Skip to main content

No-Practice Thursday (but I did get my run in ...)

Yesterday, January 2, I didn't practice piano at all. Horrors! I was so tired yesterday morning and didn't wake up in time for a morning practice. I'd planned to practice after work and before driving my daughter to her 7:00 volleyball practice, but then they moved her practice up to 6:00, which meant I had to pick up a fast-food dinner for her, rush home from work, and get her to practice. I went for my run while she was at practice (as planned), and then went to pick her up at 8:00. She didn't get out of her practice until almost 8:15, and then I had to stop by Kroger on the way home. When we finally got home, I had to take a shower because I was covered with dried sweat from my run. By the time all that was done, it was almost 10:00 and I was beat. I went to bed.

So, no piano practice yesterday. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I have kept up with my running plan for six weeks now!

Yesterday's run (run 12 minutes, walk 2 minutes, X 3) was my longest yet. It was also my first run in my new running shoes that I bought on New Year's Day. They feel so much better than my old ones. I'm more sore than usual today--I'm not sure if it's the longer run or the new shoes. I feel good, though.

This morning I worked on Czerny because I was behind in my technique percentage. I really want to get back to Liszt after working so hard on Liebestraume over the break. It's not the kind of piece that allows you to skip a few days and then come right back to it. I need to work on it a little (or a lot) every day to internalize it all.

Despite my no-practice Thursday and a volleyball tournament this weekend, I'm feeling positive about the weekend. I will get to practice both tonight and tomorrow morning. I likely won't practice at all on Sunday since we'll be at the tournament. I'm hoping to get a total of at least three hours by the end of the weekend.

I also hope to make a couple of videos to share here soon!

Comments

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 ...

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...

Dance of the Digits

Note: I've expanded significantly on this post over at my other blog, A Sort of Notebook . I am loving Liszt. I love the way my hands have to "share" the melody. I have so much to write on that, but I'm borrowing a computer and don't have enough time to do it justice. Suffice it to say that I've practiced three and a half wonderful hours today, and about two hours on Liszt alone. What I find wonderful about Liszt is that it pushes one hand hard, but not too hard. Then the other hand gets a turn to be pushed. But it's never both at the same time, and never one hand for too long. It's hard to explain. When I have more time to write, I'll word things rather more eloquently, I'm sure. All I can say now is that my fingers feel like they're dancing a wonderful, graceful dance. I've been trying to "play with my body," as my piano teacher says to do, so all of me is dancing. And Standchen, though it still need a lot of work (like, um...