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December 2024's Piano Goals

December is going to look a bit different from my previous piano months. Instead of five or six main pieces/skills to focus on, I'm only going to have two: Technique (15%) and Liszt (30%). The rest of my work will be to review almost everything I've done this year and be ready for a (not actual) performance by January 1, 2025. Also different for December is that I'll be dividing my maintenance pieces into the categories of ragtime, blues/gospel, and classical.

Here are the details.

Technique (15%)

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I love Czerny's Thirty New Studies in Technics, Op. 849. I'm still on Exercise 1, but I've been working diligently to build up speed while remaining accurate and clear. Dynamics are also a consideration, so I've been working on that, too. The goal tempo is half note=100, and I'm at half note=80. so I've made progress. I expect to start Exercise 2 in early December and will spend a few weeks working on it.

I'm also doing some Hanon each day. I haven't spent as much time lately on scales, arpeggios, inversions, and octaves, but I'm going to work them into my practice schedule as well.

Liszt (30%)

I've now been working on Liebesträume for about a month, and it's starting to sound like music! I'm no longer wondering if I should set it aside and try something a little easier. I've learned just about half of it (up to the key change from B major to C major), including the first cadenza. More difficult sections are ahead, but I know I can play this if I put in the work.

Ragtime (30%)

I have five ragtime pieces: Bare Necessities, Jingle Bells Rag, and my three Joplin pieces (Maple Leaf Rag, Solace, and The Entertainer). My goal with the Joplin pieces is to just play them regularly and keep them in my memory. My goal with Jingle Bells Rag is to get it performance-ready. My goal with Bare Necessities? To start working on it again. To get it truly performance-ready by the end of December.

All of this will take some work, which is why I'm devoting 30% of my practice time to ragtime.

Blues/Gospel (15%)

As I did with Bare Necessities this fall, I'm going to set my blues learning aside for a month and move it into the maintenance category. I want to just continue to improvise and improve, working toward effortless execution of runs, endings, the major blues scale, etc. I'm also including Amazing Grace and my Old Rugged Cross arrangement in this category and will continue to practice those by memory and experiment with major blues scale improvisation.

Classical (10%)

I gave a lower percentage to classical because I only have two classical pieces (outside of the Liszt): Rondo alla Turca and the F minor nocturne. I've never been happy with my performance of Rondo alla Turca, so I may focus a little more on that one, but I also want to continue playing the nocturne so I can play it at a moment's notice if I ever have the chance.

And that's it! Those are my goals! I'm excited about December!

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