Helene Aftermath

Well. Life got seriously interrupted last week. Hurricane Helene devastated our little part of the world, and then it went on to devastate my old home (Asheville, NC, and surrounding areas) even more. We were without power for 10 days.

There were a few bright spots in those 10 long days: I got to read a few books, clean the house, and stay home from work. But mostly I was a melancholic mess. The word "shellshocked" kept coming to mind. That's how it felt. I just felt lost and overwhelmed and sad. And I didn't have a piano to play since my current piano is a digital.

Fortunately, our family is safe, and our trees that fell did not hit our (or anyone else's) home. Many of our neighbors can't say the same, so I'm grateful that we were spared.

The top of one of our pines snapped, landing on our neighbor's trampoline. (The trampoline was fine!)

Our Eastern Redcedar tree. I liked that tree and was sad to lose it.

We drove to my mom's house in Brevard, NC, this weekend. Miraculously, she never lost power or water, so we were able to visit and get all of our clothes washed. We also brought groceries up for my sister's family, as the stores haven't been able to restock a lot of their dairy and produce.

When we got home yesterday, our power was back. I had a lot of work to do (putting away clothes, going grocery-shopping, making dinner, etc.), but I was finally able to fire up the digital piano last night.

Masterclass Canceled

The hurricane hit on September 27. The masterclass with Orion Weiss had been scheduled for September 28, so of course it was canceled. Yes, it was disappointing, but there wasn't much anyone could do about it, so I didn't dwell on it. The piano store is still closed due to damages, and I haven't heard word from my piano teacher, Eric (whose house was hit by a tree) in a week. I don't know when I'll go back to regular lessons, and the masterclass isn't going to be rescheduled.

October Goals

I had such a great plan for October, complete with detailed spreadsheet! I still do, only I already have six unplanned non-practice days under my belt, thanks to the hurricane. I'll outline those goals in the next blog post so this one isn't so long.

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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

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