"After You've Gone" is Back!

It is so good to be back in "After You’ve Gone." I was a little afraid the three-week break would undo everything, but the first section is still there. I think that’s a testament to the effectiveness of the practice techniques I’ve picked up from Piano With Rebecca B and Molly Gebrian.

This week I’m back in the solo section. The idea here is pretty straightforward: build the right-hand melody mostly from the notes already sitting in the left-hand chords. I really like this approach: fewer decisions, more actual playing.

I made this short practice video yesterday, walking through where I am in the process.

This phase of the AYG journey makes me really appreciate how Piano With Jonny structures things. It’s not that the steps are easy—they’re not—but they’re broken down in a way that makes them doable. First, block the right-hand chords while keeping a steady, blocked four-on-the-floor pattern in the left hand. Then start breaking up the right hand—one or two notes at a time—and see if you can turn that into a melody. Once that feels comfortable, you can return (or not) to rolled 10ths or stride in the left hand. Each step builds on the last.

Right now I’m in that middle phase where it feels like it might work, with a few more practice sessions. Once the chord shapes settle in, I think the melodic ideas will come more easily. Or at least with less staring at my hands wondering what to do next.

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Picking Up the Pieces

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