:
So I watched, and listened. I won't share the videos here, but there are some interpretations--the ones that are more rubato, the ones that are played too fast or too loud throughout--that I'm not crazy about. Others--particularly the Horowitz--are the gold standard. Of course Horowitz is the gold standard. And his triplet sections sound ... simultaneously tossed-off and glittering, rumbling and sparkling. And they each sound a little different from the others; there is no single "sound," but a variety of them, sort of like light shimmering on a lake creates no single image of "light," but a million different ones that result in the single picture.
Sounding like Horowitz. And sunlight shimmering on a lake. That's what this middle-aged mom sets her sights on.
Yes, just a middle-aged mom and an amateur pianist who has practiced seriously for just a handful of years (four years in college, a few years in my 20s, ages 34 through 37, and then now). But I feel like the world of piano is opening up to me again. I've worked hard in these four or five months that I've been taking piano lessons again. I have my contrary-motion major scales up to 80, my contrary-motion minors up to 72, and the arpeggios ... heck, I can play the arpeggios at any speed I want and they just sort of happen under my fingers.
And the pieces that I've been picking up--the Chopin, the Bach, and the Schubert--they're sounding quite good. None of them at speed yet, but I will get there. More importantly, the scales in the prelude are even and motoric, and the lines of the fugue are clear and distinct. The nocturne is sounding as good as it ever did--better, I think. And the Schubert--oh, the Schubert! How I love playing the Schubert! The notes are there, and now I'm experimenting with the dynamics, all while increasing the speed by a single metronome notch each practice session.
I'm in the middle of the journey, and the destination is still a good long ways away. But I can't imagine wanting to be anywhere else.
So I watched, and listened. I won't share the videos here, but there are some interpretations--the ones that are more rubato, the ones that are played too fast or too loud throughout--that I'm not crazy about. Others--particularly the Horowitz--are the gold standard. Of course Horowitz is the gold standard. And his triplet sections sound ... simultaneously tossed-off and glittering, rumbling and sparkling. And they each sound a little different from the others; there is no single "sound," but a variety of them, sort of like light shimmering on a lake creates no single image of "light," but a million different ones that result in the single picture.
Sounding like Horowitz. And sunlight shimmering on a lake. That's what this middle-aged mom sets her sights on.
Yes, just a middle-aged mom and an amateur pianist who has practiced seriously for just a handful of years (four years in college, a few years in my 20s, ages 34 through 37, and then now). But I feel like the world of piano is opening up to me again. I've worked hard in these four or five months that I've been taking piano lessons again. I have my contrary-motion major scales up to 80, my contrary-motion minors up to 72, and the arpeggios ... heck, I can play the arpeggios at any speed I want and they just sort of happen under my fingers.
And the pieces that I've been picking up--the Chopin, the Bach, and the Schubert--they're sounding quite good. None of them at speed yet, but I will get there. More importantly, the scales in the prelude are even and motoric, and the lines of the fugue are clear and distinct. The nocturne is sounding as good as it ever did--better, I think. And the Schubert--oh, the Schubert! How I love playing the Schubert! The notes are there, and now I'm experimenting with the dynamics, all while increasing the speed by a single metronome notch each practice session.
I'm in the middle of the journey, and the destination is still a good long ways away. But I can't imagine wanting to be anywhere else.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Schubert Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 2 - In-progress recording
Just thought I'd share this (sadly out-of-tune) recording of the Schubert Impromptu. I don't have it to the goal tempo there, and I won't for a while, as I'm working my way up very slowly. This recording has a few mess-ups, but not too many. My favorite part is that last 30 or so seconds.
Friday, February 08, 2019
Exciting News!
Yesterday, Carol (my piano teacher) suggested that I begin learning a Beethoven sonata.
YES!
Twist my arm, Carol! I'd wanted to bring the same thing up to her, but I didn't want to be presumptuous. Beethoven sonatas are hard. Even the easy ones are hard.
When I was in college, I played the first and second movements of Op. 10, No. 1 in C minor. The plan was to master the third movement (all three, actually) my senior year and play it, along with a few other pieces, for my senior recital. Alas, I had some health issues that year and ended up having to withdraw from my first-semester classes, and then I missed about three weeks of second semester, plus May Term. In the end, I barely had enough hours to graduate on time, much less play a planned senior recital of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and more.
That was a bit of a digression, but it's all to say that I do have some experience, however miniscule, in the world of Beethoven sonatas.
So now the question is: Which sonata should I learn?
I asked Carol if there was one she would recommend for me, and she pretty much said, "Nope. Just pick one that you love."
Ah! The choices!
These are the ones that I love and think would be do-able, considering my current skills:
Op. 2, No. 1
This was Beethoven's first published sonata. It is, in some ways, a tribute to Mozart, with "quotations" of a sort that hearken to some of Mozart's melodies. At the same time, it has Beethoven's emotional intensity. It's also one of the less-difficult sonatas and could be a good one for me.
Op. 10, No. 1
I loved this sonata when I was learning it, and I still love it. It's tempestuous, it's beautiful, it's challenging, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to play. As with some of the other pieces I'm working on, I have a desire to go back and finish what I started all those years ago. At the same time, I'd like to start something entirely new.
Op. 13 ("Pathétique")
Oh. This one. Pathétique is, hands-down, my favorite of all the Beethoven sonatas. It's also his most popular, so I wondering if I'm being a little cliché in wanting to learn it. Not that I care ... but the thought did cross my mind. This one is the most difficult of the candidates on my list, and, to be honest, I'm downright intimidated by it. This one is on my "Piano Bucket List," and I know I want to work on it someday. Is now the time?
Op. 14 No. 2
This sonata is another of the less-difficult ones, and I'm certain it would be fun. I only know it from listening to it, but there is a great deal of humor in it--not something we typically associate with Beethoven, but there it is. I think this one would be loads of fun to perform.
Who am I kidding? Any one of these treasures would be loads of fun to perform. So which one should I work on? It's a happy decision I'll have to make. At the moment I'm leaning toward Pathétique, with Op. 2, No. 1 and Op. 14, No. 2 neck-and-neck for second and third place, and Op. 10, No. 1 right behind them.
So I guess my decision is: Do I learn an easier sonata as a kind of preparation for Pathétique? Or do I dive right into Pathétique, knowing that my technical and expressive abilities will shoot into the stratosphere as a result of my working on it--even if it takes me a few years to learn it?
I'd really like to play Pathétique. (Is it "Pathétique"? "The Pathétique?") It's on the Bucket List, right there with Liszt's "Liebesträume" and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I already know the second movement, and the third movement isn't so difficult (I hear). It's really the first one that is most challenging.
And you know, there's no guarantee that I'll be alive even a week from now ... so I think I'm going to go with the Bucket List item. The Pathétique sonata. YOLO, and all that. Stay tuned ... I'll also probably change my mind. At least once.
YES!
Twist my arm, Carol! I'd wanted to bring the same thing up to her, but I didn't want to be presumptuous. Beethoven sonatas are hard. Even the easy ones are hard.
When I was in college, I played the first and second movements of Op. 10, No. 1 in C minor. The plan was to master the third movement (all three, actually) my senior year and play it, along with a few other pieces, for my senior recital. Alas, I had some health issues that year and ended up having to withdraw from my first-semester classes, and then I missed about three weeks of second semester, plus May Term. In the end, I barely had enough hours to graduate on time, much less play a planned senior recital of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and more.
That was a bit of a digression, but it's all to say that I do have some experience, however miniscule, in the world of Beethoven sonatas.
So now the question is: Which sonata should I learn?
I asked Carol if there was one she would recommend for me, and she pretty much said, "Nope. Just pick one that you love."
Ah! The choices!
These are the ones that I love and think would be do-able, considering my current skills:
- Op. 2, No. 1 in F minor
- Op. 10, No 1 in C minor (the one I started all those years ago)
- Op. 13 in C minor ("Pathétique")
- Op. 14, No. 2 in G major
Op. 2, No. 1
This was Beethoven's first published sonata. It is, in some ways, a tribute to Mozart, with "quotations" of a sort that hearken to some of Mozart's melodies. At the same time, it has Beethoven's emotional intensity. It's also one of the less-difficult sonatas and could be a good one for me.
Op. 10, No. 1
I loved this sonata when I was learning it, and I still love it. It's tempestuous, it's beautiful, it's challenging, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to play. As with some of the other pieces I'm working on, I have a desire to go back and finish what I started all those years ago. At the same time, I'd like to start something entirely new.
Op. 13 ("Pathétique")
Oh. This one. Pathétique is, hands-down, my favorite of all the Beethoven sonatas. It's also his most popular, so I wondering if I'm being a little cliché in wanting to learn it. Not that I care ... but the thought did cross my mind. This one is the most difficult of the candidates on my list, and, to be honest, I'm downright intimidated by it. This one is on my "Piano Bucket List," and I know I want to work on it someday. Is now the time?
Op. 14 No. 2
This sonata is another of the less-difficult ones, and I'm certain it would be fun. I only know it from listening to it, but there is a great deal of humor in it--not something we typically associate with Beethoven, but there it is. I think this one would be loads of fun to perform.
Who am I kidding? Any one of these treasures would be loads of fun to perform. So which one should I work on? It's a happy decision I'll have to make. At the moment I'm leaning toward Pathétique, with Op. 2, No. 1 and Op. 14, No. 2 neck-and-neck for second and third place, and Op. 10, No. 1 right behind them.
So I guess my decision is: Do I learn an easier sonata as a kind of preparation for Pathétique? Or do I dive right into Pathétique, knowing that my technical and expressive abilities will shoot into the stratosphere as a result of my working on it--even if it takes me a few years to learn it?
I'd really like to play Pathétique. (Is it "Pathétique"? "The Pathétique?") It's on the Bucket List, right there with Liszt's "Liebesträume" and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. I already know the second movement, and the third movement isn't so difficult (I hear). It's really the first one that is most challenging.
And you know, there's no guarantee that I'll be alive even a week from now ... so I think I'm going to go with the Bucket List item. The Pathétique sonata. YOLO, and all that. Stay tuned ... I'll also probably change my mind. At least once.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Lesson Report - Arps and Bach!
Yesterday was my piano lesson. I played through the arpeggios--all of 'em!--to warm up. After that, we moved on to Bach, starting with the Prelude.
I've been working on this thing for months, and I've had the notes down for some time now. It sounds pretty good to the untrained ear, and now I'm really in the fine-tuning phase, working to have everything perfectly balanced. The scales are sounding good, and those left-hand trouble spots are not causing nearly the trouble they did before. Oddly enough, my biggest problem now is the thirty-second notes in those first few measures.
My left hand eighth notes are light and graceful, but my right hand thirty-second notes are uneven--not so much rhythmically as ... tonally? The second note will be too loud, or the third will be too soft, or ... they just sound punchy rather than smooth.
One thing Carol said was to imaging this piece is being played by a single hand, and think of a single line of sound rather than "the left hand is playing this part" and "the right hand is playing that part." So I'm going to do some visualization of that at my next practice.
After spending some time on the prelude, we moved on to the fugue, which I'm playing at about ♪=63. And guess what! It sounds great! Carol was visibly happy with how I'd played it. I've put a lot of effort into making the eighth notes detached and the sixteenth notes not detached, and the effort is paying off!
We didn't get to Schubert or Chopin because there was no time. I'm going to spend more time on those two this week so we can focus on them next time around.
I've been working on this thing for months, and I've had the notes down for some time now. It sounds pretty good to the untrained ear, and now I'm really in the fine-tuning phase, working to have everything perfectly balanced. The scales are sounding good, and those left-hand trouble spots are not causing nearly the trouble they did before. Oddly enough, my biggest problem now is the thirty-second notes in those first few measures.
My left hand eighth notes are light and graceful, but my right hand thirty-second notes are uneven--not so much rhythmically as ... tonally? The second note will be too loud, or the third will be too soft, or ... they just sound punchy rather than smooth.
One thing Carol said was to imaging this piece is being played by a single hand, and think of a single line of sound rather than "the left hand is playing this part" and "the right hand is playing that part." So I'm going to do some visualization of that at my next practice.
After spending some time on the prelude, we moved on to the fugue, which I'm playing at about ♪=63. And guess what! It sounds great! Carol was visibly happy with how I'd played it. I've put a lot of effort into making the eighth notes detached and the sixteenth notes not detached, and the effort is paying off!
We didn't get to Schubert or Chopin because there was no time. I'm going to spend more time on those two this week so we can focus on them next time around.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Slowly and Diligently, and Bach
Once again, my failure to blog does not translate into a failure to practice. While I still have days where I don't play a single note, those days are few. Most days I'm managing to spend an hour or so at old Henry. On Sunday, I spent three. After that three-hour session, I decided that three hours of practice per day would be just about right.
Alas, I cannot beam myself back to 1989 or 2004, when I actually had that kind of time.
So I practice when I can.
I can now play all of my pieces—the prelude and fugue, the nocturne, and the impromptu—perfectly (at least when it comes to striking the right notes) ... at about half the tempo they're supposed to be.
For the next few weeks, it will be a process of diligently playing these pieces over and over again at a certain notch on the metronome ... and then moving up a notch. And playing them ad nauseam at that notch ... and then, moving up another notch. Until I can play it at my goal tempo.
It's going to be a slow but enjoyable process. Last night I practiced the prelude at something like ♪=84, playing it through eight or ten times, and then I moved it up to ♪=88 and played it half a dozen times at that tempo. I had to stop a few times to work on the left hand in measure 10, going more slowly and in rhythms, because my fourth finger kept misfiring near the end of the phrase:
The rest of the piece sounds machine-like in its evenness (I'm probably flattering myself here, but it does sound pretty even) ... all except those few notes ... some of the time. Sometimes they're perfect ... but not every time, which tells me that the "perfection" sound may just be luck. I want to know, every time I get to that part, that those notes are going to be even. I know I'll get there. It'll just take time.
There was one other part that was plaguing me in the same way, and I have gotten there:
This is the end of measure 8 and the beginning of measure 9. It's similar to the downward run in measure 10, but it's all white notes, whereas the left hand in measure 10 starts with a B-flat. Also, the LH fingering in measure 10 is 2-3-4-5, while the LH fingering here is 1-2-3-4. This particular four-note sequence has proven to be a challenge, with the fourth finger misfiring, and the 2-3-4 going to fast and falling out of step.
Alas! (Why do I feel so compelled to talk like a late 19th-century poet today?) It's no longer a problem. Lots of rhythms and slow practice (along with a daily regimen of Hanon exercises) have helped to eliminate that little problem. So I know that the measure 10 misfiring will someday be the stuff of history.
I'd planned to write about my other pieces here, but this blog post has already gone long, and it's time for me to start work. I just learned that my 11:00 meeting got canceled, so maybe I'll update the blog again then ... nah. I'll go practice!
Alas, I cannot beam myself back to 1989 or 2004, when I actually had that kind of time.
So I practice when I can.
I can now play all of my pieces—the prelude and fugue, the nocturne, and the impromptu—perfectly (at least when it comes to striking the right notes) ... at about half the tempo they're supposed to be.
For the next few weeks, it will be a process of diligently playing these pieces over and over again at a certain notch on the metronome ... and then moving up a notch. And playing them ad nauseam at that notch ... and then, moving up another notch. Until I can play it at my goal tempo.
It's going to be a slow but enjoyable process. Last night I practiced the prelude at something like ♪=84, playing it through eight or ten times, and then I moved it up to ♪=88 and played it half a dozen times at that tempo. I had to stop a few times to work on the left hand in measure 10, going more slowly and in rhythms, because my fourth finger kept misfiring near the end of the phrase:
The rest of the piece sounds machine-like in its evenness (I'm probably flattering myself here, but it does sound pretty even) ... all except those few notes ... some of the time. Sometimes they're perfect ... but not every time, which tells me that the "perfection" sound may just be luck. I want to know, every time I get to that part, that those notes are going to be even. I know I'll get there. It'll just take time.
There was one other part that was plaguing me in the same way, and I have gotten there:
This is the end of measure 8 and the beginning of measure 9. It's similar to the downward run in measure 10, but it's all white notes, whereas the left hand in measure 10 starts with a B-flat. Also, the LH fingering in measure 10 is 2-3-4-5, while the LH fingering here is 1-2-3-4. This particular four-note sequence has proven to be a challenge, with the fourth finger misfiring, and the 2-3-4 going to fast and falling out of step.
Alas! (Why do I feel so compelled to talk like a late 19th-century poet today?) It's no longer a problem. Lots of rhythms and slow practice (along with a daily regimen of Hanon exercises) have helped to eliminate that little problem. So I know that the measure 10 misfiring will someday be the stuff of history.
I'd planned to write about my other pieces here, but this blog post has already gone long, and it's time for me to start work. I just learned that my 11:00 meeting got canceled, so maybe I'll update the blog again then ... nah. I'll go practice!
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Catching Up
Greetings from your long-absent piano blogger! Have my three regular readers been wondering what happened to me? Well, in this case, infrequent blogging does not translate to infrequent practice. What it does translate to is a lot of life-stress, particularly related to work, and I haven't had the time or desire to be at the computer any more than necessary. So no blogging.
I do want to write a quick update, though, for myself as much as for anyone who is reading this. The main reason I started this blog was so I could track my own progress, so I want to start doing that again. Below is a quick update on my progress in everything.
Scales
Slow and steady is the rule here. I'm slowly, very slowly, working my way up the metronome. I'm still not playing anything fast (72 for major scales, 52 for minor), but I'm working on playing everything perfectly--smoothly, with total control. I now have near-total confidence in being able to play all the notes of a given scales; for those pesky black-key harmonic minors (C#, G#, and Eb minor, I'm looking at y'all), I no longer feel like I'm re-learning the scales every time I play then. I know them. I know what's coming next, and I don't need to much time to think about it. I don't know if I've ever known the harmonic minors (including contrary motion) as well as I do now. Perhaps I did, but I don't remember.
Arpeggios
Arpeggios seem really easy. I've always thought they were hard, but they are so ... well, they just seem so easy. Have I changed somehow? I don't know. I'm going through all of them (major keys) at 80 (or something), and not having a problem.
Hanon
Oh, Hanon, how I love you! I have had too many piano teachers who didn't require, or even assign, Hanon. But I do love it. I have been playing the first dozen or so exercises just about every day, and I can tell that my finger-independence has improved. My hands are also less tired at the end than they used to be, so I think I'm building endurance too!
Schubert
I can play the whole thing! It's taken forever (such is the life of the adult piano student), but I have all the fingering down and can play through the piece just about perfectly, albeit at a slow tempo. Now I'm taking them in short sections and working up the speed for each short section. a few more weeks of this, and I'll be playing it the way I've always imagined!
Bach
As with the Schubert, I can play the whole thing(s)! I have the prelude at a pretty good speed, though my left hand 4th and 5th fingers aren't always behaving. To help with that, I've been doing a lot of rhythms. I also think the Hanon exercises are helping. The fugue is at a similar place as the impromptu: I can play it perfectly (at least in terms of hitting the right notes) as long as I don't play it too fast, so now I'm working up the speed in short sections. Also as with the impromptu, I imagine that, in just a few weeks, I will have this down and will really get to focus on bringing out the different melodies/themes.
Chopin
I think I'm playing the Chopin as well as I've ever played it. I still have a few areas to work on, but I feel like I am so close with this one.
What's Next?
I'm still pretty deep into these pieces, so I'm not consciously thinking of what I want to play next. I've also been mulling over some general music goals recently, so I'll likely be writing more about those as we get into the new year.
That's about it! I'm in North Carolina for several days with no access to a piano for practicing. So I'm counting the days (3) until I am reunited with Henry the Grand!
I do want to write a quick update, though, for myself as much as for anyone who is reading this. The main reason I started this blog was so I could track my own progress, so I want to start doing that again. Below is a quick update on my progress in everything.
Scales
Slow and steady is the rule here. I'm slowly, very slowly, working my way up the metronome. I'm still not playing anything fast (72 for major scales, 52 for minor), but I'm working on playing everything perfectly--smoothly, with total control. I now have near-total confidence in being able to play all the notes of a given scales; for those pesky black-key harmonic minors (C#, G#, and Eb minor, I'm looking at y'all), I no longer feel like I'm re-learning the scales every time I play then. I know them. I know what's coming next, and I don't need to much time to think about it. I don't know if I've ever known the harmonic minors (including contrary motion) as well as I do now. Perhaps I did, but I don't remember.
Arpeggios
Arpeggios seem really easy. I've always thought they were hard, but they are so ... well, they just seem so easy. Have I changed somehow? I don't know. I'm going through all of them (major keys) at 80 (or something), and not having a problem.
Hanon
Oh, Hanon, how I love you! I have had too many piano teachers who didn't require, or even assign, Hanon. But I do love it. I have been playing the first dozen or so exercises just about every day, and I can tell that my finger-independence has improved. My hands are also less tired at the end than they used to be, so I think I'm building endurance too!
Schubert
I can play the whole thing! It's taken forever (such is the life of the adult piano student), but I have all the fingering down and can play through the piece just about perfectly, albeit at a slow tempo. Now I'm taking them in short sections and working up the speed for each short section. a few more weeks of this, and I'll be playing it the way I've always imagined!
Bach
As with the Schubert, I can play the whole thing(s)! I have the prelude at a pretty good speed, though my left hand 4th and 5th fingers aren't always behaving. To help with that, I've been doing a lot of rhythms. I also think the Hanon exercises are helping. The fugue is at a similar place as the impromptu: I can play it perfectly (at least in terms of hitting the right notes) as long as I don't play it too fast, so now I'm working up the speed in short sections. Also as with the impromptu, I imagine that, in just a few weeks, I will have this down and will really get to focus on bringing out the different melodies/themes.
Chopin
I think I'm playing the Chopin as well as I've ever played it. I still have a few areas to work on, but I feel like I am so close with this one.
What's Next?
I'm still pretty deep into these pieces, so I'm not consciously thinking of what I want to play next. I've also been mulling over some general music goals recently, so I'll likely be writing more about those as we get into the new year.
That's about it! I'm in North Carolina for several days with no access to a piano for practicing. So I'm counting the days (3) until I am reunited with Henry the Grand!
Monday, December 03, 2018
Milestone
I've hit a milestone. It's not a particularly measurable milestone, but I know that I've hit it.
Ever since I started taking lessons again, I've had this sense of, "Ugh, I'm so out of piano-playing shape. My fingers are weak. My timing is off. My technique is bad. I can't remember the minor scales. Ugh, ugh, ugh."
Of course, there wasn't that much ugh. There is always piano love and piano happiness and piano joy. But I was definitely out of piano shape, physically and mentally.
I'm getting back into shape.
I've been playing a lot of Hanon, some of it quite slow, always focusing on keeping my thumb relaxed and forcing my fourth and fifth fingers (particularly on the left hand) to work. This has been a challenge, but I can tell that my fourth and fifth fingers are starting to feel more independent, starting to carry more of their own weight. This is huge.
The Chopin is starting to sound good. I don't know if I'm playing it as well as I played it in 2005 with Deborah, but I'm getting there. I'm playing it more intentionally than I did before. I've done an analysis of the whole thing, so I know exactly where I am at all times, and there is something to be said for that. (What, I don't know.) I've also been working hard at playing "levels of softness," and it's helped my Chopin-playing.
The Bach prelude sounds good as well. I still need to do some work with rhythms to get it perfectly even, but I have the notes down cold. And even the fugue is coming along. I can play through the entire thing, start to finish, at a super-slow pace. I could probably hum each of the three parts by heart .... okay, maybe not totally, but almost.
And the Schubert ... ahh. I hit a milestone this weekend when I finally got the fingering down for everything and can play the entire piece slowly. So now I'm ready to do the real work! I love that final page, the Coda ... I have it down pretty well, at tempo, and it is soooo much fun to play--so loud and powerful and tempestuous! Like me! Ha ha!
Oh, and scales! I can play the majors perfectly at 76! And the minors at a little slower than that! All contrary-motion, of course. Neither are "fast" yet, but I can play them, and they feel comfortable. I'm no longer uncertain about where my fingers should go. I just know. I guess practicing every single scale, every single day, will do that to you.
These days, I'm just feeling a greater sense of power at the piano, something that has come from the many hours of practice (including finger exercises ... so many finger exercises), and from detailed, focused study of where the music is going from measure to measure. I have put in the work, and will continue to put in the work ... and I'm starting to see results.
It's all strange because it seems I'm never able to get any focused, long-term practice in. It's all just 10 minutes of scales here, some finger exercises there, twenty minutes of work on a measure of the Bach a little later, maybe ten minutes to play through the Schubert Coda a couple of times. That's it. But every little bit really does count.
Piano life is good.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Bach, Measure 27
Yesterday the plan was to work on Schubert, and I did ... but I spent another half-hour on Bach, specifically measure 28 of the fugue.
I had a hard time with this one. A couple of measures before, the F is sharped, and I kept wanting to play F#, particularly in the left hand. I finally ended up writing in a natural sign. I also couldn't figure out which fingering to use on that same F-natural. Four on F-natural, five on E-flat? Playing a black key with 1 or 5 is almost never a good idea, though it's occasionally necessary. Bach said to use 3, and I ended up going back to 3, even though it's a stretch from the 1 on D.
I also struggled to hear the individual voices at the end of the measure when the soprano comes back in. I don't like to use the word "struggle" because that implies that the process wasn't enjoyable, and it was totally enjoyable. It took some concentrated work, and I forgot time as I played the voices hands separately, played slowly, played in different rhythms, etc. I finally got the measure down and moved to the previous one and practiced (briefly) playing it with the two on either side.
I didn't practice as much as I wanted this weekend. While I spent several hours at the piano, they were somewhat distracted, with quite a few interruptions. Still, I'm thankful for what I can get. Today I have a piano "make-up" lesson because we're not having a lesson on Thursday (Thanksgiving).
Time to get to work!
I had a hard time with this one. A couple of measures before, the F is sharped, and I kept wanting to play F#, particularly in the left hand. I finally ended up writing in a natural sign. I also couldn't figure out which fingering to use on that same F-natural. Four on F-natural, five on E-flat? Playing a black key with 1 or 5 is almost never a good idea, though it's occasionally necessary. Bach said to use 3, and I ended up going back to 3, even though it's a stretch from the 1 on D.
I also struggled to hear the individual voices at the end of the measure when the soprano comes back in. I don't like to use the word "struggle" because that implies that the process wasn't enjoyable, and it was totally enjoyable. It took some concentrated work, and I forgot time as I played the voices hands separately, played slowly, played in different rhythms, etc. I finally got the measure down and moved to the previous one and practiced (briefly) playing it with the two on either side.
I didn't practice as much as I wanted this weekend. While I spent several hours at the piano, they were somewhat distracted, with quite a few interruptions. Still, I'm thankful for what I can get. Today I have a piano "make-up" lesson because we're not having a lesson on Thursday (Thanksgiving).
Time to get to work!
Saturday, November 17, 2018
My Favorite Type of Practice
Today's practice was broken into several short sessions.
This morning, I tackled scales and arpeggios: All major scales at 72, all harmonic minor scales at 40. I feel like I could go a good bit faster on both, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. As always, I'm playing four octaves with contrary motion.
Arpeggios are going well, I guess. I'm playing them the "old" way--or the "pre-Deborah" way. Deborah told me not to worry so much about connecting the notes, at least not to the point of twisting my hands this way and that. But now I'm back to the old, legato way ... which is fine. It's actually easier. Plus, I'm not doing contrary motion. It's just four octaves, repeated once, and that's it. I think it's good to do it this way for now. I'm definitely out of practice, and while I'm finding the arps "easy," I know there's always room for improvement.
At another short practice, I played through Hanon exercises 1-11. Then I did exercise 11 (my assignment for the week) as legato, staccato, and "swing." The focus there is on keeping my hand relaxed--which, even on these simple exercises, is a challenge for me.
And then ... and THEN! This afternoon I had my favorite kind of practice: A whole hour devoted to just a few measures! The focus tonight was the fugue, measures 30 to 35.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around those few measures. The biggest challenge for now is the accidentals. I'm in B-flat, but Bach keeps marking the B's and the E's as naturals, and then adding F-sharps and C-sharps, and it changes with each measure. The only measure of this group that doesn't have accidentals is measure 31, and it's by far the simplest.
I say that the accidentals are the biggest challenge for now because the true challenge is yet to come: making the three different voices distinctive. For the moment, I'm just trying to get the notes.
I worked on the measures individually, playing slowly, playing in rhythms, really listening for the voices, paying attention to what chord each set of notes was hinting at. Once I mastered a measure, I would play it with the others I'd practiced, and then move to the next one. Between the slow pace and all of the repeats, I managed to while away a whole hour on these six measures. I could have gone longer ... and, in fact, I did.
Tonight I returned to Henry to revisit what I'd practiced a few hours earlier. I ended up changing some of the fingering in measure 33. By the time I had to quit (an hour later), these measures were sounding pretty good. When I practice tomorrow, I'm going to work on transitioning from measure 35 to measures 36 and beyond ... which I have pretty well. And if that goes well, I'll work on going from measure 29 (and before) to 30. Just to make sure everything is about equal.
Then, and only then, will I move to new measures.
I am about 2/3 of the way through learning the notes. This is not an easy piece, even though it's considerably less complicated than I remember the C# major fugue being. And I think it's harder for me since I've been away from the piano for so long.
At the same time, if I have to think of a single adjective for this fugue, "hard" isn't it. Neither are "difficult" or "challenging" or "tough." The first word that comes to mind is "fun." And "adventure," even though that isn't an adjective. "Brain-massage" is another non-adjective that still seems a perfect description for this fugue, or any fugue.
I really love practicing Bach. I should get a few hours at Henry tomorrow. While I'll spend some of my time on Bach, the majority is going to go to Schubert, who has been sadly neglected for a couple of weeks now.
I'm so happy to have a few quality days with Henry.
This morning, I tackled scales and arpeggios: All major scales at 72, all harmonic minor scales at 40. I feel like I could go a good bit faster on both, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. As always, I'm playing four octaves with contrary motion.
Arpeggios are going well, I guess. I'm playing them the "old" way--or the "pre-Deborah" way. Deborah told me not to worry so much about connecting the notes, at least not to the point of twisting my hands this way and that. But now I'm back to the old, legato way ... which is fine. It's actually easier. Plus, I'm not doing contrary motion. It's just four octaves, repeated once, and that's it. I think it's good to do it this way for now. I'm definitely out of practice, and while I'm finding the arps "easy," I know there's always room for improvement.
At another short practice, I played through Hanon exercises 1-11. Then I did exercise 11 (my assignment for the week) as legato, staccato, and "swing." The focus there is on keeping my hand relaxed--which, even on these simple exercises, is a challenge for me.
And then ... and THEN! This afternoon I had my favorite kind of practice: A whole hour devoted to just a few measures! The focus tonight was the fugue, measures 30 to 35.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around those few measures. The biggest challenge for now is the accidentals. I'm in B-flat, but Bach keeps marking the B's and the E's as naturals, and then adding F-sharps and C-sharps, and it changes with each measure. The only measure of this group that doesn't have accidentals is measure 31, and it's by far the simplest.
I say that the accidentals are the biggest challenge for now because the true challenge is yet to come: making the three different voices distinctive. For the moment, I'm just trying to get the notes.
I worked on the measures individually, playing slowly, playing in rhythms, really listening for the voices, paying attention to what chord each set of notes was hinting at. Once I mastered a measure, I would play it with the others I'd practiced, and then move to the next one. Between the slow pace and all of the repeats, I managed to while away a whole hour on these six measures. I could have gone longer ... and, in fact, I did.
Tonight I returned to Henry to revisit what I'd practiced a few hours earlier. I ended up changing some of the fingering in measure 33. By the time I had to quit (an hour later), these measures were sounding pretty good. When I practice tomorrow, I'm going to work on transitioning from measure 35 to measures 36 and beyond ... which I have pretty well. And if that goes well, I'll work on going from measure 29 (and before) to 30. Just to make sure everything is about equal.
Then, and only then, will I move to new measures.
I am about 2/3 of the way through learning the notes. This is not an easy piece, even though it's considerably less complicated than I remember the C# major fugue being. And I think it's harder for me since I've been away from the piano for so long.
At the same time, if I have to think of a single adjective for this fugue, "hard" isn't it. Neither are "difficult" or "challenging" or "tough." The first word that comes to mind is "fun." And "adventure," even though that isn't an adjective. "Brain-massage" is another non-adjective that still seems a perfect description for this fugue, or any fugue.
I really love practicing Bach. I should get a few hours at Henry tomorrow. While I'll spend some of my time on Bach, the majority is going to go to Schubert, who has been sadly neglected for a couple of weeks now.
I'm so happy to have a few quality days with Henry.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Piano Time on the Horizon!
OK, so maybe I'm not going to the beach, but I do see some quality piano time on the near horizon of my life!
It's Friday, and my family has no plans for the evening. That means I will (metaphorically) clock out at 5:30 or so, and then I descend up on Henry the Grand and spend a few hours practicing ... oh, I don't know ... Schubert, probably.
We do have a few things planned for tomorrow, but just a few. I'm hoping to spend a good chunk of the morning with Henry.
And then I have Sunday afternoon. A whole afternoon with Henry!
My husband and daughter are tossing around the idea of going to the beach for the first few days of the Thanksgiving holidays. I am gently encouraging them to go and have fun. Meanwhile, I'll stay home (since I don't have vacation until Thursday) and ...
PLAY THE PIANO! (when I'm not working, of course)
And write. And think. And walk. And read. And do all those things I never have time for.
Most important is piano. I am going to have time with my piano.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Just Like Starting Over
This morning I returned to Schubert for the first time in a couple of weeks.
You read that right. It's been about two weeks (maybe more?) since I last practiced Schubert.
There is something wrong with your life and your priorities when you don't have 30 minutes a day to spare for piano practice or voice practice. And there is definitely something wrong.
Not only have I not had time for piano, I haven't had time for writing, exercise, meditation/prayer, reading, listening to music, blogging, or even housework. It seems I go from work (where I'm always behind) to toting Anne places (where I'm always in a rush, and always late).
Take, for instance, right now. I'm sitting down at 7:40 (work doesn't start until 8:30). My calendar has my first three hours blocked off for non-priority stuff that I need to get out of the way before I start on the priority stuff. But I just checked the ticket queue, and guess what. I have a good hour's worth of client communications to do. Know what that means? Do it now or wait until work hours--which means bumping the priority project back another hour.
I can't get ahead. In fact, I'm not even keeping up. I feel like I'm falling a little (or a lot) more behind every single day.
But, as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I did manage to re-visit Schubert for a few minutes this morning. It was 6:30 a.m. and my sleeping family probably didn't appreciate it, but it's the only time I'll have today. The rest of the day is work, then church, then choir, and I won't be back till almost 9 p.m.
I stumbled through pages of what I'd already learned. I hadn't played the new material enough to build muscle memory, so it felt a little bit like relearning. The closer I got to the end, the better I sounded. The final page didn't sound bad at all. But those earlier sections? Just like starting over. So I will have some work to do to get all of that back. Hopefully it will come easy once I've worked on it a bit. And then I can move on to learning the rest of the piece.
Scales sounded good, though. As did arpeggios. So that's good.
Still, I feel angry and depressed this morning. I never have a moment for myself unless, like this morning, I wake up after five hours of sleep to grab 15 or 20 minutes at the piano. I guess I should be grateful that I have a piano. I just wish I had more time for it.
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
Update - Still Playing
How has it been almost two weeks since I've blogged here? It's not because I haven't been practicing ... though the practice sessions haven't been as often as I'd like. I am continuing to work on the usual pieces, though my main focus for this past week has been the getting the fugue into my fingers. I guess it's been "nothing to write home about"--just slow, steady learning of measure by measure, starting with the final measure and working my way backwards. I can now play the entire second page through quite smoothly, if slowly. My next lesson is tomorrow and I have a busy night tonight, so I don't imagine I'll get much further.
I'm also getting through my scales in less time, now that I've upped the majors to 72 and the minors to 40. Those minors are not quite so tough anymore. Even C# and G# aren't too bad. Playing them every single day for a couple of months has worked its magic! (If regular practice can be called "magic"!)
Schubert and Chopin have been on the back burner, more or less, as I focus on Bach. I'm hoping to give both of them some time over the next week, though this weekend isn't promising, as I'll be on the road all weekend, and then I have late nights away from home both Sunday and Monday night.
Despite an upcoming dry period, I'm hopeful for continued improvement. In fact, I'm thinking of taking a few more days off before the end of the year, just for piano practice.
And that's it, folks. My meager update for this two week period. I have a lesson tomorrow, so perhaps you'll see a lesson update soon!
I'm also getting through my scales in less time, now that I've upped the majors to 72 and the minors to 40. Those minors are not quite so tough anymore. Even C# and G# aren't too bad. Playing them every single day for a couple of months has worked its magic! (If regular practice can be called "magic"!)
Schubert and Chopin have been on the back burner, more or less, as I focus on Bach. I'm hoping to give both of them some time over the next week, though this weekend isn't promising, as I'll be on the road all weekend, and then I have late nights away from home both Sunday and Monday night.
Despite an upcoming dry period, I'm hopeful for continued improvement. In fact, I'm thinking of taking a few more days off before the end of the year, just for piano practice.
And that's it, folks. My meager update for this two week period. I have a lesson tomorrow, so perhaps you'll see a lesson update soon!
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