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Getting There

Welcome to Ragtime Thursday!

I have no Bare Necessities video to share with you today. Ten minutes into the morning's practice session, I remembered I had a dentist appointment at 8 a.m., so I needed to hit the road. Hence, no videos today. (I may update this post a little later if I'm able to get a video tonight.)

Last Night's Practice: Slow and Measured

Last night I practiced both the Mozart and Bare Necessities with the metronome, at slow tempos -- not so slow that I got distracted, but slow enough that I felt like I had plenty of time to think about where my hands would go next. It was a wonderfully satisfying experience to be able to play each piece at a slow but recognizable pace, and to play them without missing a note.

Of course, I did miss a note every now and then. And when I did, I stopped, backed up a measure or two, and played it again. If I missed the note again, I stopped to drill. If I didn't miss it again, I kept going.

I did this several times for each piece. I ended up practicing the Mozart for about 50 minutes, and Bare Necessities for about 45.

Almost There

Once I was done practicing, I went upstairs to change into my pajamas. And then it hit me:

I'm no longer in the dark tunnel of learning Bare Necessities. I can see the end.

The light at the end of the tunnel. The end of the road. The finish line. Pick your metaphor.

I'm at the point now where I'm just working to bring up the speed and figure out what I want to do with dynamics and articulation. I can play this piece. I understand the theory behind each measure (except for those outro measures). I have enough muscle memory to be able to play them without thinking intently about each note. The ragtime/stride jumps are becoming internalized. I'm getting this.

One of the people on the PWJ Facebook page talks about "interiorizing" a piece of music, and I think that's where I am with this one. I'm slowly making it my own as I become more and more familiar with it, repeating passages and exploring the possibilities of expression.

I'm so excited. It may be a month or more before I get it up to speed ... or it may be less. But I'll get there. I'm getting there. I'm so happy.

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