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Jim - I think your work on the lead sheets must be alot of fun. I still haven't made any progress on improvising with the left hand other than playing block chords. Bor-ing ho hum... ah well, it is on my list of aspirations!
I tried to google your Chopin work and what I came up with were pieces that seemed to be 22-24 minutes long....?
Somehow that doesn't seem right - any chance of you posting a link to the right piece?

FarmGirl - playing after a few drinks? ha! I don't even play if I feel a wee bit tired. With alcohol I'd be a total mess. It does sound like you had fun though!

rmaple: I attribute the success in the lesson to two things. One was that I really did a lot of "small measure focus" practice on my pieces - so that I had gone over and over and over and over the same bits and new them very well. The other was that when I sat down to play for the teacher, I hummed (in my head) the first few bars -realized NO! That's too fast!!!! - slowed down my humming and THEN, in sync with the slower pace, started up. I didn't play 100% error free -but very close!

I like what alcohol does to expressiveness Of course, that's offset by lower accuracy and memory lapse, leading to very interesting interpretations. (But don't drink too much.)

I'm still making lots of mistakes during lessons, though occasionally I get a random flawless section and my teacher compliments on that. We're working on Chopin's Waltz in A Minor (the posthumous one). It's mighty hard. The first two weeks I made a mess of the left hand chords - there are huge leaps inside the chords, severely distracting from what's happening in the right hand. In time, it keeps getting better. The other day, mister teach noted how well the grace notes sounded in section B. Yay progress.

This week's lesson, I showed him the new Ludovico Einaudi and David Lanz books I'd ordered. Needless to say, Chopin didn't get anything to say that evening. I played Orbits from In a Time Lapse. A couple mistakes, but he noted how I'm actually reading the music while playing. I don't think he likes how quickly I memorize everything and then stop reading.

Afterward I paged to Experience, noting how hard it looks and it's probably the hardest song in the book. And then he made me play it. Eep! Einaudi must have big hands or something; it has chords spanning a tenth. The broken chords are doable, I guess, but I can't do the block chords. The problem is, the song sounds lovely! It's so hard not to rush ahead of yourself and go attempt all this pretty music.

Allard: I did some work on that Waltz, and I'm getting back to it now after a really long pause.
What I found worked for me was to get the right hand down pat and be really smooth with it - not having to look at either my hand or the music, and then giving myself a chance to look at the left hand to be sure it could land in the right position.

I found the absolute hardest part for me was and still is!!! in the first repeat where you have the big leaps in the left hand and the arpeggio of triplet plus quintlet?? (3 and 5) running all the way up to the high end of the keyboard!

Definitely! Still have a way to go with that part. I -sometimes- get the arpeggio correct, but will probably mess up the left hand part. I often end up missing with my thumb under. Got to practise slowly, every day. But I feel like I'm getting somewhere with the piece.

Kudos to Allard AND rmaple for a playing well at lessons (even if only a few flawless sections). There's just something unnerving about playing for the teacher. That Chopin waltz is deceptively difficult I think. It LOOKS so straight forward but....CAS, I'm sure yours will come together this round.

FarmGirl I can imagine you with a little mixed drink and the out of tune piano...no doubt the piano was honored to be played.

I wish this software would let me go back to previous pages so I can remember what the rest of you have contributed and achieved. CAS, how do you manage to note on everyone?

I'm making slow but steady progress on prep for the exam. The Mendelssohn will be recognizable (maybe better than that). Problem is I must be too tense since I'm getting aching in my wrists.

I have cut myself way too much slack lately Sara. While I appreciate the offer of support for this current trial, I couldn't possibly share it. It's far too personal and multi- layered besides. Each part is very trying but the aggregate of it all has overwhelmed me for awhile. Just trying to cope and not lose my piano magic which has suffered.

I have not had a lesson in weeks but have taken a hiatus from it except at home. Doom & Gloom CUT!!!

I found a great book of Ragtime tunes yesterday at the library. (I may buy it) I've abandoned Glad Cat rag for something new, haven't decided yet what to pick from this book as there are many to choose from here. I've played a bit with Joplin's "The Cascades" and Joseph Lamb's "Ragtime Nightingale". Both of which are more challenging than Glad Cat (a lesson piece) I tried to lengthen and make more interesting. It just turned out to be longer and basically a repeat and BORING after I learned it. The only benefit I got was a real work out of my RH 4th and 5th fingers. I'm excited to explore this new collection of Ragtime music.

So, that's all I'll say about my week(s) of G&D

I accompanied the church's treble choir again this weekend. Definitely my most accomplished performance yet ... but also the simplest. Repetition that minimalists would be proud of.

The Chopin Nocturne is coming along very nicely, extremely promising for the May ABF recital for those persons that person who are is interested! There is still one part that needs some technical work but mostly it's polish - and to a much higher degree than other pieces too.

Bach? Well, he's a hard task master isn't he? Just needs a lot more work. Then some more and then some more. The memorization isn't coming very well either, even after analyzing and understanding the piece. Polyphony is just tougher to memorize I think. At least for me.

Andy Platt: always interested in hearing Chopin

Excited a found a good new teacher in person. First...
The skype lessons really aren't great. There is a lag between the video and audio. For me it was very distracting seeing him struggle to see all of what was going on. It was obviously irritating to him. He admitted skype can't go very far in these lessons. He told me in person is really the best.

So I checked around again. I got lucky. Found a retired band director who is giving lessons. She had one spot I could fit into. So I took it. Geesh...this lady teaches everything...strings, all band instruments, and piano. She says piano is the basis of everything. Can easily play any instrument once you learn piano, right. She doesn't even start out by teaching piano. She teaches theory to start. That's right up my alley. That's the most important part of really learning piano well. Even then. We'll be finishing up my books I have. Then decide. I like that she has a course that contains four books to work out of all at once. Like, one is a workbook. I need to give feedback to learn. The way I've always learned and verified that I got it right.
So I'm looking forward to it.

I also have been exposed to too much of the bad side of society here. Business people are awful. Hoping this will give me a chance to see a better part of SD society. Lessons are at the one big music store in town.

Maybe it was misleading not mentioning that my my husband does'n work in Italy but in The Netherlands. The piano is in the "mensa", but they call it restaurant, and it is quite big. Occasionally recitals during lunchtime are organized, and the musicians are both amateurs working there and some professionals, and so the piano is kept in tune.

Congratulations for you lesson; and regarding my recital, I hope I will not ruin it for my children, messing up our duets...

Um…well, actually, I take notes as I’m reading – or else I open a Word file and type then switch back to PW.

Do be careful about that tension --- you don't want to do yourself an injury!!!

Ragdoll – very sorry to hear that things are so rough for you right now – Best wishes for coping well and getting things to where you want them to be. Your new Ragtime book sounds delightful! Have fun with it!

Andy: Congrats on playing with the choir again – sounds like you’re going to probably be drafted in on a permanent basis soon!


lol… I believe that just may have been directed my way
And YES I’m very interested !
As for the Bach…. I think the music of that period is challenging in a different way than other music – but so much fun to play once you’ve got your head around it!

Ron/rnaple -- I don't deny that theory is useful - but I’m not sure that I agree it is the most important part.
Your teacher sounds interesting!
I think that after piano other instruments would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately the opposite is not true, otherwise after guitar, bass clarinet and clarinet, I’d be MUCH better on piano!

Torquenale – it must be hard having your husband working in a different country! But how very very civilized of his company to have a piano in the “restaurant”. Wow.

And now…I’ve got to squeeze in some piano time!!!

I'm not doing much with the left yet either. She wants me to first be able to play right hand chord inversions under the melody note in the pinky or other unused finger of RH. If you know the melody well its really a matter of getting to the changes quickly enough...still all RH. She has me just playing a block or simple pattern with it in the left, or even a single bass note. I think her gameplan is to later start redistributing some of those RH chordtones to the left, but I'm trying not to second guess and overanalyse it as I normally would.



I usually just open a second PW browser window side by side so I can read and respond at the same time.

I'm on my way back to Phoenix finally, writing this at Newark airport. All expense paid off trip with a hired black car to everywhere treatment cannot really compensate for the fact that I cannot touch a decent piano.

My achievement of last night was to get out of the corporate relationship building responsibilities (drinking with Senior exec's, eating expensive food and having to watch comedy / broadway show etc), was able to go to Carnegie for Jonathan Biss's chamber music performance. The performance was fantastic. It was completely in sync. Really enjoyed violin melody melt into piano. Anyway, i was talking with several old gentlemen around my seat (who all play the piano), discovered an interesting information - Jonathan came from really musical family. His grand mother and mother are both famous musicians. He also have an uncle who is a pianist and composer who teaches at SummerKeys. Yes, Summer Keys. So I looked up Sam's thread and realized that he was taught by Greg Biss, an uncle of Jonathan Biss. Further reading into other thread, I realized Jonathan goes over there sometimes to perform there. Sam, you were so lucky to have him as your teacher. I'm so looking forward to Summer Keys. Did Jonathan perform when you were there?
What a wonderful place.

Lastly I want to add that I was impressed with the crowd there. No one clapped their hands at the end of movements until the final movement is over.

Wisebuff - Congrats on making measurable progress on you exam prep. The technical requirements take so much time. Getting those under your belt is a real accomplishment.

Andy - It sounds like you are really making rapid progress on the Nocturne. It is such a beautiful piece!

rnaple - Congratulations on finding a good teacher that you like. The right teacher makes such a difference!

Torquenale - Playing in a recital is a big step. Kudos for accepting the challenge. Duets with your kids should really be fun!

FarmGirl - the concert sounds like it was excellent. How lucky to sit next to other piano players!

I had an excellent lesson today. I have been having issues with a couple of spots in the nocturne at speed. My teacher pulled out her physiology text and we went over how the muscles in the hand work, and pinpointed the problem! Once I could see how the thumb muscles were opposing each other and restricting 2-3-4, I could solve the problem. We looked at each spot that I get tangled up in the fast section and untangled it. She was very pleased with my progress. I left feeling like I had real solutions and could now play the fast sections confidently. Yeah!

My second AOTW was fixing a slight uneveness in my 2's against 3's in the Arabesque. I learned to count either the triplets or the eighths in the polyrhythm, and switch back and forth without changing the rhythm. My teacher had me record it and listen for evenness. It worked.

That is really cool. I never thought to look at the physiology aspect of piano playing when I run into a technical challenge, but it actually makes a lot of sense!

As far as polyrhythms go, that's a great achievement. I find polyrhythms to be one of my biggest challenges. I always end up with some unevenness, whether it's 4 against 3 (Fantaisie Impromptu) or 3 against 2 (such as in the section of the Chopin Aeolian Harp etude that I'm working on now). It's super frustrating, so congrats to you for figuring it out

Along way down the ladder in 'the process' but, got to Scherzo in my Alfred book and played it within a half hour, yes a very simple tune, but realisation of how far I had come from the start was very satisfying.

Hmm, that made me thinking. I need a better way to respond. Before I did everything with a iPhone, which was very undoable (I've no computer). Now I've an iPad, which isn't great to respond in this thread either when lying in bed. But maybe now with a keyboard....

Saranoya, it would be fun if you come to Amsterdam and we could see each other. I suggest you visit the new renovated Rijksmuseum, which has been closed for 10 years.

Then across the museum, on the corner, next to the concert hall, and next to Broekmans & Van Poppel music sheets at the van Bearlestraat, there's a brasserie.

The brasserie is open all day, so if you come when it's not crowded (not at dinner or lunch time) , you'll have the best view at museum square with at the background the Rijksmuseum.

I would suggest you would have a cup of coffee and a piece of apple pie. PM me, when you visit your sister, I would like to meet. Sounds fun.

Succes on your second movement of moonlight sonata. That's such a beautiful piece.

Dynamobt, glad you have such fun playing in public. I've played in public just once, but that's because I play just for fun and relaxation.

Casinitaly, that your hubby likes the Heller piece, doesn't surprise me. Heller's compositions sounds very nice and harmonic.



lol, congrats for having tuned your first piano.

Dulcetta, you're doing great at the scales!

torquenale, funny that you're the only adult in the recital. I have an old teacher. In the teachers recital, there was only one child, the rest were adults. I guess the students have grown up with her, haha. Your husband works at the university?

JimF, I have the book, the pianist's problems. And it's a very good book at first sight. It is adressing problems when practising in a simple manner. Not abstract, but very well written. Still up to date after all those years.

Farmgirl, you played Brahms with some mixed drinks? Haha, you are good!

Allard, there is no reason to read music when you have memorised it. Your a good reader and a good memoriser. I think your teacher would compliment you with both.

Wisebuff, I have now to screens open, one replying and one for scrolling, reading the topic. With a separate keyboard, it's doable on an iPad.

Ragdoll, I didn't know your nick was a cat breed. I saw recently the ragdoll. What a beautiful cat!

Andy, congrats on your progress of the chopin nocturne. Every step of conquering a nocturne of chopin should be celebrated. It's not easy at all.

rnaple, congrats on your new teacher. Sorry to hear skype lags. If i were a computer programmer, I would program video software just for remote teachers. But I'm not. Just trying to be a simple cook, heh.

SwissMS, sometimes is so hard to relax the thumb when playing fast spots. I try to relax the thumb when doing trillers now, but it's so difficult. And your slowing triads 2 against 3, I have the same problems with it and solve it recently. Guess we encouterd the same problems doing a nocturne.

Stephen300o, the steps down the ladder seems easy ones, but I consider them the biggest steps. Congrats on your play!

-- hmm, I like responding this thread with a separate keyboard on an iPad. Test succesful. --

Made good progress on Chopin's Prelude in E minor. Having an acoustic with real pedal definitely helped! I couldn't for the love of me get into learning this piece when I was using my digital cause the pedal is flimsy and keeps moving around and it doesn't really hold sustain at all unless I keep it pushed. But that obviously doesn't work for this song. This is the first piece I ever had to learn that requires pedal so it's taking a while to get the foot, hands/fingers and my head to all coordinate at the right time. But my teacher said I did a lot better today than last week so I'm happy

Thank you CAS, I'll be OK. Not all our roads are paved but we have to travel them anyways.

Yes this new book is interesting. Right now I'm just playing around in it seeing what the pieces sound like. I still have quite a ways to go on the Canon in D and DBTSG so haven't taken any of them on for serious study as yet. They are a diverse lot too, lots of different composers besides Joplin and some are complicated (for me) arrangements. I've decided to buy it, like I NEED more music

I didn't either Nothing to do with my nick though. I've often wondered how people here get their nicknames. I do the same with vanity plates on cars.