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Ok, I just can not imagine what this piece sounds like!!! When will we get to hear it? Please, please, pretty please!?

Well all I can say is it's still a festival of flubs and in no way ready for recital posting yet. Though it has the virtue of no 'added dog'

But every day it gets better, so maybe in a couple of weeks on piano bar? (I also still haven't done a tune up, and the top C is diabolical - 2 different notes, both not right!)

I will be watching for it!
(with or without "added dog" )

Yesterday afternoon I hosted a pre-recital get-together/rehearsal for some of my teacher's adult students.

There were four of us, plus some spouses, all strangers to each other. I've got to hand it to Mrs JimF, she laid out a beatiful spread of munchables which, combined with some beverages, really broke the ice quickly. Before you knew it everyone was talking piano in one way or another...practice routines, performance nerves, memorizing tips, how long have you played?, what kind of instrument do you have?.. it was like having PW right in my kitchen!!

Before too long we had chosen an order of performing and headed to the piano room. Everyone played great.....ahead of time we decided we would all go up twice, so that took some of the pressure off and I think resulted in a lighter atmosphere.

I went second and was able to get through the MacDowell piece pretty well. I even followed it immediately with the Ravel Prelude, since I hadn't officially yet chosen which I am playing at recital next week (the Ravel is much easier but I really want to play the MacDowell). There was a lot of oooohing and ahhhing over my piano , which everyone fell in love with. It made me feel very very lucky to have such an instrument to play all the time.

After everyone played twice there was more chatting and grazing at the eats table. Everyone wanted to keep returning to the piano to just fiddle a bit. One woman grabbed one of my jazz books and sight read (haltingly) a Joplin piece, after which I laid on a rendition of Someone To Watch Over Me (I confess I'd been practicing it all week in case the opportunity arose ) followed by The Shadow of Your Smile. This got a rousing ovation, which really made my day.

By the time everyone left we were all talking about doing it again, and maybe not waiting until next year's recital either.
I would encourage anyone who has ever even thought about doing something similar to grab the bull by the horns and just make it happen. There are so many ways this was a positive for all of us in our little group....it seems silly that we had not done it sooner.

Jim

Sounds like so much fun, Jim!

That's great, Jim!

I was actually thinking of doing something a little similar at my house. Though I've only got a digital, so noone will be impressed with my piano. I had a party recently and some of the guests who play piano were suggesting we have a piano salon, where we invite all the people from work who play. I'm a little nervous because a couple of them play really well, but I think I will go for it anyway. They are nice people; they realize I've been playing less than a year. Perhaps I should consult Mrs JimF about refreshments!

My achievement of the week has been to get some of my old pieces back. I've been taking it kind of easy because of my wrist pain problem. I could play the old pieces without pain before, so it seemed worth trying to get them back now (I'm a little shocked how fast I forgot!). So for the salon, I will probably play 2 minuets and a gavotte (this is my current piece, which is almost ready). They're all about a minute long.

I tried very hard to record after work today but could not by 9 PM EST. But i learned a lot by listening to my recording. I will record mine within a couple of days and post it to piano bar. My husband was home early and it made it difficult. At times I wish he would play golf or something. I understand golfers get out of the house hours at a time.

My "achievement" is that I realized that not everything in life is perfect. So, I posted to the recital even though I was half sight reading (so there are a couple awkward pauses) and the piano is so out of tune I'll bet many of the listeners will shut it off during the first measure. I decided that I don't care. I want to participate, and that is what I have available right now. When life gives you lemons, force everyone else to eat them

Jim, that sounds like so much fun. And the good thing about your get together is that everyone is able to participate at their own level. I've had music parties, but have invited friends who play other instruments/piano/and have tons more experience than I do. I often end up feeling on the fringe because I can't keep up!

MaryAnn, congrats on getting your old pieces back! - Do be careful with the pain --- you don't want to create a long-term problem.

FarmGirl, I'm sorry you couldn't get your recording done. Can you not negotiate "recording time" with your hubby? Get him to take the dogs for a long walk maybe
I'll watch for you in the piano bar!


Sam , I doubt you're giving us lemons, but if you did...I'll make a lemon meringue pie! Look forward to hearing your submission (you really did squeak it at the last minute, didn't you?)

FarmGirl, commiserations. Looking forward to hearing it in piano bar.

MaryAnn,



Go for it. The piano doesn't matter. And I wouldn't worry too much about some folks being more advanced....they were beginners once too and are usually supportive of newer players. Also, it is a good thing to watch and hear better players...you will see that they make mistakes just like we do!

I you are still worried about it, you could start with a smaller group of just 3 or 4 people that you think are closer to your level.

It occured to me while thinking about my get-together that people come to PW seeking support for what can be a pretty solitary and even isolating journey (learning to play). The get-together with like-minded souls traveling the same path is just a real world analog of what we already do in the digital domain online. As you might expect, the analog version has a certain richness and unevenness that actually adds to the experience, IMO.

Sam - that is indeed an achievement. Maturity strikes again!

JimF - what a great story. The Denver piano party I got to go to was so much fun, and I'm really looking forward to the next one in June. I'm with you, if folks can possibly swing it it's worth the time!

Cathy

My achievement of the week was to get in really productive practices yesterday and today. At least they felt like productive practices--they were late morning practices--I'd had my coffee and I was physically and mentally ready to play.

Sometimes you just have to practice when you have time to practice, but--for me--it's a matter of treading water when I'm physically and mentally exhausted.

JimF, congrats on pulling off the piano party. And you played The Shadow of Your Smile! I'm working on that one myself. Which arrangement do you play? I'm playing my own arrangement of Joe Whitehead's (Studio Joe(?)here on PW)arrangement. I took his jazzy version and made it a little more traditional.

My achievement of the week was to figure out what was causing my hands to trip up while trying to practice sixteenth note runs over some piano chords. It turns out, I just had to pick my hand up and reposition it. It sounds so simple when I write it out. Now I can focus on speeding things up.

What a great and inspiring thread!

Congrats on your Piano party, Jim. It sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to do something like that here. I think we all need the opportunity to play in front of other people, and its great to be able to turn piano into a social opportunity!

I had my first piano lesson in six weeks yesterday. First my teacher was on vacation, then I was on vacation, then it took a couple of weeks to get back on her schedule. I am so impressed with this teacher. I think sometimes teachers do not take "older" players seriously and let them get by with mediocre playing. Not this teacher! It is not right unless it is right! I really appreciate her for that. If I could incorporate everything she tries to teach me, I would play really well. I will someday.

When I first placed Chopin Nocturne in Eb major my teacher had said it sounded too waltz-y. Now she is pleased with my playing of it, and it can go it my "maintain" stack. Yesterday I played Chopin waltz in C# minor, and she said it sounded too Nocturne-like. Oh well. So, my achievement was to learn how to play the LH from the arm better to get the short bounce in the 2-3 beat without my fingers moving off the keys. By the end of the lesson it sounded like a waltz again. The second achievement was mastering the "small" hand position enough to play the fast Alberti base sections of Mozart Rondo from K545 at speed without much finger motion.

I am continually reminded what a difference a good teacher makes. I would have never figured out these techniques on my own. I cannot thank her enough!

Would you mind explaining to me what you mean by a 'small' hand position?

Your performance of the Andante was excellent, btw, in the 26th recital. Very controlled and error-free throughout. Well played!

My achievement of the week didn't involve a piano......I finally hooked up with that hot chick at the bank.....

Stubbie - It is a Dan Coates arrangement from this book Top 50 Jazz Standards He seems to have a knack for making approachable arrangements that still have a pretty rich feel and sound.

For 2 weeks straight I've been playing an hour of arpeggios, scales and other technical exercises and also I've been ironing out the Haydn sonata for my final exam, I am proud of the progress I made and hope to do good on my exam, it's a fast movement and I wish to make a good impression during the exams. (I will be examined by a committee of 3 professors) I know they will probably cut me some slack since I am new to the piano but I want to prove to them them that I am serious about my piano studies. Also the excuse that I've been playing for 2 years is no longer viable since next year I will study chamber music and then I can't afford to be bad at it since it involves playing with other musicians and it won't be fair to them to drag them down with me. It's my own fault I started this late and I have to catch up fast.

Also I am playing some 4 hand arrangements of 3 piano preludes by Chopin next week I have only a week to prepare them and if I manage to pull this off I will be extremely happy with myself, since it has never before taken me any less than 1-2 months to play something decently. The notes are easy but it will be a sight-reading challenge since I have to play with notes in front of an audience with another pianist and one of the preludes is rather fast paced in some parts. (which I already memorized just in case). The cool thing is those arrangements are very fresh a composer from my town who is very famous in Bulgaria made those and this will be the first time they will be performed publicly, this is a huge responsibility.

Teodor, this sounds very intense! You're putting in a lot of hard work, but it sounds like you are making very good progress. Keep it up!