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10/18/24 - Weekend Goals

It's a little difficult to think about piano goals for the weekend, as I'm leaving for North Carolina tomorrow and probably won't be back until mid-afternoon Sunday. So, I won't get a lot of piano time in. At best, I'll get an hour, maybe 1.5 hours tonight, and an hour or two Sunday afternoon.

I could also consider squeezing in a half-hour or so tomorrow morning before I leave.

So, maybe I'll get more practice time than I thought. If I do, here are my goals for the weekend:

Solace

I have the entire piece memorized and am now working on just a few spots where I tend to pause when playing through slowly. I'll continue working on that and then begin increasing the speed. The suggested tempo is something like 65, and  I'm currently playing it at about 35. My weekend goal will be to (1) eliminate the habitual pauses and (2) increase the tempo to ... maybe 45 or 50.

Jingle Bells Rag

Lately I've been working a lot on (1) "hot-potato" practice in the left hand and (2) accuracy. I haven't worked on speed because technique and accuracy need to come first. I can't remember what tempo I'm at right now. My main goal for the weekend will be to continue working on technique and accuracy, increasing my speed only if I feel ready.

Amazing Grace

As with Solace and JBR, I have this one memorized and am really just working on playing it smoothly at increasing tempos. For this weekend, I want to focus on the solo. I've been working through PWJ's Major Blues Scale course, and I want to incorporate ideas from the course, as well as a couple of licks that Jonny uses in his demo in the Amazing Grace course. My goal for this weekend is to learn and practice those licks and work out some nice-sounding original licks/patterns that I can use.

The Old Rugged Cross

I've given up trying to create a whole new arrangement this month; it just takes more focus than I have time for right now. I've decreased my percentage goal on this one (from 10% to 5%) and have mostly just been playing through it, experimenting with different bass notes and slides. I will continue to do that, but I also want to work on the solo. So, my goal will be similar to that of Amazing Grace: experiment with melodies and licks that I can use in the solo (and also work on making the left-hand section more automatic when soloing).

Blues

I've put a lot of work into the Major Blues Scale course lately. My improv attempts still sound awkward, but I'm getting better at doing the scale exercises. My goals for the weekend will be to (1) be able to play the scale exercise at 80 or faster (I'm currently at 60) and (2) put at least 15-20 minutes in of general improvisation per practice session.

Maintenance Pieces

For these four pieces (Bare Necessities, Maple Leaf, Rondo alla Turca, and Chopin), I just want to play them through a few times. Maybe I'll do one tonight, one tomorrow morning, and two on Sunday. Or maybe I'll run through all four a couple of times tomorrow morning before I hit the road.

And those are the goals! I doubt I'll reach all of them with limited piano time this weekend, but who knows ... I'm hoping for the best!

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