Hand Pain, Weekend Practice, and a Major Blues Tune

So much for my weekend of unlimited practice time. Thanks to a case of wrist pain, I only practiced for about an hour on Saturday.

I felt better yesterday and practiced for a little over two hours. So, I got three hours in total. Not bad, but nothing close to the five or six hours I'd anticipated.

Weekend Practice

I spent a lot of time on Liszt, but I am very frustrated about this piece. I could learn it, but I can't figure out what fingering to use. I am missing Deborah, my piano teacher from Asheville. She would have me work out a fingering, but then she would adjust it as needed, actually writing it onto the music, and when I would try her fingering, it was like a miracle had happened. She helped me to become better at working out fingerings, but Liebstraume is a special case becuase there are so many tenths (which I can't reach), and so many options for which hand will play certain notes of the melody.

I messaged her through Facebook to see if she might be up to an online lesson, or maybe a consulting session. I feel like I can't move forward until I've worked out the fingerings. I want to avoid learning a particular fingering, just to have to unlearn it later.

I also spent some time on The Entertainer. I can now play the B, C, and D sections pretty well by memory. I started on the A section last night, and it came back to me pretty quickly, as far a memory. It's sloppy, though--there are some tough octave reaches from the start, and I need to work on playing those more cleanly. But I'm happy with my progress, and I expect to be able to play this pretty well, at tempo, after a few more practice sessions.

I did not get to make my Solace video. I'd planned to do that on Saturday, but my wrist pain kept me off the piano. And then on Sunday, my husband worked on his DIY remodel of our living room, and there was too much background noise for a video. I'll make a Solace video one of these days!

A Major Blues Tune from the Weekend

I worked on blues for about an hour, total, this weekend. I decided to come up with a tune using the major blues scale, and then go from there. Here is what I came up with.

This video is full of errors and pauses, but this is what it sounds like when I'm trying to make stuff up AND remember the scale notes AND keep the left hand going. I'll admit, it doesn't sound great, but it's all part of the journey.

As for my wrist, I don't know what's wrong with it. I imagine it's arthritis. The pain comes and goes, and when it comes, it's enough that I can't practice without pain. I'm thinking I might go to the orthopedist for an x-ray (or an MRI, if needed) if it gets any worse.

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Picking Up the Pieces

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