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

MaryBee I still need to work on certain things, especially my trills. If I can pull it together on Saturday, then maybe I will, and thank you for asking. (although I have to say that I find the idea of an on-line recital much much scarier than a live recital in front of a small group which is what I'm used to) :-)

Definitely. I was nervous about my first recital at my teacher's studio but I realized everyone would "mess up" at some point. But when you record yourself and can keep recording and recording, you feel it's got to be perfect (at least as perfect as you can do).

Luckily I'm starting to get over that

You know, in a way I think it would be easier to do a live recital - you go up , do it, and it is over. One shot.

Plus it isn't recorded for "posterity" lol.

However, I don't know. I've not yet had the opportunity to play "live" except in my own living room ..oh, and in the piano shop !

I guess my achievement is that I did manage to record a piece for the recital. Not the one I'd planned to play, but with my ups and downs over the past 2 weeks I just didn't get enough practice in to smooth it out.

Well, I haven't actually achieved anything yet, but today my teacher assigned my first Beethoven piece! Sonata in G maj (or actually...sonatina? lol..... I confess to having enjoyed a glass or two of some very nice Sangiovese before coming on line)..


Also....I've been invited to participate in a recital with a music school at which my teacher teaches. I met a number of the people who will be involved at a Christmas music party...and I think I'll go for it.

My wonderful husband has just said "You should do it! Even if (remote though the possibiltiy might be), even if you mess it up, you can always try again next time."

I think I'd play Gypsy Legend as I'm very comfortable with it.....

cheryl,

Thats great about the Beethoven. Is that the one they call Sonatina 37, anh 5. no. 1?

re the recital: Don't you hate it when people quote your own words back at ya?

No accomplishments for me this week. Recital is Sunday.

Chopin hands together coming along. Not working on much else except sight reading,scales and a toss-off Rondo by Turk. We decided my distraction with the recital was enough for the week. Looking around for a piece or two to work on starting next week, however - probably one baroque and one classical.

Yes it is.


Well, I think that's actually the first time it has happened
Food for thought, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do this...I know the piece well, and I play it all the time, there's no real brushing up to do. I've improved on it since I recorded it...It's a logical choice.

In boca al lupo for your recital ! We are of course very much looking forward to hearing about your adventure and how well it went! (that isn't the royal "we", I simply am certain that I speak on behalf of all the AOTW buddies you have here!)

Nice that you've got your Chopin coming along. I have some pieces by Turk in one of my books, I'll have to see if there is a Rondo.

I will be very curious to see which baroque piece you decide to work on!!!

Cheryl, I love this piece - in fact I did this for the Beethoven recital we had last year:

Beethoven Sonatina in G

BTW, here's a retroactive AotW. My AotW for mid December 2010 was recording Sonatina in G for the Beethoven recital ...

Cheryl, first Beethoven Sonatina! Go girl. That's great and it's pretty fast progress you are making. Andy, I heard your recording above. Pretty good. I also think you made tons of progress since you recorded this one.

So, this is what i mean adults seem to progress faster than average children. Please say yes, otherwise I feel really bad. I did not like to do anything that was forced on me when I was a child. Unfortunately that includes piano. Yes, I admit, I also did not have the THING called talent. But still, I practiced (or forced to practice 30 min every day) and it took me about 5 years to play Fur Elise and 2 more years to play the Mozart's turkish march (the end of Child part of my music lessons). The turkish march was sooo bad that my folks still talk about it.

It's all under the bridge now. I have to practice some more on the 1st movement of the Beethoven Pathetique because I am playing it tomorrow. Just for the clarification, I know this piece is too big for me now to play it right. It's in my bucket list. It also consumes so much energy. I really cannot think of doing it in my 70's or 80's. So, that's the reason I am doing it right now. BTW, Playing the piece makes me soooo hungry. I am eating awful amount of food. I really have to think about working out and eating right. Otherwise I will gain 10 lb for each Beethoven Sonata. I have to resume my study on Rachmaninoff-Prelude op.23 no.5 and the second movement of the Pathetique.. My teacher assigned me these pieces to sight read a couple of months ago. I slacked. Did not do a thing... At least, i have worked on half of hte rach piece. But oh, it's zero for the 2nd movement of the Pathetique. so I have to start super duper work on them.. and then confess the truth to her on Wednesday... I had many thing happened to me but, my teacher won't hear excuses or my whining which I do a lot.

Andy your Sonatina was absolutely CHARMING! I loved it. And I love that you posted a retro-active AOTW -bravo!

FarmGirl, I think adults make faster progress than kids,...up to a point. And of course it depends on what age of child we're referring to... I've seen my teacher's other students from ages 6 to 16/18 to adults in their 40s and 50s.
Looking at the ones who made the most progress, I'd have to say it was the teens.

I honestly don't know how to evaulate my progress, you know?
My teacher is very pleased with me, so that's very nice. I'm pleased with myself, but still feeling fettered by lack of coordination. I can read a ton of music, but what I can play is pretty limited still. (um, did I mention I am very impatient ) I LONG to play really smoothly and sometimes feel low that I feel so slow.

What certainly helps is that the folks here are very kind in supporting every baby step and keeping my perspective fresh and realistic!!!

As for your pieces FarmGirl - I'm blown away by what you're working on and don't even dare dream to put those on my to do list yet!

There is one thing you said that really worries me - getting hungry from playing!!! oh dear, this could be a really dangerous side effect of playing that I had never considered.

Watch out for the dreaded Caloric Canons, the Bloated Bagatelles, the deep-fried fugues, profiterole preludes....oh dear, the list just goes on and on....;)

Today, I spent some time and learned The Sick Doll from Tchaykovski's Album for the Young. The notes and rythm are extremely simple, so it didn't take more than 10 mins to play trhough it without messing up. But then I realized I always concentrate on playing thw notes but I do not listen to what the composer has to say. So far I felt great just being able to press the keys at th right time and mechanically follow all the dynamic markings. However, today I got into it really. It was as if I was inside the music while i played it. And the most curious thing happened, I started feeling emotions that were coming from the piece and were not my own but at the same time were also my own... Confusing but I have no better way to express it. I felt sorrow, a feeling of loss as if a close friend had gone away at the beginning then towards the middle part where the cresendo starts and it goes into forte from mezzo forte, I was feeling grief mixed with anger and frustration at the hopelessness of it all. And then towards the end all that was left was sadness but it was somewhat lighter as if I was so tired of being in this emotional state that I was emotionally drained. Also at the part where the rythm switches in the right hand to resemble what was being played in the left hand so far but reversed, it sounded like tears????


I am sitting here baffled at how this is all possible. It was similar to reading a really good novel in which you feel like you are there living the story.


This is not to say that I play it beautifully at this point but I felt those things while doing so. I'm excited about the future and how other pieces will be like in the future. Now I see that it can be a real adventure if you pay attention to what's behind the notes. I finally understand what my teacher means when she sometimes asks me to try and see what the story is in a piece. And if my hands are one day able to express these feelings, I believe I will then be really playing piano and not just messing around.

At my piano lesson today, my teacher introduced me to a Hanon exercise book. I'm pretty excited about trying something new. I'll spend a few hours on it this weekend.

Teodor,

What a great description of finding the emotions in the music. I've had glimpses like that, where I really feel connected in a way with the composer, but nothing quite as complete as you describe. I'm envious. And I'm totally impressed that you just tossed off Sick Doll in 10 minutes. It sure took me a lot longer than that when I worked on it last year. Keep up the good work.

Any follow up on little Miss Oboe?

Well that's 10 mins to play the notes and rhythm correctly at tempo. And it only works for some pieces for me, depends on how complex they are. Interpreting it properly might take days or weeks or never at this point as I do not think I have what it takes just yet. I don't know. I'll start memorizing it tomorrow. I want to be able to play it without having to bring the entire album to practice and also it will be easier to try and play expressively if I am not busy following the sheet music.

About the girl, I don't know I haven't seen her since. I should have at least asked her for her facebook come to think of it. Oh well, I'm in love with the piano anyway, it will do for now



Good! Those might be of help. I've played a couple. The most important thing is to start out slow imo and to build up gradually but also to make sure your hands are relaxed at all times. I was excited too at first but they turned out to be boring and not musical at all, so I gave up. Probably a mistake. I haven't been playing scales lately either...

Michael - I'll be interested to hear what you think of Hanon - a lot of people hate him, some love him - what will your take be I wonder?

Teodor - wow ! What an great experience - this will very likely have a profound impact on how you end up playing this piece once you've got it truly in hand!

Poor Miss Oboe, she's probably wishing that you'd ask for her contact info!

As for me --- I have done just a tiny bit of work on the Beethoven piece, but I've really done well with one of the others (Vinciguerra) which is greatly satisfying. I know when I've tried to learn other pieces of his it took me days - this one I had fairly well in hand in a few hours. Now THAT gives me a handle on progress!!


And, I've confirmed - I WILL play in a recital on June 7th. OH MY! What have I let myself in for??? ack!

Just kidding - I figure it is a pretty safe environment for taking the plunge.

Oh, I have a recital on the 7th as well. I'm playing a Rameu. It's on the easy side but with a truly independent left hand part. I'm quite proud of it really. I'll also play the first piece from Burgmuller 25 easy pieces. I happened to be thinking to myself that if Chopin is College, Bach is High School and Burgmuller is middle school. You know, 6 teachers instead of one, passing periods, a locker etc. it's not THAT hard compared to what comes after it but still, it's a lot different from the primary grades. In the middle of this reverie, my teacher announces that she doesn't think I/we need to continue going through Piano Adventures step by step; that we'll both be happier with more Burgmuller and cherry picking pieces from this book and that.

That's exciting isn't it?

Kurt

I just had a recital and played Pathetique 1st movement. Unfortunately, it was a disaster. I played in the end and I got really nervus while listening to my teacher's intoduction of this wonderful piece. I rushed. I have never played it with such speed. It's like Peter Serkin's speed. It's just I am not him, no even close! I sucked. I also repeated places I should not repeat and did not repeat where I should have repeated. I did not know.. I kept thinking "How can I slow down.." I remember thinking, OMG, it's so fast, i cannot play with this speed. Sure enough, I messed up some of the trills and some area which I never missed. You see, they say, never to run your fingers faster than your mind. I guess that's exactly what I did. I was lucky that somehow I played it through. This is the worst I have ever done. My teacher said "it wasn't so bad, you just played it a bit too fast.." She also told me that it's a very common problem for busy pieces like this. She also reminded me that she told me to identify spots where you can check the tempo, kind of like a braking / slow down stations. I felt like a crap. I did not listen to that advise. I need a drink now before I start working on my next assignment.

Well, I worked hard all week not to post any replies in a thread that Saul had commented on or started. It was going great...

then I cracked...

... Getting my left hand to play a walking bass line.

I got a Hiromi Uehara songbook in the mail and found two pieces in it that are hauntingly beautiful and aren't way above my level like most of the other pieces.

Hi, did you take some time when you sat at the piano or did you dive straight in? I find it useful to just sit down and relax for a few seconds when I go on stage. I have this problem too with fast pieces. When I actually play them faster than the performance tempo and the result is a mess since I am nowhere good enough to keep it all together at a higher tempo.

No matter, I applaud you for your courage to play such a great piece at a performance. It can only get better from here on.

Edit: I sincerely wish that one day in the near future I will post here and say "My hands are cured! I can play freely and all I want now!!!" I still have hope but for now I've learned to cope with the limited piano time and the discomfort. I have plans to rest 1 MONTH with no piano and no computers and not even browsing the internet from my phone to let my hands rest completely. Just like last time I'll have plenty of book reading to catch up to and I might also study some theory away from the piano if I feel like it. Last time I managed to stay away from using my hands for the PC for less than 2 weeks. I imagine 4 weeks of no use might make things good. Only thing I am not sure about is, should I do stretches every day to keep my hands in good shape or should it be complete rest with no external stimulation?? I'll have to ask a doctor.