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November Goal: Put the Fire Hose Away


Time to do some serious thinking about my November goals.

October was pretty much a wash. If I look at where I was in my October goals post from a few weeks ago ... I really haven't moved forward all that much.

Granted, we had a hurricane and I lost a week of practice. But, even with many days of an hour or more at the piano, I really didn't make any significant strides. Even after I took "Liebesträume" out of the running.

Why?

It's the Fire Hose, Dummy

It's the age-old problem: I have too many projects, and not enough time. I've been drinking out of the proverbial fire hose. Even if I average 2 hours of practice a day (currently, I'm averaging about 1.5), I can't make the kind of progress I want to make.

So, I need to either (a) increase my practice time, or (b) lower my expectations. Or (c) limit my projects even more.

Realistically, I can't increase my practice time all that much. I can shoot for an average of 2 hours a day, but I'll be able to achieve that only if I have monster practice sessions most weekends, which isn't always feasible.

I don't want to lower my expectations. I want to push myself and play at ever-increasing levels of proficiency, but without making myself miserable. So is the solution to cut back on my projects?

Let's review what I had in October. I'll include some of the struggles I had with each.

Jingle Bells Rag

I made some progress here, as long as I kept up with the consistent practice. I did a pretty good job for a couple of weeks, but then I shifted focus to Solace and Blues Theory and Practice, as well as the Maintenance pieces I'd been neglecting. When I came back to JBR for the first time in a week Sunday night, it was a mess. I got frustrated and depressed and haven't touched it since.

Solace

I did make some progress with Solace. It's memorized, and I can play it at the tempo I like. I still need to work on the B section, but I'm almost there. If I had to present a success story for October, it would be Solace. I say "would be" because it still doesn't quite feel ready for graduation/maintenance.

The Old Rugged Cross

This was too hard, and it was too much work, and it required more time and concentration than I could give it. I got pretty good at playing my original arrangement, but I never ventured very far into expanding on it -- which was my original goal.

Blues Theory and Practice

I spent a lot of time on the major blues scale course, but I also put quite a bit of effort into reviewing the old stuff and just improvising to the blues shuffle. The major blues course is taking forever, not because it's difficult (though it has its challenges) but because I haven't had the time to give it, considering all of my other projects (and life outside piano). So I don't feel like I've made much progress here.

Amazing Grace

I made a little progress here, but I didn't practice this one consistently. I'd do a few days in a row, then skip 3 days, then practice it one day for 10 minutes, then skip 5 days. That is not a good way to make progress. I am frustrated that this one still isn't coming to me smoothly (and I won't even get into the improv part), but I'm not surprised. Inconsistent practice is never a good idea.

Technique

I did my cursory technique work, but I didn't really work on technique. It was more what I did to warm up. I don't think technique and warm-up should be the same thing. And most of my "technique" work lasted just 5 or 6 minutes. So I didn't improve my technique very much at all.

Maintenance

I think I'm most disappointed with my maintenance work. I didn't review any of it with any regularity. And Bare Necessities sounds worse than ever. I really am thinking I do need to set that one aside for a while and maybe pick it up again next summer, or a year from now. Not only does it frustrate me to no end, but when I do practice it, I spend upwards of 45 minutes on it, which takes away from my other pieces. I barely played MLR, Chopin, or the Rondo all month, so when I do play those, they feel very rusty.

November Goal: Put the Fire Hose Away

I have a lot to think about for November. I had planned to add three new pieces to the mix (Silent Night Rhumba, The Entertainer, and Liebesträume) and to move Jingle Bells Rag, Amazing Grace, and Solace to maintenance. That's not gonna happen.

I need to quit drinking from the fire hose.

I need to limit my projects to about three things I really care about. What are those three things?

Blues.

Scott Joplin, The Entertainer.

Liszt, Liebesträume

Am I willing to throw everything else out the window?

Yes. Why, yes. I think I am.

The Plan

Solace, Amazing Grace, and The Old Rugged Cross are good enough for maintenance. And I can still spend some time on maintenace pieces every day, but not to "work" on them. Just to play them. Review them and enjoy them. 15 minutes a day, tops. The rest of the time? Blues, Scott Joplin, and Liszt. And technique. If that ends up being too much, I'll toss "The Entertainer" and pick it up again in December or January.

And Jingle Bells Rag and Silent Night Rhumba can wait until next year. Or, if I don't mind lowering my expectations, I can be happy with playing Jingle Bells Rags at a less-than-blistering tempo ... which I can do right now, coincidentally. So maybe it can go into the Maintenance bag as well.

I think that can work. I think it can. And I will be happier and can make more progress.

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