Yesterday's Piano Lesson

Thanks to my forearm soreness from trimming hedges last weekend, I didn't play much piano on Sunday, on Monday, or on Tuesday morning. I thought about canceling yesterday afternoon's lesson, but I decided to go through with it anyway ... and I'm so glad I did! Eric had wanted to hear "Bare Necessities," so I played it for him ... and he was impressed! I played him the Jonny May video so he could see the Bare Necessities master himself, and then we talked about how I might use dynamics and phrasing to put my own stamp on it.

It was a good lesson. I'm glad I decided to stick with the lessons, even though they are more like feedback sessions than actual lesson. But I honestly think feedback sessions are just what I need at this point.

At the end of the lesson, I asked Eric if he'd ever thought about having the piano store sponsor an amateur pianists' club. He said he'd brought up the idea to his adult students in the past, but that no one had ever been interested because they didn't want to have to perform. I said it didn't need to be a club where people had to perform if they didn't want to. It could be more of a social group -- we meet, have coffee or tea and snacks, and maybe a speaker does a short presentation/lecture, and then if a few people want to share what they're working on, they can.

I told him that if he ever wanted to start something like that, I would be on board. So maybe I planted a seed there.

After that, he asked me if I would be interested in participating in a masterclass this fall. A concert pianist will be in town performing with the Augusta Symphony, and they're trying to set up a masterclass with several students in the area. "What on earth would I play?" I asked, and he said, "The Chopin, of course."

Hm. I could do that. Even though the whole idea terrifies me. It would be a great opportunity, though. And who knows what other opportunities it might lead to?

I told him I would think about it and let him know by my next lesson, two weeks from now. I messaged Deborah to ask if she could help me get ready for the masterclass, and she said she would be happy to, even if it just means meeting a couple of times between now and late September.

So I think I'm going to do this. Even though I'll be the only middle-aged participant, and even though I'll be the only one who is essentially self-taught with regards to the piece I'll be performing. I just hope I don't make a fool of myself.

Comments

Rethinking Bare Necessities

Today's breakthrough moment (there are actually two of them) focuses on "Bare Necessities." As you'll remember, I discovered Jonny May's arrangement back in early March and immediately decided to learn it. I printed out the music, started the course, and proceeded to learn the stride section, posting a few videos of my progress. Ha. I bet those videos make it look like I was making progress. I guess I was ... but not really. And I realized something this weekend that I hadn't before: Because I was thinking of "Bare Necessities" as a "fun" piece, I wasn't practicing it seriously or diligently. I wasn't treating it as something I wanted to master. This mindset might work with an easier piece, but this arrangement isn't easy. The result: despite a little progress at the outset, I wasn't moving forward. I was stalled. Breakthrough #1 The first breakthrough was realizing that if I truly want to learn this piece and play it well,

March Goals Recap/Looking Ahead to April

It's April 1, and time to revisit the goals I set for last month. I practiced a total of 50.45 hours in March, averaging 1.62 hours (or just over an hour and a half) per day. Realistically, I practice about 45 minutes to an hour a day on weekdays, and I usually get at least one longer practice (or multiple shorter practices) in on one or both days of the weekend to bring the average up. CLASSICAL GOALS Chopin, F Minor Nocturne March Goal: Have entire piece by memory and performance-ready. I have about 90% of the piece by memory, but I still have some work to do before it's performance-ready. The only two sections that I don't quite have are "The Agitation" and the "stretto" section with the seventh chords. I'll work on both this week and will have them both memorized before the weekend. April Goal: Finish memorizing, and polish, polish, polish! My focus now is really on phrasing and dynamics. I have the notes down, even in the difficult passages. Fro

Maple Leaf Rag Breakthrough

Oh, Maple Leaf. Where to begin? At the Beginning I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I learned the A and B sections of Maple Leaf Rag back in the 1990s. I can’t tell you if it was early, mid- or late 90s, but it was during those 10 years after I’d graduated college, when I was playing a good bit of piano but not taking regular lessons from anyone. I don’t remember teaching it to myself at all. I just know that, at some point, the first half of Maple Leaf Rag was part of my two- or three-song repertoire of pieces I’d be able to play by memory over the next 25 years. It was always sloppy and I knew it, but people loved it, and so I played it if there was ever a piano around. Back in January, I decided to properly re-learn those two sections, and to finally learn the C and D sections of this wonderful piece. I worked on these over the next month or two, learning (and-relearning) the notes pretty quickly ... but it took time to memorize, and also to get everything to tempo surpassing a

Picking Up the Pieces

Search This Blog