Archive for the ‘Scales’ Category

Practice Journal: Day #66

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

Friday, May 22, 2009

Session #218

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218.1: :

I just worked on reviewing scales. I played them around the circle of fifths.

I am embarrassed to say I just recently learned what the circle of fifths is. I’m determined to try to commit it to memory, so that’s why I played them in this order.

Since in the music school, some people seem to play scales from F# and onward at a lower octave than the first six, I decided to play it by starting at C, then going down four, up five, and so on. That worked for the first six, until I landed on B, then I had to go down four again to F#, and continue the pattern from there.

With C and G, I played at mm=96, with four notes per beat, but then had to slow down to 92 for the rest of the scales.

I only did major scales today. I might introduce harmonic and melodic minor scales soon.

218.2: :

Next, I worked on a method that I found in a book, that I will post about soon.

Basically, you do each octave separately, but then add one note from the next octave, so that you can fit 8 notes in one beat, and land on the next beat. So for instance, with C major, you would go from C, to the D an octave above.

I started with Db, because that’s the scale it recommends that is the easiest. I started at mm=60, but that’s with 8 notes per beat instead of four, as I usually do.

I worked on each hand separately at first. Then after repeating 7 times perfectly, I would put them together a few times.

Using this method, I got through the first two sections, basically the first two octaves plus two notes.

Then I realized that with four notes per beat as we do at the music school, this is actually 120 BPM. Amazed that I had just blew by the goal of 112 required for jury, I set the metronome at 120 and tried it. It took a minute since there were more divisions than before, but then I was able to play it. Of course, it collapsed after the first two octaves since I have not worked on anymore yet.

I’m going to continue to work on this method, and see how it affects my other scales. It looks promising, though.

I’m still trying to figure out the best way to practice arpeggios, though. I wonder if there is something similar.

218.3: :

Just like in session #216.1, I worked on the first three measures.

It went a lot more easily this time. Again there was no problem in the first measure.

The second measure was also a lot easier. It felt much more even and clean.

In the third measure, again I had a slight problem with the second half of beat 4, but not nearly so often. Then, I noticed the movement my hand was making when it was even, and tried to replicate that. It seemed to work.

The left hand really had no problem in that section.

I do feel like this was better than yesterday. I am going to continue to use this method, and see how it is in a few days.

Statistics

  • Time: 06:05:52 PM-06:59:20 PM
  • Length: 0:53:32
  • Average session: 0:25:11
  • Session trend: 0:29:32

Session #219

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219.1: : :

Just like in session #217.1, I worked up through the run in the beginning.

The very beginning, up until the run, went very easily. I made maybe one or two mistakes, but nothing major (no pun intended, lol).

The run went a little bit better, but I did spend more time on it, especially in the left hand, and especially in that descending part down to the A, before it goes into that down-up pattern.

I used the same method as before, but also copied the right hand. I played each separate section along with the corresponding section in the right hand, and that helped to make it more even and fast.

I realized that the second section in the left hand, where there is D-C-Bb, was a bit uneven. The C was grouping together with the Bb, and the D was kind of left out. That’s why that sounded so wrong when I was trying to speed that entire scale up.

I then worked on connecting each section again, which went a little better, but there is still a lot of tension there, so I am having trouble going too fast yet.

I didn’t get far into the actual arpeggio pattern after that, within the run, but this is the hardest part so that is OK.

219.2: :

I figured it was about time to actually work on Polichinelle.

I just started at the beginning, like all of the other pieces I’m working on. I got through the first 10 measures.

I had trouble with those little grace notes or whatever they are in the very beginning, making it sharp and crisp enough in both hands, as well as being accurate.

But after a bit of practice, I was well-pleased with my progress.

Surprisingly, the hardest part was in measures 7-10. I’m not sure why, because that isn’t a particularly difficult section, but still I had trouble.

It started to get a little uncomfortable in the right hand. That part has to be legato between the G’s and F#’s, so I’ve been using 1 and 4 on the F#’s, but that requires a bit of twisting of the hand, which is uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I’ll change that or not. It got very frustrating though, so I should have stopped and took a break and it probably would have been easier, but it seemed like it should be easy to begin with, so I persisted.

219.3: :

I haven’t touched this piece in ages, so I figured I’d work on it for 10 minutes or so.

I got through the first 10 measures. The hardest part was probably measure 10, because I had trouble making the left hand very accurate there for some reason. I did get it though, and it seems to be better.

Those 32nd notes in the beginning, especially in the left hand, are a little challenging, so I worked on making those consistent and even, too.

Overall, I am very happy with my progress.

Statistics

  • Time: 07:34:42 PM-08:27:51 PM
  • Length: 0:50:52
  • Average session: 0:25:18
  • Session trend: 0:31:40

Statistics

  • Today:
    • Time practiced: 1:44:24
    • Sessions: 2
    • Average session: 0:52:12
    • Longest session: 0:53:32 in session #218
  • Total:
    • Time practiced: 92:19:33
    • Average time per day: 0:37:57
    • Time per day trend: 0:46:43
    • Average sessions per day: 1.50
    • Sessions per day trend: 1.53
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #21):
      • Time: 6:13:56
      • Sessions: 13
    • This month (May):
      • Time: 21:37:24
      • Sessions: 45
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 233:20:40
      • Sessions: 554

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Domenico Scarlatti, Felix Mendelssohn, Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #65

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Session #215

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215.1: :

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

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216.1: :

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

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

217.1: : :

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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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Felix Mendelssohn, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Practice Journal, Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1, Scales, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #64

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Session #214

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214.1: :

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: :

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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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Felix Mendelssohn, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Practice Journal, Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1, Scales, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #63

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Session #210

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210.1: :

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

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211.1: :

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

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212.1: :

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

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213.1: : :

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 32nd 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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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Felix Mendelssohn, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Practice Journal, Prelude in E minor, Op. 35, No. 1, Scales, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #43

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Session #143

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I started by warming up with some minor melodic scales. I got through C-A, at 108 BPM. I had the most trouble with A, for some reason. Also sometimes I get confused coming down, and use the wrong fingering, so have to consciously switch in the middle of the scale.

  • Time: 06:22:31 PM-06:43:48 PM
  • Length: 0:21:17
  • Focus: Scales
  • Average session: 0:26:57
  • Session trend: 0:18:06

Session #144

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Next, I worked on the concerto. I worked on the section where the left hand has arpeggios under the right hand melody. This is around page 18 I think.

I tried making the left hand cleaner and faster. I often miss the Bb, so I have to work on that. I tried blocking the chords to practice moving thumb-over faster. When I really try to do thumb-over, I find it is a lot faster.

After my left hand got tired, I worked on the part where both hands have arpeggios pretty soon after this part. I worked on the inverted G minor arpeggio, first.

I couldn’t do the whole thing without mistakes for 7 times, so I broke it down to just 5-6 notes at a time, depending on the arpeggio, and overlapped.

Session #145

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I next worked on Polichinelle. I went from the beginning, but primarily worked on the jumps in measures 11-12. I did one hand at a time, trying to go as fast as I was able to. I find that this jump is coming along much better, and it didn’t take me too long to learn that one. I did have trouble consistently landing correctly in the right hand, though.

Session #146

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Then I worked on the jump in measure 19 of Polichinelle. That one is not so easy right now. When I was unable to get it right away, I decided to build on the jump. That is, I would jump from the F# and A, to just a D (the first note of the new chord). Then briefly I tried just D and F#, etc. I started to get it more easily after that.

By the end, this jump was coming better, but still needs work. However, this was just the first day I started working on this, so hopefully if I do it consistently, I will master it soon.

Session #147

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I worked on the concerto again. I worked on that part with the alternating octaves that are very fast. I have no idea which page it is on, but it is a few pages before the section I worked on earlier.

I had to work on it in sections again. I did one hand at a time, about 8 notes at a time, and overlapped each time I introduced new notes. It is a lot faster now, but I still need a little more work on that jump down to the bottom D octaves. I also want to make sure they are actually alternating. Otherwise, though, I feel really happy about it.

Session #148

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As much as I didn’t want to, I thought it wise to work on the Scarlatti sonata. I hadn’t practiced it for a while.

I really didn’t have much material to work on. I worked on measures 9-11 a little, especially the left hand in measure 10, but after that there really was nothing else. I played through the whole thing and I think maybe made one minor mistake, that I couldn’t reproduce or find any problem with to fix. It was in the latter section, though, so maybe I’ll run through that some other time to make sure.

Also, I had trouble in the final section jumping down to the bottom B’s, but went through that a few times.

As you can tell, this is not my favorite piece by far. It’s a nice little piece, but really hard to practice because there’s just nothing there.

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 1:46:21
  • Total time practiced: 65:37:46
  • Sessions: 6
  • Average session: 0:17:44
  • Longest session: 0:22:44 in session #144
  • Average time per day: 1:01:32
  • Time per day trend: 1:39:42
  • Average sessions per day: 2.31
  • Sessions per day trend: 4.68
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #10):
      • Time: 12:24:27
      • Sessions: 42
    • This month (March):
      • Time: 54:56:51
      • Sessions: 186
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 378:23:44
      • Sessions: 853

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | 1 Comment »

Lesson Journal: Lesson #19

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Unfortunately, when I walked out of this lesson, I realized I had forgotten to record it. Oh well.

Honestly, I almost canceled this lesson. I hadn’t practiced nearly as much as I should have, and I had this nagging guilt that I wasn’t doing what she had asked, namely to practice three hours a day. I have no idea why I fight so much with this, but I felt very unworthy to even go to the lesson.

But I thought about how relentless choir was about absence, and thought lessons surely must be worse, though I had canceled a few last year. So I went down two hours early, as usual, and practiced. I practiced the dominant 7th arpeggios, as well as harmonic and melodic minor scales, and the concerto. I actually did decently I thought, but I knew nothing could replace the many more hours I should have done throughout the week.

Regardless, I walked into my lesson.

We went over my scales at first. I had practiced them all morning, so I was hoping they’d be good. They were decent, but shaky. They were much better than last week, though, so she was happy. In fact, she seemed very happy, which made me happy, too. She said "you must have practiced them a lot." Of course I said yes, but that wasn’t true.

Same went for the arpeggios, though diminished were actually pretty clean.

I still have to work on technique a lot. I have to work dominant up to 104, as it is currently at 100. Most scales are now at 104, but have to be worked up to 112.

She wanted to go over Scarlatti and Rachmaninoff, so we went into those next.

I started with Scarlatti. She was happy with it, but wanted me to work more on dynamics.

On Rachmaninoff, I still need to make that faster, and work on the jumps. Also the ending needs to be cleaner. I slightly butchered the ending.

Finally, we just went into the concerto, from the very beginning.

She was very specific about how she wanted the beginning played, especially that part leading up to the run, and the run itself. I have to work on that a bit.

The parts she said I need to work on the most are those alternating octave runs in both hands, where the right hand chases the left, and also the arpeggios in the middle, per usual. They are coming along rather well, though.

Apparently with the alternating octaves, well I keep playing them together instead. She said to practice them slowly, and to gradually speed up. That’s a good idea, because I also need to relax more when I play them. I’ve had some pain in my left hand that makes me a little nervous, and it acts up when I play this section.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. The ending is still doing pretty well, which I’m very happy about since it is very difficult. I still want to perfect it more, though, and make it even faster.

I walked out of there, asking myself how much better I could be if I practiced as much as I was supposed to. I resolved to make my best effort to actually practice a lot more throughout the upcoming week. I know what I’ve been doing is pathetic at best.

After I meet that goal, I’ll endeavor to practice more than that. I really want to reach 35-40 hours per week eventually. But I have to focus on the minimum, first, I suppose.

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Arpeggios, Camille Saint-Saëns, Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo, Lesson Journal, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | 2 Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #33

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Today, I started using timer software I found from XNote Stopwatch, so that I can be more accurate with my session lengths. I always want a session to be either 30 minutes or 15 minutes, depending on the time I have left before I have to go somewhere. As you can see, the times in these sessions are much closer to their intended target.

The only downside is that I have to get out my computer and plug it in in the practice room. I didn’t even realize they had outlets until I saw someone’s cell phone plugged in there, after I kicked that same person out of the practice room. It still took me a while to find the outlet, though, even though I knew its general location.

Session #84

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I began with melodic minor scales.

I set the metronome at 100 BPM, and started at C. I got up to F#, but didn’t actually make much progress with it.

I keep tripping over my fingers, and I’m not quite sure why. What I mean is that I can do the scale when going slowly, or even faster, but when going a certain speed, my fingers just don’t seem to want to move.

  • Time: 11:07:57 AM-11:38:13 AM
  • Length: 0:30:07
  • Focus: Scales
  • Average session: 0:29:46
  • Session trend: 0:24:24

Session #85

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I next worked on dominant 7th arpeggios. I continued with C#, trying to get it up to 96. It didn’t cause so much trouble as usual, which was great.

I’ve been trying to use flat fingers like my piano teacher told me to do with arpeggios. That seems to work better when I do it consciously, especially on black keys.

I just got through C-F#, in half steps. Actually F# was far from completed when the timer went off.

  • Time: 11:41:50 AM-11:56:56 AM
  • Length: 0:15:06
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:29:36
  • Session trend: 0:23:28

Session #86

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I did the dominant 7th arpeggios again, continuing from earlier.

I have been having a lot of trouble with F#, but fortunately I was able to clean that up a lot. Again, the trick to this one is hand rotation, especially in the left hand, on F#, A#, and C#, since that is such a large stretch especially between 4 and 3.

I got through F# and G.

  • Time: 03:24:25 PM-03:40:15 PM
  • Length: 0:15:12
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:29:26
  • Session trend: 0:22:38

Session #87

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I worked on the Polichinelle. I mostly worked on the first 30 measures or so, especially on the jumps and arpeggios.

The jumps are coming along better. I made sure to over-emphasize them, so that hopefully they get ingrained into my muscles. I’m definitely getting better, though.

I’m also getting better at the arpeggios. I’ve found that the trick is to turn the hand with the notes, in the direction I am playing. For instance when I am ascending, I keep turning my hand counter-clockwise, then snapping back to the initial position when the thumb plays again. It is the opposite when descending. This puts me in a better position for the F# coming down.

Session #88

I finally worked on the Perfect pitch course.

I did this one a little differently. Since it says for this week I should work on C, D, E, and F, as well as playing the trigger-tune-tags for C-D-E-F, I decided to split up my 30 minutes into 5 parts, one for each thing I had to do. Each part was approximately 6 minutes.

My times here are only estimates, since I didn’t use the recorder, and since I accidentally reset the time about half-way through.

For each of the first four tracks (for C, D, E, and F), it plays the tone, as well as the trigger tune, five times. Therefore, I alternated between merely listening to it, and actively singing it before it played the tune. I sang in solfege, to emphasize which notes they are.

This seemed to sink in a lot more. After these 5 sections, I spent another 10 minutes testing myself, and also tested myself throughout the night.

For instance, I just tested myself on D, and was directly on. However, for C, I am either a little sharp or flat, so that one still has a little more to go.

I am really happy with my progress in only two days, though. I’m at least able to come very close to the notes, sometimes being fully on it. I can’t wait to see how it is in a week or two.

  • Time: 08:55:00 PM-09:35:00 PM
  • Length: 0:39:18
  • Focus: Perfect pitch
  • Average session: 0:29:33
  • Session trend: 0:25:00

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 2:10:02
  • Total time practiced: 43:20:46
  • Sessions: 5
  • Average session: 0:26:00
  • Longest session: 0:39:18 in session #88
  • Average time per day: 0:50:01
  • Time per day trend: 0:59:37
  • Average sessions per day: 1.69
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.36
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #8):
      • Time: 6:02:21
      • Sessions: 16
    • This month (February):
      • Time: 28:17:12
      • Sessions: 69
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 307:35:30
      • Sessions: 624

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Posted in Arpeggios, Music, Musicianship, Perfect Pitch, Piano, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #31

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Friday, February 13, 2009

Session #78

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I first worked on Bach. I had been relearning this before I had to temporarily discontinue meeting with that student to learn music, but figured I should review what I learned.

I had some trouble remembering everything, since it had been a while. However, I kept working on it, and am pretty sure I got it. I still want to review it though whenever I get more time.

I just worked through what I knew to make it smoother. I’m not really working on phrasing too much yet.

Session #79

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I worked on diminished 7th arpeggios. I had forgotten at first, and started working on harmonic scales instead for a minute or so.

Instead of focusing on just one key as I had been doing in the past, I got the idea to try to get through as many as possible at a given speed. So, I tried 96 BPM for all diminished arpeggios.

I had a lot of trouble on Eb for some reason. Another thing I don’t like about it is that it’s not smooth enough to me at the cross-over on C.

I think, though I can’t remember, that I ended at Ab, though I never actually got it to 96. I ended by playing it without the metronome several times to get the feel of it in my fingers.

  • Time: 09:05:28 AM-09:36:54 AM
  • Length: 0:31:28
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:30:04
  • Session trend: 0:24:18

Session #80

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I worked on harmonic scales. I got from C-Bb.

I had a lot of trouble on F# and Bb. On Bb, I have trouble with getting finger 3 on the A, since it is a bit of a stretch between 4 and 3 from F# to A.

  • Time: 09:42:18 AM-10:14:48 AM
  • Length: 0:31:30
  • Focus: Scales
  • Average session: 0:30:05
  • Session trend: 0:25:01

Session #81

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I worked on the piano concerto. I just wanted to drill certain difficult sections.

I started from the beginning, as I usually do, but once I got into the piece, I decided it’d be better and more effective if I just drilled specific difficult parts, instead of just trying to play through it with the goal of moving on.

That proved to be rather helpful, and I think that’s a much better way of practicing it. I’m going to try to keep doing that, and will report how it goes.

I’m far from happy with it at this point. I played this piece for someone this that morning, and they asked how I would say I did. I said I’d rate it a 7 out of 10. Many things need to be faster and more polished.

One of the parts I made some progress on was starting around page 18, where the left hand has those arpeggios accompanying the right hand, which has the melody, mostly in the form of octaves. I have trouble playing the left hand softly enough.

So, I played it softly, but very slowly. Then, I took that feeling, and just sped it up gradually (or maybe not so gradually). It was instantly softer! I felt like my fingers were drifting up and down the keys. I want to do a lot more work with that.

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 1:58:20
  • Total time practiced: 40:45:29
  • Sessions: 4
  • Average session: 0:29:35
  • Longest session: 0:38:15 in session #81
  • Average time per day: 0:50:57
  • Time per day trend: 1:07:36
  • Average sessions per day: 1.69
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.56
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #7):
      • Time: 8:15:09
      • Sessions: 20
    • This month (February):
      • Time: 31:24:56
      • Sessions: 75
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 313:19:39
      • Sessions: 623

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Arpeggios, Camille Saint-Saëns, English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807, I. Prélude, Johann Sebastian Bach, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Practice Journal, Scales, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #27

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Session #62

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I decided to actually create a practice schedule for myself. I made a script to generate it, because I had come up with an algorithm myself, but it was too involved to do manually. Today was the first day I followed this schedule, so I started with Polichinelle.

Again, I worked on the jumps, especially in measures 11-15, and measures 18-19 as well as 20-21.

For the first one, I discovered that if in the right hand, I put finger 2 on that A I have to come down to, it is easier to jump up to the chord. I practiced a while jumping from the bottom up to just the bottom note of each chord in both hands, because I figured that if at least one finger is right, the others just have to conform to the shape of the chord. That seems to worked rather well.

For the second jump in measures 18-19, I just kept repeating it. I noticed that a turn of my body really helps me to get better aligned for the jump, so when paying attention to that, I hit the jump much more consistently. It still feels unstable, though, or maybe it’s just that I have no idea how I keep hitting it and wonder if it’ll keep working, so I want to keep working on that.

I also worked on the beginning 6 measures or so, trying to make that more clean and a little faster.

Finally, I worked through the arpeggiated sections. They are going slightly better, especially when I pay attention to how I turn my hand to align with the notes.

This piece is so tough to practice, because the parts I have trouble on are really loud and annoying when played repeatedly, so I’m afraid of bothering someone. I probably shouldn’t worry, though, since that’s what the practice rooms are for.

Session #63

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I next worked on the piano concerto. I wanted to get to the second half as quickly as possible, but decided to start at the beginning just to solidify the work I did on it yesterday. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as cleanly as anticipated, so had to go over it again.

I went through the run in the very beginning a few times, trying to make my hands play together. Sometimes one lags behind the other, which is frustrating.

Then, again I did the descending G minor arpeggio. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not, and I don’t know why.

Next, I did phrasing in the somewhat slower section that follows.

Finally I got to page 9 and did those descending 32nd notes. I wanted to make them faster and cleaner. It is coming along nicely, with a few changes to hand position. There’s a part in the right hand that goes Bb-D, C-Eb, D-F, C-Eb, and Bb-D (I’m not at fault if any of those are sharps instead of flats; I’m only guessing). It is hard sometimes playing those chords exactly together, especially when coming back down like that. With a slight shift in position, though, it seems to be slightly better.

Then, without any care at all, I ran (nearly literally) through that really fast part that follows, all the way up until the arpeggios on page 18. I went faster than I ever had before, just to see if I could; and I did. I was quite impressed, though it wasn’t without mistakes. It proved that I could do it, though. I could go fast enough.

Then I worked on those arpeggios a bit to try to make them cleaner. They aren’t too bad, but there’s a part in the left hand that ascends with the notes D, Bb, D, G, Bb, then the right hand takes the D. Then it descends Bb, G, D, Bb, and D. It’s a little difficult hitting that D when descending, and sometimes to hit the G when ascending, though that’s a little better than the former. Anyway, it seems to be getting better.

With those accompaniment arpeggios that follow, really the only one I have a lot of trouble with is the D minor one, which is the last one of the group.

Finally, I did a slight bit of work a few pages previously on those descending chords. Specifically, when they are done, and it is transitioning into the arpeggios I just talked about, both hands have a chord A, D, Gb, and then immediately jump into Eb’s below. I have trouble hitting those Eb’s fast enough, so drilled that a bit.

Session #64

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Finally, I worked on scales; specifically I worked on D major, natural minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor. I know I don’t have to work on natural for jury, but it just seems incomplete without it, so I do.

  • D:
    • Major: 92-104 (shaky)
    • Minor:
      • Natural: 92-100
      • Melodic: 92-100
      • Harmonic: 92-100

D major at 104 was shaky because my 4th finger just didn’t want to get out of the way fast enough for some reason. This seems a lot faster than the 104 I had to do last year for some reason, or that is, I’m having more trouble with it. I will hopefully get better though as I work at it.

  • Time: 04:00:48 PM-04:27:44 PM
  • Length: 0:26:57
  • Focus: Scales
  • Average session: 0:31:35
  • Session trend: 0:26:01

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 1:28:00
  • Total time practiced: 33:41:04
  • Sessions: 3
  • Average session: 0:29:20
  • Longest session: 0:31:36 in session #62
  • Average time per day: 0:48:07
  • Time per day trend: 1:00:29
  • Average sessions per day: 1.52
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.19
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #6):
      • Time: 7:30:44
      • Sessions: 18
    • This month (February):
      • Time: 30:02:56
      • Sessions: 72
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 295:56:31
      • Sessions: 562

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Camille Saint-Saëns, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #26

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Friday, February 06, 2009

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 1:39:56
  • Total time practiced: 32:13:04
  • Sessions: 5
  • Average session: 0:19:59
  • Longest session: 0:28:22 in session #58
  • Average time per day: 0:47:09
  • Time per day trend: 0:57:26
  • Average sessions per day: 1.49
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.10

Session #57

  • Time: 8:48:36 AM-9:02:26 AM
  • Length: 0:13:50
  • Focuses: Scales
  • Average session: 0:32:24
  • Session trend: 0:27:00

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I worked on the C scales and arpeggios. The metronome speeds were as follows.

  • C:
    • Scales
      • Major: 100
      • Minor:
        • Natural: 96-100
        • Melodic: 100
        • Harmonic: 100
    • Arpeggios:
      • Diminished 7th: 100
      • Dominant 7th: 92-100 (shaky)

Note: The dash indicates that I started at one point but was able to speed it up to the second marking.

I say that I’m shaky on that dominant 7th arpeggio because I barely made it to 100. I really feel like it needs stabilized.

Session #58

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I worked on the first 12-13 pages or so. I actually have no idea how many pages it is, but I know the last section I worked on starts on page 9-10.

I worked on the run a bit, because sometimes the hands don’t align up exactly right. I need to work on making that cleaner.

I also worked on the descending arpeggio. I’ve been pretty good with that, but still sometimes I make mistakes, so I spent a few minutes running through that several times.

I also worked on phrasing. In that orchestral section right after the piano solo in the beginning, there are some chords the piano has in the 5th and 6th measures of that section. Mrs. S said it should be rolled slower, and that the second two should be separated a bit more with the pedal.

Also, she had some very specific suggestions about the slower section that follows, as far as phrasing is concerned. I worked on that, as well as making it more fluid.

I next went over those grace note chords, because sometimes I miss the Eb-G when descending.

Next, the part that the piano and orchestra go back and forth with a similar pattern. I found it more useful to imagine the orchestra part in my head rather than counting, which is why you might hear me softly verbalizing (I dare not call it singing) the orchestral part.

When I do that, though, the last one sets me up a little strangely for those octave 16th notes. Usually I play it with normal emphasis on the first 16th note. However, the way this would have me play it, and the way I’ve heard it on the recording, is with emphasis on the second 16th note of each group. I will have to ask my piano teacher about it next week.

Then I worked on that slower, more melodic section that follows. I’m doing better at that, but still sometimes have trouble in the left hand, with those jumps. Also Mrs. S said it should be much more expressive.

Finally I worked on those descending 32nd notes starting around page 9 I think. I want to make that cleaner and a bit faster.

Overall, I think it went rather well. I am progressing as time goes on, which I’m obviously really happy about, since this piece is really difficult.

Session #59

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I just worked on the tough spots of Polichinelle. Mostly, that included the jumps, especially measures 11-15, and 18-19, etc; the arpeggiated sections; and the slower section in the middle, specifically on trying to make it more melodic.

It’s going a bit better, but those jumps are just annoying. I’m not sure why they are taking so long. I know jumps are not beyond me, because the Brahms Rhapsody has plenty of jumps that I’m perfectly fine with. Yes, they took a lot of work, so maybe that’s the solution for these, as well.

I do have to practice it more, though. I’ve neglected it for the last week since my piano teacher wanted me to focus more on the piano concerto and improving that second half.

Session #60

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This piece is quite nearly there, so I just mostly reviewed and worked on any problems that popped up.

I was still having trouble with those staccato 16ths in measures 9-11, so I worked on that. I know they aren’t actually staccato in the music, but Mrs. S wants them that way.

Anyway, I worked on those a bit. I was especially having trouble with the left hand in measure 10. To make it a little cleaner, I changed that bottom E to be played with finger 5. I was playing it with 3 to make it more connected between B and E, but I think it’s fine like this.

I also worked on those 32nd notes in the beginning. Again, mostly the left hand is more problematic than the right.

After that, I just worked through each page, trying to play it perfectly, and squelching any problems that came up.

Session #61

  • Time: 1:32:05 PM-1:43:23 PM
  • Length: 0:11:18
  • Focus: Scales
  • Average session: 0:31:41
  • Session trend: 0:24:51

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I worked on the C# scales.

  • C#:
    • Scales:
      • Major: 92-96
      • Minor:
        • Natural: 96
        • Melodic: 92-96
        • Harmonic: 92-96

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Arpeggios, Camille Saint-Saëns, Domenico Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Scales, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | No Comments »