After You've Gone: Accomplishments and Next Steps

I have completed Lesson 4 ("Hands Together") of the PWJ "After You've Gone" course!

Well, not exactly. I completed the first phase, which was being able to get it hands together, no matter how slow. I'm still at a relatively slow tempo, though it's picked up quite a bit in the past week. I was finally able to post this progress video on Feb. 28 (my goal was to have something to share by the end of the month, so goal achieved!).

The next goals for this piece:

Slowly increase the tempo to the 100-120 range.
Practice playing a solo
Possibly work out an intro and outro

Lesson 5 is on soloing. I've already watched it, and it's pretty basic: just use the four notes in whatever chord your left hand happens to be playing. So, if the left hand is on F6, then just play something that only uses F, A, C, and D. Pretty easy. I think the hardest part will be coordinating--switching to the next chord solo in the right hand, and remembering the order of the progression in the left hand.

I'm already doing this kind of soloing for one of my YAMS sections, so at least I have a head start.

The ultimate goal? Have a graduation performance video ready to share by the end of March. Intro, song, solo, outro. The whole shebang. At tempo.

I think it's doable. I've been listening to a variety of "After You've Gone" and other stride recordings, and those are giving me some ideas of what I can do with the intro, outro, and solo.

At the moment, I'm working on something I didn't mention before: pedaling. Achieving that crisp staccato on the off-beat chord. Balancing that with the legato rolled tenths, all while playing a busy, syncopated, right-hand melody with thick chords, slides, and rolls, is a challenge. It's taken a lot of time to develop each of those skills, and now I'm layering pedaling on top of it. But I know that, once I start to get the hang of it, it will become easy and natural, and I'll have learned a valuable new skill that I can use in other pieces.

I'm so excited about this one. I think the real fun of this piece is just beginning!

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Picking Up the Pieces

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