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Bare Necessities Woes

I have to keep reminding myself that as long as Maple Leaf Rag and the Chopin Nocturne are my two primary pieces, I'm not going to advance in Bare Necessities the way I'd like to.

I was feeling a little down yesterday (Sunday) as I revisited Bare Necessities for the first time since last Tuesday. I hadn't had a good, focused practice on this piece in two weeks--yes, two weeks--so I shouldn't have been surprised that it was a mess.

It was a mess.

I found myself wondering if perhaps it's too hard for me.

I don't think it is. As someone who walked over 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia, one step at a time, I believe I can do anything I set my mind on. All I need is the physical ability, the drive, the desire, the patience, and the time. With Bare Necessities, I have all of those things.

But if I'm only looking at it, and I'm allowing myself to go two weeks without a focused practice, I'm not going to get very far.

The Real Issue

A big part of the issue is that two other pieces--Maple Leaf Rag and the Chopin Nocturne--have necessarily been my top two priorities since February. I started Bare Necessities in March, but it, along with my Blues lessons, has always been further down my priority list 

All of this is going to change in a couple of days. My goal was to "graduate" from both Maple Leaf and the Nocturne on April 30 (tomorrow), and I'm on target to do that. That doesn't mean I'll stop playing them; they are just going to move into maintenance mode. Taking their place on my priority list will be Bare Necessities and Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca.

I'll still be working on the Blues course, but I'm currently treating it as more of a technique thing, meaning I'm grouping it with scales and sevenths as something I spend a little time on every day, just working to improve my technique.

Things Change in a Couple of Days!

Starting Wednesday, Bare Necessities will begin to get the attention it deserves. Until then, I have this video of myself whining about my lack of progress. I also play through the stride section and get even more discouraged. At the time, I didn't realize it had been two weeks since I'd seriously looked at it, so I'm hoping to post some better performances before long!

(*Note: Scroll past the video below to see an update to this blog post.)

UPDATE

I am a big dummy.

After posting this, I compared today's video to my video from two weeks ago, and ... folks, I was wrong. I have made progress. Am I where I think I should be after two months, even though it's been two months of wildly inconsistent practice? Of course not. I sorely wish that two months of inconsistent practice on Bare Necessities would have brought me to where I am with two months of consistent practice on Maple Leaf and Chopin. But alas, it doesn't work that way.

For now, Chopin and Maple Leaf sound great. And while I'm not playing Bare Necessities the way I want to right now, I have managed to improve over the past month.

So boo-yah for me. :)
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