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Thoughts on 2025

Yesterday was the Piano With Jonny annual student awards, and I won a ragtime performance award! It was quite an honor because there are a lot of good pianists, including ragtime pianists, in the PWJ community. Most of the awardees had been in PWJ for multiple years, so I felt particularly honored as a first-year student. Here is the clip where they announced the award!

This honor has inspired me to think about my future long-term goals. Barring further issues with my wrist (and elbow), I think I have big plans for 2025.

Ragtime

First, I want to learn three new Scott Joplin rags: Pineapple Rag, Elite Syncopations, and The Ragtime Dance. I want to learn them in that order--in other words, from the easiest to the most difficult. The plan is to average four months per piece, with the hope that Pineapple Rag will take a little less than that so I have more time for the others. These will be more challenging than my pieces from 2024 (Maple Leaf Rag, Solace, and The Entertainer). Not only are they mostly more difficult, but they won't be re-learns for me.

Classical

In the classical realm, I want to master Liebestraume, of course. After that? I'm thinking either Chopin's Grande Valse Brilliante in Eb major, or Schubert's Gb major Impromptu. There are also a few re-learns I'd like to tackle: the Schubert Eb major impromptu and the Bach C# major prelude are two that come to mind. But I'd also like to review some easier pieces -- Bach's G minor sinfonia and his Bb prelude are two that come to mind.

Blues

And in the Blues world? I'll continue working through the PWJ style track, which includes several songs that I can learn. These could include the St. Louis Blues Challenge and Cruella De Vil, which are two that I would want to learn anyway.

Special Projects?

I'm thinking of doing a special one-month project for each month. It could be a PWJ intermediate challenge or a Nina challenge. For one, I'd like to work up a ragtime version of some Louisiana songs I like. And I'd like to continue working on The Old Rugged Cross and other gospel/hymn arrangements. And the classical music re-learns my fit into this category. The special project can't be something that is too difficult.

Monthly Priorities

Each month will have five main focuses: Technique, Ragtime, Blues, Classical, and Special Project. And, of course, maintenance. There is always maintenance to be done. Maintenance is more of a challenge as I master more music, but it's a fun challenge. One goal with maintenance is to eventually have at least 15 songs by memory that I can play at a moment's notice.

So, I'm excited about the year to come. The only negative is my wrist, but I'm going to see a hand specialist on Tuesday. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed/helped with a cortisone shot and/or some physical therapy.


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