Lesson Journal: Lesson #4

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Time: 12:40 PM-1:39 PM

My lesson was supposed to be at 2:00 today, but around 12:00, E called me and said all the schools were closing due to the ice, and she was canceling all her lessons. I said that I still wanted to come because I only had a page and a half to learn. So she seemed to agree, and I went over at about 12:30. I felt bad, but I really wanted to finish this piece!

So, of course we worked on the Scarlatti piece (Sonata K.380). We started on the third measure of page 4 (measure 52 of the piece), where I only knew the right hand for five measures.

The left hand only had quarter notes, but it was a little difficult because they just seemed rather random. But I got it, with a little work.

After those five measures, I was mostly home-free, because it went back to the primary pattern of the piece; for comparison, see measures 1-3 of page 2 (measures 19-21 of the piece), and measures 13-15 of page 3 (measures 46-48 of the piece). This time, the right hand was playing B and F# instead of F# and C#.

From measure 8 of page 5 (measure 72 of the piece) to the end, it went back to a pattern very similar to measures 1-7 of page 3 (measures 34-40 of the piece). Again it just shifted keys, the left hand was a bit lower, and the left hand didn’t have so many staccatos.

So that ended it, and we were early. We reviewed it, with the remaining time. That was a good thing, since I briefly forgot what the left hand did in measure 8 of page 2 (measure 26 of the piece). Sometimes new material temporarily displaces older material until I secure it better. But I got it, and it seems more secure now.

It really helps when I go through the piece in my mind to try to write down measure numbers, because I have to know it a lot better. That’s something I’ve just started with the Rachmaninoff piece, though with this one, I’m more detailed, as I’m also paying attention to page numbers. Maybe I’ll start paying attention to score lines, too. I do so for those few people who might read this journal, in case you have a copy of the music.

So now, the pieces I was supposed to learn before the beginning of the semester are done. I have no idea how, because I came home with still two pieces to learn. I learned Rachmaninoff in five lessons, and Scarlatti in three.

Tomorrow, I’m going to pick up a copy of Brahms Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1. I learned it last year, but with me abandoning the piano for five months, I mostly forgot everything. I really want to relearn it, as that was one of my favorite pieces.

Also coming up should hopefully be the next movement of the Saint-Saëns piano concerto. That makes me nervous though, as I still have to improve a lot on the first.