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I don't know it it happens to you guys but I am very sleepy and tired lately every day. Work keeps coming and coming with increasing responsibility. I have to study for a certification exam at work too. Changed piano teacher (she is great by the way), changed church, started Chinese language lessons and wound up increasing the number of friends. Not sure why I am ranting here.. I am a bit overwhelmed. Maybe because I have a party today and not happy that I cannot practice. Instead I have to cook & clean. I don't know why but I am really cheap. I should cater food and/or hire someone to clean my house. But I feel bad about spending money for something I can do.. Have you felt like that? Is there any cure for this?

Sometimes things arround us take control of our day/life. That's a sign that you have too much things to take care/think. The trick is to invert that situation: YOU should take the control of your day, instead of "things" taking control of you. Otherwise you get stressed.
The word "No!" is an ally and money can be a good help.
Take care.

++1

Farmgirl, take some payoff for all your hard work NOW and be good to yourself. Enjoy your piano, enjoy your dogs, and take time for yourself.

Carlos- go for it! Play for 500 people. You play so well, and it would be a great experience!

CarlosCC, what exciting news. You'll do fine.

JimF, you mentioned a while back practicing scales in two, three, four note bursts. I do that. I think some others on the forum do too, as that is likely where I got it from. Though mine are far from perfect, I do different kinds of scale sets to help with hand independence.

Week 23: A good week for me. I feel like I am getting back up to speed after my two weeks away. I created a blog to reference all my uploads, so new people can hear my old uploads and I can find them easier too.

http://sandtigerpiano.blogspot.com/
(this is now my signature my_piano_uploads)

In my new piano blog, I credit the beginner composition thread on this forum as inspiration for my new tune, Simply Beautiful (in C major). The direct link is:

https://www.box.com/s/1ad6bf1f08acbe2ce1a

It has a glissando, which is a first for me both in terms of playing one, and writing one. I mentioned a few weeks back, learning what the word meant and wanting to write something that uses the technique.

Now that the recital upload is behind me, I work on recording some of my short early original pieces with the new used Sony voice recorder that I bought last week. I have more editing to do, and more recording. I plan to wait and upload a batch of five pieces together, and use a title of “five easy pieces” for a medley. I still find it best to record with a direct link from the keyboard to the device without any audio feedback. I think that one reason for this is that if I can't hear anything, I am more focused, and more likely to complete a play through, rather than stop and erase and start over.

The ABF recital is the big event. As usual, I feel small and inadequate when listening to the many complex pieces performed so well. I have to again remind myself that the ABF survey indicates that only about half of survey respondents participate in the recital. Then there is likely another 80% that only read the forum and never post at all, much less record and upload. I remind myself that there are those with much more experience, and those that practice much more than my hour a day. The recital submitters tend to be a self-selective group, where the better pianists tend to be much more likely to participate.

I went window shopping at Sam Ash (a big music store chain). Of the models that I tried, the Casio Privia series seemed most attractive to my ears and budget. I am still thinking to wait until I have at least a year on my 61-key Yamaha NP11 before upgrading. Space and weight are big factors.

I am still reading the 50/90 challenge board and participating in a small way. I came upon some lyrics and a melody line came to me, and I could sing it easily. However, I couldn't find the notes on the piano, not even the key. At times, my mind wants to leap further than my skill and experience can take me. If I find that magic feather (ala Dumbo the elephant in the movie), I can make that leap.

CarlosCC, good luck if you decide to go for it. It sounds like a great (but scary) opportunity!

FarmGirl: good luck with your new teacher. I hope your schedule gets less stressful.

SandTiger: I like reading about your journey each week. I have a Privia. I am hoping to graduate to an acoustic soon, but I'm waiting to hear about my contract at work, but I'm happy with the Privia so far.

(cont.) I was interrupted mid-post

JimF: I'm probably a little crazy taking on another Schumann piece, especially since this one is harder. I'm so hooked on Schumann right now. I don't want to play anything else, because nothing else sounds so pretty. And... maybe my fingers like being tied in knots ;-)

About not practicing: I'm pretty sure my teacher would never ask that of me. When I was really busy in July, I barely practiced most days, and some days it was just a play through of the pieces I was learning or had learned recently.

I played at the music store that rents piano practice rooms again today. I played a Yamaha grand that had a really soft touch, but I liked it. My teacher did not. Her upright Steinway is quite firm. Trills were so easy on this Yamaha- I could go on all day. I am really enjoying trying out different pianos each week.

My achievement this week is learning and memorizing the first two pages of the new nocturne I am working on, including the funky trill variations. The play out after the trills has three variations with three, five or four notes to unwind. Getting the rhythm right on all three variations took some work. So, I will call that an achievement. Of course, the hard part of this nocturne starts after the first two pages...

For those who know about the invitation to play in public:

Next Thursday we'll have a meeting with the HR director where she will explain what is the idea of the show. As far as I know, she extended the invitation to 4 more colleagues. We have:
- A pianist (me?)
- A drummer
- A bass
- A guitarist
- And a player of harmonica.

The mystery thickens up... What will it go from here?

Unless the HR person is a musician, I suggest you have an informal meeting with the other four first, and work out what you can offer her! Only one rule. Everyone may suggest things they CAN do. No-one may list things they CAN'T do :-)

Carlos -- I'd be petrified! But I'm still encouraging you to do it. Do you think they want all five of you to play together? Now that would be something!

SwissMS -- that's the thing I really noticed when playing the grand at my lessons: how much easier the trills were than on my upright at home. It would be funny, because many times I'd come in for lessons saying I needed help with some trills or ornaments, and then when I'd demonstrate, I'd play them fine. Ahh, a Chopin Nocturne. Enjoy working on that!

Sand Tiger -- Do you mean that you have it set up so that you do not hear at all what you're playing?! Wouldn't that be almost like painting blindfolded? I can understand that it might help with the nerve issue, but everything that I've been taught has been that you have to listen to what your playing so you can make the necessary adjustments. Besides, then you miss out on the enjoyment of hearing your music as you make it (one of the best parts of playing, IMO).

JimF -- My teacher hasn't told me to take days off of practice, but it does sound like a nice break - to just play what you want and have fun with it. Let us know if you think it's helping you.

At my teacher's suggestion, I'm taking a little break from some of my more difficult pieces and doing some work on expression. We're using Fur Elise for this exercise. Although I'm not too interested in the piece itself, I'm excited about trying this and very interested to see how it turns out.

I've also had a change in lesson location. I had been taking lessons at a studio, but starting this week, my teacher will be coming to my house for lessons. The biggest change will be that instead of having side-by-side grands at the studio, there's just my one upright at home. I'll miss having the opportunity to play on a grand every week. And I'm not sure how it will work out for my teacher to demonstrate things. But it might be nice to have lessons on my own piano. I also wonder if it will be distracting with all the household activities going on (kids playing, dogs running around, food cooking, phone ringing...) Do any of you have in-home lessons? How does it work out for you?

MaryBee, yes, but this is for recording. After 25 discarded takes of my recital piece, Ashokan Farewell, it came to trying a setup where I couldn't hear while recording. I think it is near equal parts: my perfectionist nature, background noise ruining takes, and nerves from the red dot. Another advantage, is that mic placement becomes a non-issue.

Of course, I listen when practicing, though I do like to play with the power off as part of the memorizing process.

No, HR person is not a musician...
We spoke with each other during a coffe break and our opinion is not too good... We have inumerous different musical tastes and different skills. We don't think that a group performance will work. And some of us don't want to do solo presentations. So, let's see what she want from us.
(I'll do updates about this)
Thanks.

No, no, no, SwissMS The NEXT part of the nocturne starts after the first two pages. The hard part starts when you've finished learning it and taken it up to tempo!!

It's a confidence game.

Hi thank you everyone for your encouragement. I had a lesson with a new teacher. She had a german piano I have never seen before. It is a beautiful piano but very different from mine. Retrospectively, I really should have warmed up when she said to do so. But I did not. So I did not play well. it was amazing that she took me. She has a full time job at the community college and she does not need to take so many private students. So I am honored to get one of the scares spot.

We decided to start on Bach WTC #12 F minor P&F from book II. I really like it. The bad news is that she wants me to bring up the RACH PRELUDE #23-5 to performance speed!! Agahhhhh. I decided to give it a couple of more weeks since she had great suggestions. She is more demanding than my old teacher. You can tell that she is used to teaching advanced students. She told me to bring up the tempo of the RACH prelude from 63 to 84 for a quarter note this week. If it's not possible, bring it up close to 84. She showed me how to take care of tricky spots. I seem to be able to play faster when I use her technique. So far it's good. I was also told to read all the prelude part of the F minor P&F. I have to put all the fingering by myself. She would help me doing the same for the Fugue. Fortunately, this one was not too bad to read.

I am also starting a monthly "free" skype lesson with my girl friend (my first piano teacherin US) who I just saw in CA. It's free because I am experimenting the Skype method with her. I am going to study Brahms intermezzo op 118 with her. My goal is to be able to play this piece by next recital in her studio. I am probably doing too much. One thing I decided not to do is Chopin Ballade. It will kill me.. Both my girlfriend and teacher told me that it would take me a long time. So I feel like the burden has been lifted. It is significantly above my level anyway.

For those who know about the invitation to play in public: Part II

We had the meeting with HR people. Well, after all one of the HR person is connected to music and he plays piano (classic and some jazz are the preferences).

Here are the facts:
- The idea is to play 3 songs in public, as a group, in the annual meeting of the enterprise group;
- There will be a singer.
- The songs are two portuguese pop songs (which I don't like...) and "Let it be" (what????), yes, Beatles...
- the meeting will be in the 1st week of October.

I've decided: I will not accept.
Why?
- First of all, I don't like the list of songs to play, and the list is closed (!).
- Second, one month is too short to prepare something decent to play with people that never played together. There will be 2 or 3 sessions on Saturdays with a professional to "help" us. I don't know who is this "professional" but they told me that is a guy from portuguese TV shows like "America's got talent", or "Idols"... (yes, we have those TV-shows too).
- Finaly, I'm not confortable with the whole idea.

I've decided, but I like to know what do you think about this.

Hi All,

I got the ok to do the A min scale H/T. It may not sound like much to you but this new teacher has taken me all the way back to the beginning. I also got my first two pieces. We each choose one. She choose Bach's Musette in D major and I bought three pieces I would like.

Of the three she suggested the easy version of Tchaikovsky Marche Slav. This last works for me because when I was a 8 or maybe 9 I heard it on the Radio and fell in love with it. Some day I'll play the original I hope or at least give it a good try.


So, Amin scale H/T, two pieces selected I'm feeling kinda chuffed.

As for the viola; yesterday I was finally allowed to draw the bow across the strings. That's only taken 2 weeks. Ye gods! It appears I have a lot of work to do to learn to keep the bow parallel to the bridge. Still it's a beginning

I love it all!

CarlosCC, too bad it didn't work out. Given the setup, I would have made the same choice and said no. I think you are wise to opt out. With a singer, and other instruments, folks would tend to notice the piano only if something went wrong.

Getting the sound levels right for musicians not used to being in a group may be a challenge. Who knows what kind of sound person will work the board for the event? If there is an inexperienced person on sound, it may not matter how good the musicians are.

CarlosCC - i think this is definitely the right decision not to do it. I would also have said no to this. What a bizarre choice of music, and it's a bit unfair that they would make you play together if you don't want to. Perhaps the HR person should play it instead if he/she likes these songs so much...

Pg2 - viola lessons sound very exciting. I wouldn't have the patience for waiting two weeks just to draw the bow across the strings though!!! I'd do it anyway, as I get mad urges to do anything I'm told not to.

I am feeling good about piano this week, as have made progress with my left hand and am getting better at sight reading. Had a nice lesson, was much calmer about my progress and managed to avoid freaking out and getting frustrated with myself every time I did anything wrong.

Um....

Everyone's being very supportive. That's nice.

You're being given the chance to do something musical that's outside your comfort zone. You're being offered coaching by someone who may be coming from a quite different direction than you expect. And this is a request from your employer.

Are you going to run scared? Or are you going to be a "can do" person?

You're exactly the kind of person I'd like to be one day, haha