Piano practice blog focused on stride, ragtime, blues, and more, with daily notes on technique, repertoire, and the process of learning music more deeply.
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Ode to Joy, Day 13: Finding Patterns in the Chaos
Happy Saturday, everyone! I’m on a bit of a piano high: a good experience at the assisted living facility on Thursday, then a TikTok Live with a friend last night. And this morning I finally shared my weeks-old You Are My Sunshine video on a few platforms, flubs and all. I’m tired of being my own worst critic. So I posted it, and the response has been very kind.
Anyway, enough coasting. Back to work!
Day 13
In my journey through the Learn New Repertoire Faster Challenge at Piano with Rebecca B, I’ve reached Day 13 of Jonny May’s stride arrangement of Ode to Joy.Today's assignment was to begin a three-day revisit of Batch 3 and continue with Batch 4.
Batch 3 and 4 Work
I started with Batch 3, drilling two- and four-measure sections: five minutes each, then three minutes each, all in random order. To choose the next section, I numbered them lightly in colored pencil and pulled a number from a jar.
Then I moved to Batch 4 using the same basic format, except all the sections were just two measures each (because Batch 4 is hard. Also because it’s only eight measures long).
Batch 4 is still very much a work in progress, but it’s logical once you see the patterns. You start on a four-note G major chord, then move to A minor, then B diminished, all in root position. After a brief stop at what looks like D major, you land on the final four-note chord: E minor, also in root position.
Despite the crazy accidentals dressing up the chord movement, that's essentially what's happening. Or at least that's the framing that helps save my sanity and makes the passage understandable.
Where I Am Now
Today is my last day on Batch 4 (for now), so I may review it one more time this evening. I thought I had one more day on it (as mentioned in the video), but I don't.
Batch 3, meanwhile, is sounding quite nice. I played through it a few times at $100 tempo near the end of practice. Naturally, when I made the video, I tripped up and the timing wasn’t perfect. But I’m not worried. My fingers seem to know where to go now, and the cognitive load has dropped considerably.
And that Batch-3 red section that I whined about so much in the video for this blog post? It's now my favorite part to play!
Here is the video where I talk through a few things and play the not-quite-perfect Batch 3 at $100 tempo.
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