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Thank you earl and Elle. Since I'm experiencing a post event let down, I had gotten more worked up over this than I thought! LOL! I'm glad it's behind me!! On to the Grieg to play it for the first time in my lesson this week!

Lol aTallGuyNH, looks like you've got more work to do with the Mrs than the Hamilton. Sounds like a rewarding project when it's rebuilt (assuming your wife approves). Good luck!

True... once in a while I casually remind her of the contrasting hobbies and other attributes of me vs. her ex-husband. It helps, briefly.

Re: loving the music... She asked me the other day why I don't play for her more often (I've related a similar conversation in another post previously). My answer is always "I don't want you to get sick of it". So I said "I'll play something", and she said "not Clair de Lune please, I'm so sick of it"... Ah-haaa!! That's what I was working on during the phase when I didn't worry too much about whether she was around. No wonder it's the one thing she's sick of -- if I let her hear the other stuff, she'd be sick of that too (not blaming her, mind you).

So I played the intro to New York State of Mind, to which she said the beginning part (the part that is up to speed) was "hot". Woohoo!!

Sounds like confirmation of my "Spousal Avoidance Theory" and strategy, no?


Why would you want both?

For me, they take up the same footprint, so I can swap them out with no impact to the space -- although we did have a discussion re: the confounded plants which the Mrs insists should sit on top of the piano. She doesn't like that the plants will be up so high on the upright. There is one that she has had for 15 years that only blooms one flower each year, and suddenly this year it has bloomed six. I'm getting the credit for this (for playing so much), but it's not helping with my long term goal to keep water away from the piano.

Anyway, any spinet is generally going to be inferior to any upright that is in reasonable condition. I like mine and it's served me well, but if I have a chance to trade up I wouldn't have any desire to hold onto the smaller one.


I've heard others suggest that this helps with rhythm as well. I'm much too self-conscious to do this when others are around. Maybe I could hum instead, a la Glenn Gould?


Thanks... my wife does seem surprisingly on board, but this has given rise to an unanticipated (by me anyway) complication.

My 9 year-old (an innately musically talented girl, but a former piano student with only intermittent interest) does not like to let go of anything... like anything. I can't take her to the town transfer station (the dump, essentially) any more because she freaks out about anything we are throwing away -- she had a meltdown over some cardboard boxes one time.

She's a very tough cookie personality wise, but every once in a while she gets very sentimental and emotional -- seemingly out of the blue.

Anticipating this, my wife had a chat with her about our potential piano swaparoo... and it did not go well. Tears... major tears... how could we get rid of her piano? It's been here her entire life... and so on. My wife feels the same way -- there are many happy memories of the kids noodling around on it from the time they were old enough to climb onto the bench.

Me, I just want an upright.

Still -- this is the part that kills me... I was pulled into the conversation, and at the end of discussing it (the benefits of an upright re: superior sound, difficulty of keeping a spinet in tune, etc. were of no interest to my daughter, naturally) she says "what's the difference? You're just going to get rid of it anyway. You never listen to me when I care about keeping something."

Ouch.

She's prone to drama, has an amazing memory (like the Mrs), and quite possibly has a mental catalog of every discarded cardboard box, and views each one as a personal slight. But still --- ouch.

Not sure what will happen next on this. I'll probably lay low for a few days and see if she softens up a bit. After all, she did eventually get through the grieving process when we had to replace our minivan that we had since she was an infant. We'll see.

The achievements being posted seem more impressive every week. Blindfolded multi-octave jumps? Sitting for a formal year-end review? Hearing the music while looking at the sheet music? All commendable. About half seem to have already posted their recital pieces. I'm sure there are a dozen more posts that I am forgetting.

Week 60: I attend a mini-concert by the Pantoum Trio, cello, violin, piano, playing Brahms. I am so poor at playing with other musicians, it is yet another thing to think about. Other than that, I keep doing my routine. I am at three pieces, the new original, Canon in D, and a simple arrangement of My Favorite Things. For the last, I find it difficult to play as fast as people usually sing it, even with the stripped down arrangement.

I am not all that happy with the state of any of the three pieces. However, I remember my own advice about the recital, that all a beginner has to do, is their best and let the chips fall where they may. Sure, I wish I were better, or could learn faster, but wishing doesn't get me there. I keep my focus on the task right in front of me, not the road ahead.

Sounds pretty cool. Good for you!

Was this at the Academy? I was right there today, checking out the classic car show next door. It would have been fun to hear you perform!

I just looked these up, pretty impressive, especially on the two Chopin pieces.

You'll be doing Chopin Polonaises in no time...

Just skimming through the last page of this thread, wow! people are really moving fast from the last time I was here. I've still been playing and continuing with my lessons, just very busy so no time for reading/posting. The good news: I've just about got the Gminor minuet down that my teacher has had me working on since I started back playing with both hands. The bad news: my ganglion cyst is rearing its ugly head again. I'll give it another week to heal, but if it's still there, back to the doctor I go.

Anyway... nice to see everyone is doing so well! I hope I'm less busy soon so I can keep up regularly with everyone's achievements!

Dynambot - what a wonderful AOTW! Those are wonderful pieces anyone would be proud to have in their repertoire, and to play them so successfully for that particular audience...well, Way to Go! TallGuy - sounds like you've got some challenges in front of you. Good luck! Sand Tiger - You've got the right idea - we just have to keep working in a focused manner and accept that our rate of progress isn't always what we want it to be. I do believe though that over the next six months, if you keep at it the way you have been doing, you WILL see a change for the better. Don't forget how much you're trying to assimilate all at once! Playing with others is very tricky, especially if you're the "junior" member of the group. What I try to do when I get (inevitably) left behind, is to just keep pace with the music and play what I can manage- maybe just the right hand, maybe just the down beat in the left hand. It isn't really satisfying, but I'm still playing along to the best of my ability. **** Having submitted my Heller piece for the recital I'm putting it aside for a bit. I know I can do a bit better on it, but it is time to give priority to another piece and let this one percolate til I reach another level of ability. I think I could play it a bit faster, but that's not going to happen tomorrow or next week! I've started working on the very tricky bits of "First Loss" Schumann, also started his "Sicilienne". I've been working out the Grieg piece (Op12, N3- Watchman's Song) and I think I've got a way to manage the 32nd note arpeggios! .....I think I'd like to try to use two hands ...I wonder how my teacher will react to that! lol we shall see!

First loss is so pretty and sad. Good luck with it, casinitaly! I hope I can learn it HT sometime, but not the way things have been going lately.

Well Tallguy, unfortunately we were playing inside the individual studios. So, if you had come in, you would have had to listen outside the door. I think the major accomplishment that I haven't mentioned was that I strained my back the day before. I can hardly move about. I wouldn't have even thought of not doing this. And it probably wasn't the evaluation that has made my back so much worse. The mowing of the lawn when I got home is probably to blame for that!!! LOL!

The day was enough of an effort to qualify for pizza and beer celebration in the evening!!!

dynamobt - That is a very impressive line up that you played for the evaluator! That really is a major achievement! You deserve your pizza and beer!

My AOTW is getting a halfway decent recording submitted for the AFB recital. It is not perfect, but it is the best I can do at this point of my piano journey. I really appreciate the opportunity this forum offers to do these recitals, because it forces me to polish pieces to a higher standard that I might otherwise do. I think we grow as pianists when we have that kind of pressure. My teacher told me she really appreciates it too! She really enjoyed working on the finishing touches with me.

Not an achievement as such, but I am excited

I am arranging skype lessons with a fantastic Kodaly teacher, which will hopefully give me a great foundation in sight-singing and developing my aural and general musicianship skills to give me a solid foundation for piano sight reading and interval recognition etc. Yay!!!

My teacher called in sick today. Boo! With lessons on monday, a lot of them are getting lost thanks to various holidays around this time of the year. I spent the time productively, though: manned up and got myself a video to go with the recital. Feels good to finish things properly

No stunning AOTW, just steady improvement with all my current pieces.

I had a good lesson today; I think because they are all things I chose to do rather than just the next piece in the lesson book. I guess if I had one it would be that my teacher noticed and commented on my much improved reading of the music.

I gave up on Chopin Etude No 3 about six weeks ago. It is only the first section and because it's in Alfred's AIO Piano Course Book 2 it was misleading that it might be easy.

I guess why it is so difficult is polyphonic pieces are something completely new to me and requires a developed hand independence.

I took it up again a few days ago after renewed confidence in completing a difficult piece (to me anyway) and submitting it for the forum recital.

I knew if I just broke it down into sections and practiced each section, sometimes hands separate and at very slow speeds eventually I would be able to play it. So it's early days but I have managed to overcome a few physical and mental hurdles. I am so happy with the progress and even although I can't play it straight through yet I still feel I have had win.

Be interested to see how this pans out, if you do feel it benefits your sight reading.

Mary Ann - I hope things pick up for you piano wise. First loss is a bit tricky, (for me), but tackling it a few bars at a time is getting me there slowly but surely.

Dynambot - take care of your back!!!!!

SwissMS - congrats on the submission - isn't it nice when our PW objectives mesh so well with our lesson work

Dulcetta: good luck with the new teacher! How exciting!

Ragdoll: Congrats on feeling so much better about your lesson times! That's real success!

Allard: I hate it when I have to miss a lesson - but it does sound like you've made good use of your time!

EarlofMar ---- There's always that piece we want to play ..."but it is too hard to play"...now. Breaking it into bite size pieces as you're doing is going to get you there!

I had a fabulous lesson yesterday - showed my teacher what I'd done on the Sicilienne - and he was pleased with my analysis of what had to be done. I also showed him the Watchman's Song I'm doing for the Greig recital and he liked it. We went over some of the fingerings to make them easier (and in some cases more logical) - and he gave me the historical snapshot of how this piece fits into the big picture. It was very interesting. I also learned that in the middle of my piece the term "Intermezzo" in the score gives a certain amount of artistic freedom to the performer...so I'm a bit more relaxed about those 32nd notes!

I also got some music for a simple duet version of the Radetzy Waltz I'm going to play with the student whose lesson is right after mine. He's 14, and has a fair amount of experience playing duets. I told him he had to be patient and kind

Casinitaly, I just took a look at Greig's The Watchman's Song. What a beautiful piece, just loved the sound of the melody. Good luck with learning this piece.

Hi! I had a very busy week, and it's not easy to find an AOTW.
I realized I'm not able to really polish pieces, there is always one detail out of place (often more than one); my recital is due in 3 weeks (June 1st) and I don't feel prepared. I will not play by memory, I do not want to add useless stress.

Ok, I have an AOTW: I'm really enjoying the Bach Polonaise I'm studying: quite simple, it's taking shape and it's short and relaxing. And I don't have yet to polish it.

If your really enjoying the piece that is marvelous and not having to polish it, how I long for one of those