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August Piano Adventures: From Liszt to Louisiana Swing

Hi, piano friends! I’m finally ready to share my August piano goals with you! Over a few lunch breaks, I tinkered with my practice log (yes, my trusty spreadsheet!) and had a little heart-to-heart with AI to figure out what’s doable this month. I’ve decided to push some projects to September and October to keep from overwhelming myself. Here’s what’s on the musical horizon!

America the Beautiful

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm shifting this holiday piece to my maintenance pile, but I'm going to give it a little extra attention for a September 11 performance at an assisted living facility. I’m not going nose-to-the-grindstone like I did in July (whew!), but I’ll polish it a few days a week to have it memorized and at tempo, with all of the improv included.

Liszt, Liebesträume

As I also mentioned earlier, I'm at a crossroads with Liebesträume: Do I prepare it for a Piano with Rebecca B recital, or let it rest? I’m hoping to chat with Rebecca in another week or so to get her wisdom. Until then, I’ll work up to this piece regularly--enough to get the practice I need, but not so much I burn out. If it feels right for the next recital, I’ll dive deeper; if not, I’ll tuck it away for another day.

PWJ Course: Play Lead Sheets with 7th Chords

A year ago, I started this jazz-focused course but got sidetracked by my desire to learn blues and ragtime. Now, I’m back! I’m no aspiring jazz pianist, but this course will be vital for developing my arranging skills. I restarted it yesterday, and I’m committed to mastering all eight lessons over the next few months.

PWJ Course: St. Louis Blues Challenge

Here’s a fresh challenge! I’m tackling Jonny May’s monthly challenge from a few years back. It's the scheduled next step in my PWJ Blues Track, and I’m aiming to wrap it up by the end of the month. Fingers crossed it’s as manageable as I hope--though PWJ challenges have a way of being harder than they seem at first!

Chopin, Waltz in A Minor

This little waltz is my mental practice experiment! I meant to start it last month, but life (and "America the Beautiful") got in the way. This month, I'll be studying the score during lunch breaks at work and will sit down to play it once a week.

Louisiana Pianeaux Rag

Finally, I’m giving this original project some well-deserved attention! I’ll be refining the “You Are My Sunshine” ragtime section and swinging through the “Hey Fightin’ Tigers” stride part. This piece feels and sounds like home.

Maintenance Pieces

My maintenance pile is a whopping eleven pieces, but thanks to last month’s weekly touch-ups, they’re sounding pretty good. I'll continue to work on those each weekend.

How I’m Dividing My Time

I love organizing my practice by style/focus, and here’s my plan for August:

  • Creative (America the Beautiful, Louisiana Pianeaux Rag): 25% -- main focus is improv and arranging.  
  • Technique & Foundations (Lead Sheet course): 20% -- building skills that make everything else easier.  
  • Ragtime (maintenance): 10% -- keeping my Joplin and Jonny May pieces alive and kicking.  
  • Songs (maintenance): 3% -- because everyone loves "Misty" and "What a Wonderful World."  
  • Blues/Gospel (St. Louis Blues, Amazing Grace, gospel improv): 17% -- my soulmate style!  
  • Classical (Liebesträume, maintenance): 25% -- this may change, depending on what I decide to do with the Liszt.

As always, I’ll probably tweak all of these percentages as the month unfolds, but that’s part of the fun!

Why I’m So Excited

I’m looking forward to leaning hard into writing, arranging, and improv this month. It’s a lot to juggle, but every project is moving me closer to the pianist I want to be!

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