May-Tenance Month is in Full Swing!

Last night I practiced Misty, the Bible of Blues Riffs, and Liszt! (My beloved Franzi!)

Misty was a little rough, which was surprising, considering I performed it by memory less than a month ago. Alas, I am not a computer. After 15 minutes, however, it was mostly back in my working memory. I'll be working on it 2-3 times a week throughout the month.

Bible of Blues Riffs was VERY rough! I started over from the beginning, reviewing only the one-note-at-a-time riffs for about 20 minutes. I also practiced using the stride style, which was very difficult, as I'm used to playing the blues shuffle. I didn't feel great about my progress by the end of the session, but I imagine it will come more quickly after a few more sessions. This is one of my top priorities for May.

And Liszt! I spent 32 minutes working on the cadenzas. The first cadenza is harder for me. I can play the notes and have practiced them in all kinds of ways--blocking, rhythms, hands separately--but I'm hitting a tempo ceiling at about 80bpm. The second cadenza is much easier to play fast. I spent most of my time last night playing it in rhythms. Both sounded better by the end of the session.

This morning I worked on technique and Pineapple Rag. Here is the "D" section of Pineapple--it's rough, but it's coming back pretty quickly. I'll be ready to work on a different section next time.

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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

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Feb. 9 Practice

My February 9 practice was short and sweet. I worked only on the Liszt, playing in rhythms. Do you know how hard it is to play a piece in rhythms when the LH is even and the RH is all over the place, with 2-against-3 and later with 4-against-9? Don't worry--I'm not trying to be impeccably exact when I'm doing rhythms. And I've discovered what a *rut* I've gotten into with the Liszt. It's so beautiful, and part of me is content just to play it through, again and again, and be done with it. But rhythms are forcing me to look at the seamy underside, at the 0's and 1's that make this piece what it is. And it's not an altogether pleasant experience. But it's waking me up. The beauty of this piece has lulled me into a sort of sleepy complacency when I play it. I think that's why Deborah said not to play the piece through a single time this week. It is so tempting to just play it through and listen to the beautiful music. But when I do that, I'm...

Picking Up the Pieces

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