Blog of the Perpetual Seeker

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Session #215

215.1: Technique: Scales

I decided to work mostly hands-separate on scales today.

I started on C major, and at mm=92, with four notes per beat. I did it hands separate at first, and then hands together after I did the scale with each hand a few times without mistakes.

I slowly increased the metronome, playing hands-separate at each speed, all the way up to 108. I’m surprised I could go that fast, since that was about the speed I was at a few months ago, before I stopped practicing them.

I still wasn’t sure whether it was better to work on speeding up one scale, or to try to get several scales to one speed. I opted to try the former, though.

Statistics

• Time: 07:13:55 PM-07:30:29 PM
• Length: 0:16:35
• Average session: 0:25:02
• Session trend: 0:27:04

Session #216

216.1: Mendelssohn: Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1

I worked on the first three measures. I thought I’d get through all four, but I did not.

I worked on each measure separately, trying to play it 7 times perfectly before moving on.

Of course the first measure really gave me no problems. I did each hand separately though before putting them together.

The second measure wasn’t too bad, but I wanted to make sure all the notes were even. It is hard to tell when both hands are together and going rather fast, so I separated them and slowed down. That seemed to help a lot.

The third measure was probably the hardest. The second half of beat 4 in the right hand has D#-F#-A#-B (I don’t know if any of those are flats or not, but I’ll go with sharps). For some reason I sometimes play that unevenly.

To try to fix it, I started out playing it very slowly. Then I sped it up, just a few notes at a time. I played D#-F# in succession very fast at first. Then I added the A#, and finally the B. It was going too fast at this point, so I slowed it down a bit. That seemed a lot better.

I had a similar problem in the left hand, in the first half of beat 4. It has D#-F#-A-B. The problem wasn’t as pronounced, but it still was a little uneven. I used the exact same method as in the right hand, and it helped.

After each measure, I played through that measure from the beginning, to put it in context.

This was a very intense practice, but I feel like this method really is helping. It can be frustrating because it points out exactly where you are having trouble. This is the first time in a while I have used this method of playing a part 7 times perfectly.

The trick is to take a passage, and split into sections that you can repeat 7 times perfectly without trouble. You should be able to complete the passage in 15-20 minutes.

I will report how it goes as time continues, but so far I feel pretty good about it.

Statistics

• Time: 07:33:58 PM-07:58:42 PM
• Length: 0:24:45
• Average session: 0:25:02
• Session trend: 0:26:50

Session #217

In the recording, I got confused and say session #216 instead of #217. I lose count sometimes.

217.1: Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: 1. Andante sostenuto

So, following the example of session #216, I again chose a passage and worked on it part-by-part. I was going to go by measure, but well this section really doesn’t have measures.

I started at the beginning, and worked first until the next time the left hand plays the octave G’s. It plays that three times, so that gave me two small sections to work on. The third section was from the third octave G’s in the left hand, up to the top where the run begins.

That all went very well. I hardly made any mistakes at all, except maybe one. It was strange to do, though, because I had never split this up like that before.

It was useful though, I think. Usually I can only start at certain spots that I have concrete in memory, but not at other parts, because once I start somewhere, my fingers just know where to go but I don’t necessarily remember which notes it is. However, this forced me to remember different sections at a more granular level.

Then I went into that descending run, which was a lot harder. I worked hands separate on that, since they don’t interlace together like they do in the beginning.

In the first section of this run, I played down to the F# in the right hand, before it starts that descending pattern of down-up-down-up, etc. The right hand can go very fast, which is great, and I made very few mistakes.

The left hand is a different story. I moved up the bench for this one, since I knew I’d be up there for a while.

The left hand is nowhere nearly as fast, which disappoints me. So I split it up, by its natural seams, so to speak, where the thumb has to cross under.

The first part was just F# and Eb (I seriously have no idea which is a sharp or flat, but that makes the most sense in terms of a harmonic minor). Then it crosses under to D-C-Bb. So I played both parts separately, then gradually put them together. I played the F#-Eb part, then D-C-Bb. I made the transition faster and faster. It still is not very fast, but is a little better.

Then I worked on the D-C-Bb, and A-G-F#-Eb, using the same method.

Finally, I worked on the transition between A-G-F#-Eb, to D-C-Bb-A.

I did not try to put them all together very much because I just want to work on one transition at a time for now. However I did play the hands together slowly.

Then I worked on the descending pattern after that, hands-separate. The right hand had no problem at all, so that was great.

The left hand had a little more trouble. Though it was accurate most of the time at first, I felt like it was being held together by a thread. So I slowed it down, and tried to get it perfectly. I was then starting to make mistakes, and get frustrated, so I slowed down a lot just to get it right at least a few times.

Then I played hands together, and did the ascending diminished arpeggio, just so as to finish the passage, then resolved with those four chords afterwards, resolving with the G-minor.

I think that if I stick with this method for mastering a passage, it should work. I think it really started to help me today, so I will try it over the next week or so and see how it works.

Statistics

• Time: 08:00:01 PM-08:27:05 PM
• Length: 0:27:06
• Average session: 0:25:03
• Session trend: 0:26:51

Statistics

• Today:
  • Time practiced: 1:08:26
  • Sessions: 3
  • Average session: 0:22:49
  • Longest session: 0:27:06 in session #217
• Total:
  • Time practiced: 90:35:09
  • Average time per day: 0:37:29
  • Time per day trend: 0:40:18
  • Average sessions per day: 1.50
  • Sessions per day trend: 1.48
• Estimates:
  • This week (week #21):
    • Time: 5:02:34
    • Sessions: 13
  • This month (May):
    • Time: 20:05:04
    • Sessions: 44
  • This year (2009):
    • Time: 230:31:32
    • Sessions: 552

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Session #214

214.1: Technique: Scales

I’m still trying to figure out how to practice scales. I tried doing two octaves at a time, hands-separate. If I made a mistake, I just repeated that part of the scale.

I think I just tried 80 and 84, and then jumped to 92 because it was incredibly slow.

I’m still kind of clueless about practicing, but hopefully I start to figure it out.

214.2: Mendelssohn: Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1

I wanted to split this into sections, which I would then practice using the 7-times-perfectly method.

So I did so. I played through the prelude, and then focused on the first measure for a while. I think I got that up to 88.

Then, I figured it’d be best to start the second measure slower, so I started at mm=60. I practiced that for a bit.

Then my mom came home, and we were going to leave for dinner since both of us were starving, so I stopped.

Statistics

• Time: 03:23:16 PM-03:51:05 PM
• Length: 0:27:50
• Average session: 0:25:05
• Session trend: 0:28:14

Statistics

• Today:
  • Time practiced: 0:27:50
  • Sessions: 1
  • Average session: 0:27:50
  • Longest session: 0:27:50 in session #214
• Total:
  • Time practiced: 89:26:43
  • Average time per day: 0:37:16
  • Time per day trend: 0:37:10
  • Average sessions per day: 1.49
  • Sessions per day trend: 1.31
• Estimates:
  • This week (week #21):
    • Time: 4:18:27
    • Sessions: 11
  • This month (May):
    • Time: 19:19:15
    • Sessions: 42
  • This year (2009):
    • Time: 229:12:14
    • Sessions: 548

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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Session #210

210.1: Technique: Scales

I worked on some scales, finally. I have been trying to figure out the best way to practice them, but I figured that practicing them any way at all was better than not at all.

I started with C major. I set the metronome at 80 BPM, but that was far too slow, so I increased it to 92. I tried hands separate for a while, and then played hands together.

The left hand is noticeably slower than the right hand, at their respective comfortable speeds. Hopefully that will change. It has been a while since I’ve done any technique at all.

Then I went to C#. I noticed that it was a lot easier for my right hand, since the black keys better put the thumb in place for the white keys it plays. However, the left hand had a bit of trouble.

I split up the entire scales into sections, so as to try to isolate any problems. I did one or two octaves at a time, or sometimes only a few notes.

Altogether, though scales are never very enjoyable, I think it went pretty well. We’ll see how it goes, I guess. I have a lot of time to figure out the best way to do this.

Statistics

• Time: 04:20:18 PM-04:41:27 PM
• Length: 0:19:05
• Average session: 0:25:01
• Session trend: 0:28:13

Session #211

211.1: Mendelssohn: Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1

I worked on the new part I learned at my lesson.

It went pretty well, though it still requires a lot more work to become as easy as the part of the piece I already know. It is not very difficult, though. I actually really enjoy it.

I think I might try to get a recording though. I might have to buy it off of Amazon, so that I can listen to how it is supposed to sound.

Statistics

• Time: 05:13:46 PM-05:40:56 PM
• Length: 0:27:12
• Average session: 0:25:02
• Session trend: 0:28:07

Session #212

212.1: Mendelssohn: Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1

I worked on the new part again.

I had the idea of splitting it into several sections, and working on each one separately, until it was more secure. So, I started with measures 13-15. Measure 15 was the only new part, but I wanted to overlap.

I wanted to play it seven times perfectly consecutively. I made a few mistakes, but I eventually got it.

And then, it clicked, and I tried playing it quickly. It was beautiful, and I was able to play it very quickly without any mistakes at all. It is very clean, so that makes me happy.

Then I worked on measure 16, and a little of measure 17. That wasn’t too hard, honestly, because the pattern is very similar to measures 2, 6, and 7.

I really love this part though because there’s a lot of bass. It is nice and low on the piano.

It is very easy for me to remember measure 17 now because my piano teacher told me what kind of chord that is in the right hand. It is a B diminished chord, with the A in the left hand adding a 7th.

I do have trouble in measures 18 and 19, but I will work on that tomorrow.

Statistics

• Time: 07:20:10 PM-07:53:44 PM
• Length: 0:33:36
• Average session: 0:25:04
• Session trend: 0:28:39

Session #213

213.1: Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: 1. Andante sostenuto

I worked on the beginning a bit. The run was pretty good now that I got that F# fixed on my piano. It was a little messy the first time though, but then it was very clean and fast. I was happy with it.

The first time I did the arpeggio was also messy, but then the second and third times were clean and fast.

I had to slow down through the jumps. I’ll really have to devote some time to only those, because I am not happy with those.

Nonetheless, I continued on into the melodic section after that. I repeated it once since I made a couple of mistakes.

The arpeggios right after those grace note chords were very good.

I worked up to the 32^nd notes around page 9 and onward. I didn’t have too much trouble with that, so I continued onto the section where the hands share the octaves, starting on the G’s, etc.

They were better than before. The second part of them, starting on Bb’s, was better than session #206.1.

So then I worked on the third part, starting on the D’s, and where the left hand actually has a full octave. That is tough because the hands interlace a lot more, and sometimes they trip over each other a bit. I learned a bit though how to shift my body to allow them more room.

The trickiest part of that is at the top, when the left hand jumps back down to octave D’s. It is such a far jump to begin with, and also I have trouble with the chord in the right hand. But I worked on it a bit, and I think I improved a bit.

Then just for the fun of it, I played all the way through up through part of the cadenza.

I need to choose a few sections to work on consistently for a while, so that I can actually make consistent progress. I’m not sure which sections I will choose yet.

Statistics

• Time: 08:00:51 PM-08:25:37 PM
• Length: 0:24:47
• Average session: 0:25:04
• Session trend: 0:28:16

Statistics

• Today:
  • Time practiced: 1:44:40
  • Sessions: 4
  • Average session: 0:26:10
  • Longest session: 0:33:36 in session #212
• Total:
  • Time practiced: 88:58:53
  • Average time per day: 0:37:20
  • Time per day trend: 0:38:13
  • Average sessions per day: 1.49
  • Sessions per day trend: 1.35
• Estimates:
  • This week (week #21):
    • Time: 4:39:39
    • Sessions: 12
  • This month (May):
    • Time: 19:34:51
    • Sessions: 42
  • This year (2009):
    • Time: 229:36:35
    • Sessions: 550

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