Skip to main content

Weekend Recap (Nov. 16-17, 2024)

I had hoped to put three hours a day into piano this weekend, and I came close! I put in FOUR hours on Saturday, but then I only practiced an hour and a half on Sunday. I had dropped my daughter off at volleyball practice at 1:00, but then she got sick, so I had to go pick her up and take her home. And then I had to be back at the gym (about 20 minutes away) for a 2:30 parent meeting, and then I had to do the week's grocery shopping on my way home. So I pretty much drove back and forth yesterday from 12:30 to almost 4:00.

Because I had a sick child, I made a big pot of homemade creamy chicken noodle soup for dinner, which took up a good part of the late afternoon. And then after dinner, we put up the Christmas tree and further decorated for Christmas. By the time all that was done, I only had energy to sit on the couch, pet the cats, and look at the pretty tree while we listened to Christmas music.

I did practice early yesterday morning, though, and I got some good work done. I'm keeping up with my goal percentages pretty well, though I'm still lagging in Blues and have put more into Technique than planned.

I keep thinking I need to adjust those goals, but for now I'm keeping them where they are.

Liszt Cadenza Progress!

Liszt got the bulk of my attention. Good news on this front: The A section is sounding beautiful (still slow), and I worked out a fingering for the cadenza! My piano teacher had reached out to another teacher, who sent him a copy of the two cadenzas with their fingering, and it was so helpful! I ended up using what they had, with a couple of exceptions, and I can now play the cadenza! It's still very slow, but at least now I know what I'm doing and can feel confident that I'm using a good fingering.

Bible of Blues Riffs!

I started the Bible of Blues Riffs course on Saturday! I didn't watch the whole first set of riffs, but I learned the first few. I worked them into my blues improv this morning, and they sound good! I also did a lot of improv with the blues shuffle and the rootless voicings in I-vi-ii-V. The Bible of Blues Riffs course teaches a boogie-woogie left hand that I'm going to start using as well. It was a good weekend for blues, even though I'm still behind on my goal.

Jingle Bells Rags Problem Areas: Solved!

Jingle Bells Rag got quite a bit of attention as well. It's sounding good at about 90, and I worked on the few problem areas as planned.

Czerny Coming Along!

I worked on Czerny both days, and I'm really enjoying it. I didn't think I would, but I guess I forgot that I'm a weirdo who thinks technique exercises are fun. Exercise 1 is coming along, and I should have it at a pretty good clip in time for my piano lesson next Tuesday.

Entertainer Octave Breakthrough!

I had a bit of a breakthrough with The Entertainer! I kept flubbing the octaves, particulary the ones that include the third in the right hand. I learned that if I push my hand forward into the keys (kind of a "punching" motion), the force spreads my fingers just enough that I can hit the keys cleanly. This wouldn't be good for playing lots and lots of octaves because (1) it would make my hand tired, and (2) it results in a punchy, staccato kind of sound. But it's find for The Entertainer--there aren't too many octaves in a row, and the punchy sound is perfect.

No Solace Video, Very Little Maintenance :(

I did not make a Solace video, and I didn't spend a lot of time on maintenance pieces this weekend. I would have on Sunday if I'd had more practice time, but alas. I'm just happy that the first part of the Liszt is starting to come together.

I will try to post some videos of my progress over the next few days.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rusty Lock and Key

I'm in a room. There's a door in front of me. On the other side of that door is a whole world of adventure and imagination and joy and delight, but for the moment, I'm locked in this gray little room. The door itself has a lock that is all rusted. I've tried to open it in the past, but I've never gotten very far. Sometimes I try to scrape the rust off the lock. I also have a rusty old key that I occasionally try to polish. Each time, after I've made a little progress, I'll put it into the keyhole in hopes of opening the door. It turns a half a millimeter or so, but the brief excitement at my progress dies quickly when I realize, once again, the lock isn't opening. I set the old key aside, and from there I can forget about the door, the lock, and the world outside, for months—years, even. But then something happens—I hear birdsong, or I catch a glimpse of color—and I pick up the key and start picking away at the stubborn rust. That dark little room is my ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Amazing Practice Tracker 2.0: Leveling Up My Piano Game

(Apologies for the cheesy clip art. I needed to come up with something, or the Blogger template would show a fuzzy, overly-enlarged snippet of the first chart below.) When I showed my husband my piano practice tracker, he said I should market and sell it. Ha. It’s not for sale, but I’m excited to share how this tool has transformed my practice—and why it might inspire all three of my readers. Since my last post about the Amazing Practice Tracker, I’ve made it even better. Here’s a peek at how it works, using my June data. All The Pretty Colors, All the Pretty Winners My tracker now sparkles with color: darker shades for active pieces, lighter ones for maintenance, technique, and sight-reading. Each day, the piece I practice most gets a bright yellow highlight—a little “gold medal,” if you will. (Click image for a slightly larger view.) A leaderboard automatically shows the day’s top piece and time. And if that isn't enough, I keep track of the month's leaders--specifically, ho...
Post a Comment
Read more