Practice Journal: Bonus Elvis

nathan@lostinok.com (Nathan Lorenz) — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A great practice day, even got a chance to sneak in some Elvis, which is never a bad thing.

Satie Gymopedie No. 1

Pretty close to note perfect here, just a few notes that didn’t sound out. Also, I’m still having some issues with keeping those opening chords with even dynamics. If I can get that done, I think I will finally be happy with this one. Trying to pick out my next piece that everyone else learned in lessons, but somehow I didn’t. Thinking maybe Moonlight Sonata?

Chopin Waltz in B Minor

Went better today than yesterday. Back to struggling with the third section, which is where I belong. I am still pretty happy with the pacing, just need to get through those fast jumps.

Mozart Sonata in C Major, K545 - Second Movement

Did pretty good today, still having issue with the third bar of the begning of the 3rd section. My fingers are just not remembering that ending. Spent some time with the metronome, Chopin has spoiled me on timing, but Herr Mozart is a more demanding composer.

Can’t Help Falling in Love

I know almost no pop music and have no improvising skills. I got a Fake Book for Christmas and I’m trying to start developing some pop skills. Starting simple here, but you can never go wrong with Elvis.

Practice Journal: Getting Stuck

nathan@lostinok.com (Nathan Lorenz) — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I got stuck; no other way to put it. This has happened a few times, but for the last couple of months, I have just felt that my progress has kind of ground to a halt. I’m flubbing different notes in the same piece each time I sit down. A few of weeks ago, I kind of threw up my hands and walked a way for awhile. At the same time, my daughter started to learn the violin and her teacher provided me some accompianing sheet music, so I basically stopped practicing my pieces for a few weeks and played around with that.

I think that taking a break from pieces is probably a good thing, though today’s practice was super rough. However, at least I felt energized again to play which was a nice change. I’m also going to try to be more dedicated in my repertoirie practice method, giving myself only one play through on a day and then laser focusing on the most problematic section of the piece on that day. I’m also going to start keeping this journal in the hopes that review will let me see progress or lack there of.

Does anyone else have any other tips for getting pieces over the finish line?

Chopin Waltz in B Minor

This one is the most frustrating to me in that I felt like was so close a few weeks back and now am backsliding. Today, the big issue was the simple ending on the 1st section that I’ve played a million times before but today my fingers just weren’t getting it. However, there were a ton of other simple finger slips, etc. But I did my best to to laser focus on that turn around and felt like I was getting my muscle memory back by the end of the session.

Satie Gymopedie No. 1

This one is actualy going pretty good, I was pretty happy with the overall pacing and playing here. Had one mistake where I forgot the chord in that final runup to the end, but my guess sounded okay.

Mozart Sonata in C Major, K545 - Second Movement

Ah, this is a piece I have a bit of history with. This was the last piece I worked on when I was a sullen teenager of 17. It was to be my final recital piece for the year. For some reason, I just refused to practice it and somehow felt I would be able to fake my way through it. Let’s just say I was definitely wrong and the recital was a complete disaster. It was basically the end of my piano playing youth. I decided it might be a nice time to revisit it. I’m not a huge fan of the first movement, though I should work on it too, but I love the second and decided to tackle it first.

Overall I was pretty happy with today’s practice, most of my efforts are going to be on the first half of the third section, which I feel is pretty close.

Chopin on Lost in OK

Practice Journal: Bonus Elvis

Satie Gymopedie No. 1

Chopin Waltz in B Minor

Mozart Sonata in C Major, K545 - Second Movement

Can’t Help Falling in Love

Practice Journal: Getting Stuck

Chopin Waltz in B Minor

Satie Gymopedie No. 1

Mozart Sonata in C Major, K545 - Second Movement