Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Achievement of the week - what got you excited?

For my AOTW, I have found my way back to the piano (and hence Pianoworld). I think this forum is what gives me the occasional much-needed kick to get back to practicing, particularly during this time of the year when we are approaching the end of the school year and I get so hung up about work I tend to put other things on hold. I have thus finally made progress on my latest piece, Marriage D'Amour, which is nice. I do wish I could improve on my Fur Elise much more though, it is still far from what I want it to be. =/

On a side note, I'm thinking of going to MOYD to help me stay focused on my practicing. It is still a thought for now though...

My AOTW is to be back on track with enthusiasm.

After a really hectic July during which I was travelling a lot and super busy, and only getting in the bare minumum of time at the piano, the last couple of days I've been immersed in my music!

Last week, I wasn't even interested in touching the piano - it was an effort to sit and do anything. This has almost never happened --- sure there have been times when I've felt discouraged and it was hard to get motivated, but I've never felt un-intersted before.

Fortunately this week has come with a complete change in spirit!

I managed to get my submission done for the recital, and now I'm looking for a new piece to get started on before lessons resume in September - as well as polishing and maintaining pieces I was working on with my teacher back in June.

We have a bit more travel coming up so I'll be missing a few more days of piano time, but ......we will be on a long awaited holiday with good friends, so it is well worth a few days without piano.

My achievement of the week is completing all my theory exercises - all 200 pages. Actually, it took a whole month not a week. The price I paid is that I practically did not touch the piano the entire month of July plus a week.

(I did sneaked in a bit of time to submit for the recital though....)

At yesterday's lesson I passed 4 of the final 12 pieces in order to "graduate" from Faber's Level 2 series for Adults.

The really nice news is that once I'm done with Level 2, my teacher will start introducing classical pieces (original form) that are consistent with my current abilities.

Although there is no official measurement of when someone moves from the "late beginner" to "early intermediate" level, I'm thinking that passing Faber Level 3A will get me there, which should doable within the next 6-12 months. Level 3A also seems to be consistent with RCM Level 1, which I've always thought of as the exit point for "beginners".

The reality is at this point in my life I may never get out of the intermediate level, which is perfectly OK with me. My original goals when I started 11 months ago have almost been exceeded already, so...

I had a similar experience. We took a three week road trip (a giant loop from roughly the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and back). Re-entry to 'normal' life wasn't easy. My piano practice was perfunctory at best for about a week. But I'm back on track, though finding it difficult to find time to practice (yes, I'm retired, but, well, life is full of stuff that *needs* to be done and that I *want* to do ).

Week 126: Another quiet week with limited practice time for me. I do a couple of takes recording for the recital. Eek, so far, not so good. I will likely go with the best that I have by Monday.

A belated happy birthday to CarlosCC. Another Leo. Four proud lions, just in this thread.

BrianDX,

Don't sell yourself short. You may be very surprised by how far you can progress. In my view there are very few walls between you and more advanced repertoire that cannot be scaled with a combination of consistent, mindful practice and decent mentoring guidance.



No AOTW. It was a downer week for me. On Wednesday evening I first noticed some pain in my left wrist and hand. By Thursday morning I couldn't as much as scratch my butt left-handed without screaming. I believe it was a non-piano activity last weekend and again on Wednesday, plus some heavy arpeggio work that was the cause. Obviously I immediately stopped playing left-handed. I also started icing and taking anti-inflammatories. As of Sunday morning I can finally pick something up or open a door without wincing, so I'm hopeful whatever I did just temporarily exacerbated my existing carpal tunnel problems and isn't permanent. Currently reluctant to even try LH, and plan RH only practice at least through mid week. Sigh, clearly a setback.

Big Big Achievement! I survived the Rally, unscathed!
As far as I know. We've only had three accident fatalities this year. One of those seems to have been a stroke or something. He just ran off the road, all by himself.

They have had many injuries from fighting. One, a guy tried to run over a guy with his bike. Doh!

I've been able to keep my windows open this weekend. No 24hour scooter noise. Numbers are down. Probably because next year will be awful. 75th anniversary. They're expecting a million scooter tramps. May God help us.

Thanks for the kind words. Perhaps it is bit early to set career limits at this point.

Best of luck with your short-term setback. A few days off should do a world of good.

Barbaram--I've kept a piano practice notebook for several years now (it's in my blood--I had years and years of keeping a laboratory notebook) and find it very satisfying to see the pages mount up. I hope you find a format that works well for you.

musicalinfinity--welcome back to the piano. MOYD is a great "nudge" to keep you playing through the rough waters. Give it a try!

8Octaves--good on you for getting through the theory exercises. It should pay off in spades.

rnaple--Ah, Sturgis. We were through the area several weeks ago and already the motels were full.

BrianDX--I like your take on your piano journey--there's pleasure and a sense of accomplishment no matter the level. Intermediate is a fine place to be; beyond that--gravy.

JimF--Any hand pain is a worry. Hope you have speedy healing.


AOTW: A few days ago I had my last lesson with my summer piano teacher (my other teacher takes the summer off). My summer lessons were fantastic. My teacher took me seriously as a student (something I'm not sure my other teacher fully embraced) and kept me on my on my toes.

At my last lesson (a couple of days ago) with my summer teacher, I asked her for some guidance about where she thought I should go next with pieces. She jotted down what she thought would be appropriate for me to tackle in the near future. She suggested particular pieces by Bach, Clementi, Kuhlau, Schumann, and Chopin.

Her belief that I was ready to play some of those pieces was a real confidence booster for me. I'm all charged up and ready to go!

Thanks Sand Tiger!

Well, no AOTW for me this time. Other priorities are occupying my mind and I don't have any will to play piano. I try to - I know that playing piano is good to relax -, but I stop at the end of 10/15 minutes... C'est la vie.

Wishing u quick recovery.

No achievement at all. Just chugging along with my Schubert piece. The good thing is my hubby passed his PMP exam. It means now I can practice at home rather than at school. Yay!

I decided to part with my duet partner after 8/28 piano club performance. She is a perfectionist, negative. and I don't have time to duet every month. I made a mistake to play my solo piece last week to her because she wanted to know what piece I'm doing for the master class. I also made a mistake to invite her to my studio class since we have a new piano. The Schubert piece is assigned to me long time ago but could not work on it due to number of reasons (forum recital, a couple of Chopin recital due dates and Chamber music workshop prep). So I really started on 7/21 to be exact. I was happy because I could somehow play it through without stopping now, but of course, it's not done. She started telling me literally 10 minutes before I go up and play the piece in front of the class, "I was thinking maybe that piece is too difficult for you. Why don't you pick something easier". I said, "C'mon, I'm only playing the piece two weeks. It is not my choice. My teacher picked it me. She knows my strength (baroque and classical) and weakness (romantic and newer). She picked Schubert because it's the best piece for me to get into romantic period given my background". The duet friend ignored my comment and pressed on, " I have easier pieces for you and I will help you learn". Of course my answer to that is "No thank you. I have a teacher". I was fumed on stage and difficult to concentrate on the piece. I somehow played it through it but I totally decided then to get rid of her, who would need this much negativity. I don't like her acting like my teacher. I don't like anyone telling me something about yesterday's playing right before I perform. For one thing I am not so keen on her performance. She is better than me but I like moving performance with overall musicality. She also has practically zero theory knowledge. I can't believe she wants to teach me. I recently suspected of her trying to have me as her student. She told me her husband wants her to make money with her piano. I could not believe that she thought I would switch to her. I have a great teacher. I thought it was so odd that she cooks meal every time I go to her house saying how much she enjoy teaching. I usually don't practice for duets. She says,"Oh how can I make you practice!" I'm like "what da F**k is dat! I'm not 5 years old. I thought this woman was delusional. I looked at my face thinking that it might say "teach me! I need help".

I of course told my teacher about this incident. She told me that I'm doing fabulous. It's going to be great. She also thought it was a good idea to get out of the duet thing after the current month piano club performance. Who needs so much negativity.

Just clarification - she is a good person. Just too judgemental about others performance. As long ad I don't do duet with her, it's fine.

Sorry for the negative post. But I needed to vent.

FarmGirl, being able to bring an end to a difficult situation is itself an achievement. Congratulations to you, and have a wonderful time with the Schubert.

Heather, thank you. I would record this at the end of the month and share in PC member recording. This is my first master class and working hard on it everyday. The master class is on 9/7.

FarmGirl... looks like you need support.
I'd feel sorry for your ex duet partner. When people are like that. It's a definite indication of them not getting any better. That attitude is what is stopping them. Poor things don't even know it. It's true in everything.
Wish you the best. Hope your Master Class turns out good.

Wise words, I totally agree.

JimF- I hope your hand heals quickly. I did something similar doing arpeggio practice a couple of months ago. I learned to be very careful!

FarmGirl - That sounds like a very unpleasant experience. Good for you for handling the situation well.

Well, I am listening to my piano being tuned right now. I was out of the country for several weeks, and when I returned my piano sounded like it had mourned being left alone for so long. It sounded really sad. It should be joyful after its tuning. Then, hopefully, this afternoon I will be able to record my quarterly recital piece!

I had a very nice realisation about my playing yesterday, that I will call an AOTW. Some how while I wasn't looking, my right hand stopped leaning toward the 5th finger, developing a better balance, and my runs became effortless. I have focussed on this for months, but I just could not master it. I think all of the slow scale work and classical era music is paying off at last. I still have a long way to go, technique wise, but it is nice to see progress!

Jim and SwissMS.
Thank you for your kind words.

Jim hang in there. I admire you continue to practice with the hand that can.

SwissMS - nice! It's such a moment to notice progress! Your diligent practice seems to be manifesting itself. I gotta work on my technique too!