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Wow Cheryl. I bet you are glad that ‘recital’ is over! You work so hard in you Anxiety Party experiences so this must have been doubly devastating. I can only imagine since the only recital I’ve done is the on-line Debussy one 😐 and that was nerve racking enough since I’ve Never recorded anything either. I do play for one friend who is a concert pianist and she is sooo encouraging. I’m even thinking of asking her if we can sort of try a performance anxiety group here. I’d Provide the wine!
Glad to know your eye surgery was successful. I need my ‘piano glasses’ to read the score these days. (surgery isn’t an option). Wouldn’t it be nice if that clarity transposed down to fingers!
Being a complete ignoramus about different piano related performance ‘ladders’ what is EPP? It sounds quite important !

Thanks Wisebuff, Giacomo, FarmGirl and Palmpirate.

It was certainly a learning experience...
I honestly don’t know if I want to try more recitals. I will think about it but what I want more is the “gather round the piano and sing together “ or piano party experience.

Palmpirate: The EPP is very important- and you’re participating too!
It’s the European Piano Party! I am so looking forward to meeting you in person!

No dah! (as my kids might exclaim) Yes, I will be at EPP! really looking fwd to meeting up. I’m sure it’s going to be terrific - read that as terrifying! But with a very selective and sympathetic audience.

I’m following that weekend with a trip to Vienna and have lots of concerts booked up most evenings - Carmen and Mozart’s Requiem to mention two. Traveling solo until meet up in Milan on Sept 20th. Anyone live there or got any ‘must do’ suggestions? Got most tourist sights covered but want to explore the Vienna Woods where Beethoven spent some summers! Know any good ‘music’ guides? maybe I should check the EPP thread!

And yes, my AOTW was to post my Debussy recital. Now for a change of direction.....

I live near Milan.
I will be starting work again after the EPP but I won’t be at my full work load.
Send me a PM or email with more details and let’s see what we can organize!

Cheryl - been there, done that. Be assured that it wasn't the conditions that were upsetting - you could play in those conditions had you *expected* them! It was the being blindsided by them that was so distracting - and particularly since those conditions seem to imply - and, in this case, were - so disrespectful. The hard part at that point is that it's so easy to take the disrespect personally. Never mind that it wasn't about you at all - when you're under some stress anyway because it's a new experience around mostly people you don't know it's doubly hard to suddenly deal with it in addition to the normal playing in public nerves.

At least that's my take on it, having been thru exactly that kind of neglect and indifference more than once at assisted living/memory care units. And it's still hard to not suddenly feel deflated and depressed. That you played in spite of it - that's a huge accomplishment in self-confidence. Yes, self-confidence and good prep - in pulling yourself together and playing anyway. What a job that was! Excellent.

You know, we're not pros, and we're not nearly as experienced as they are in dealing with stuff like this. I don't know how my brother gets thru nights when he's sick and can barely sing, or nights when for some reason a crowd doesn't turn out, or the drunks that sometimes get so out of hand the bouncers have to keep them from knocking equipment over or starting fights. But he's a pro. He has 40 years of experiences to fall back on.

So I think you were hugely accomplished. Good for you. You can even feel relief at the EPP!

Hi Cathy - thanks for highlighting that aspect of being blindsided. I agree with you ---- in public speaking it's "easier" to deal with the unexpected because you can pause, you can modify , you can change your approach -- and I have experience with that, it doesn't throw me off in the least. Plus, playing at the café is REALLY noisy - and I can deal with that -so yup, the unexpected was very much the problem. And I just don't have enough piano experience to cope with the unexpected (dare I say "yet"? )

I just had my last lesson of the year, and I am still struggling with the 3 over 2 in the Nocturne - I told my teacher, (as we have been working on this for weeks) -- "Today, for the first time, I really feel frustrated". I just feel like I'm never going to get there. He was very supportive and we worked and worked on it again.... I hope it sticks.

For the first time ever, he said if I had trouble over the summer to let him know...... I thought that was really nice - I don't feel "abandoned" to struggle over the next three months by myself.

Cathy - Hi! Nice to see you over here. What are you working on these days?

Cheryl - Keep plugging away at those 3 vs. 2's. Many times I've struggled with them for months and then suddenly they are internalized and seem easy. Also, it seems the more times you encounter them in pieces the quicker/easier it gets navigate them.

It's been a long time since I have reported any AOTW. Yesterday, as I was wrapping up my practice session, a delivery person for Instacart came to the door, where she was greeted by my wife. While they were yakking and unloading groceries 30 feet away, for some reason I just started to play... no music on the desk. Before I knew what happened I had played through Clair de Lune in its entirety without stopping. Now, I've been working on CDL all year, so maybe not such a big deal..... but for me it was. First because I have reduced practice time a lot and truly wondered if I'd ever finish another piece (not that CDL is performance ready, but you know what I mean). Second, frustration trying to self teach CDL was what drove me to get a teacher nearly 10 years ago. Starting in on it this past January was the first time I'd touched it in all that time.

I still have a ton of work to do on it, but yesterday I realized that it is basically falling into place. With time, I will have the opportunity to make it my own. That felt pretty good.

That's a great milestone, JimF. What a cool achievement! Doesn't that cause you to wonder about the hows and whys that make events like that happen? And, what a boost to your optimism!

Here's something that helped me -

3 vs 2 you say:

Not Diff-i-cult
R----R----R
L--------L

And for 4 vs 3 you say:

Not Ver-y Diff-i-cult
R----R----R-----R
L-------L------L

Think I got it from someone on Piano World.....

Neat. I wish that would happen for me! I follow your story almost exactly. I learned CDL way back when as a young teen, and took it out again 40+ yrs later when the Debussy Recital was announced. To my horror I had learned a whole lot of bad things and knew it would be a labour of love to rectify it, so I did the Prelude instead. Now that that is over I took CDL to my lesson and we went through it with a fine toothpick....... It's going to take some intense concentration to put it straight back together. I guess I was with a teacher then - who wasn't really a teacher - and was happy that I hit the notes no matter how.....But I'm older and wiser now (!) only I hope I've got the kind of patience I need.... It's too beautiful a piece to let go.

My AOTW is to be almost ready to let Collines d'Annacapris rest a while. I've pretty much got it 'under my fingers' in that I know what's going on and basically what I'm aiming for. Now I just get exhausted and frustrated with niggly little bits that are driving me crazy. Time for a break. Teach agrees since now he is just picking out stuff to go over that I already knew he would. Take a break then go at it again with renewed energy.

Giacomo! That’s a great accomplishment! Good for you!

That’s a piece I have looked at a bit but never really tried. Maybe it’s time to put it in my study list! You’ve encouraged me to think about it.

Palmpirate- thanks for the tip. I know there are different little phrases for the 3over two- but I couldn’t remember where I had read them to look them up.

I will give yours a try.

Sounds like your teacher is a perfect fit for you at this point in your piano life!

Yesterday I pulled out a guitar book- for the second time in the past couple of weeks, and played through a number of pieces just using the chord symbol as a guide for the left hand.
I was really surprised at how much faster I was at finding the chords this time, and how much easier it was to work on inversions that “fit” and were easier progressions.
Interesting!

C and Palmpirate


Arghhhh, had a longer response and lost it.

I have posted the not diff i cult before. It worked great for me.

CDL is definitely one where having the notes is just the beginning

Ralph,

Yes! as they say " ain't life a hoot!" The older I get the more I appreciate that sentiment.

From now on, I'm going to alternate "Not dif i cult; Ain't life a hoot! It's all we've got!"

My accomplishment for the week is attending a concert at Trodlhaugen and falling in love with Grieg's Norwegian dances and lyric pieces all over again.

Love it! I've used the much more boring
George Wash-ing-ton
R______R________R
L___________L____

I struggle to keep it even when it's 2 in the right and 3 in the left though!

Ah, and I see that this post will mark my v. important AOTW - my 1000th post on PW

At my second lesson my teacher asked me to play the LH melody of 'when the saints....' that I had not looked at before. I actually did pretty decent and she complimented that I'm a pretty good reader for this stage. That is encouraging because I have a looooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg way to go!

Yeah Progman! Take every opportunity to celebrate each success. In fact, I will pat myself on the back for conquering just one measure that was giving me grief. A congratulatory word from a teacher? That is a true AOTW in anyone’s book

After one year of lessons, I changed to a new (and wonderful!) teacher about 2 months ago, and yesterday for the first time she wrote “good progress!” in the weekly notebook! For my reward we turned the page, adding exercises no. 3 and 4 in Czerny-Germer. She also gave me a new piece to learn; now I have three! I’m working on a C major Prelude from Bach’s Little Preludes, and the first two pieces from Schumann’s Album for the Young. These are very challenging for me, but she seems endlessly patient.

I came to her asking to work on technique, and do we ever! I really appreciate her close attention to even very small details. My knotted aching forearm has unknotted, my speed is increasing, and things are feeling smoother. Eventually the music will also improve!

Lots of congratulations from teachers this week! That’s so rewarding!

My AOTW is actually.... probably my AOT YEAR!!
I did a Zoom hookup with Sinophilia ( and my Mom). - and for the first time. EVER I managed to play Traumerei all the way through without messing it up.
Dare I say I even played it reasonably well?
I did.

I am so terribly pleased!!!!!
After having so much trouble with it at the Nakags party last year I just couldn’t get it to work. But now I have. If I can do it once, I can do it again.