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Practice Journal: Day #46

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Time: 00:33:14

I heard the recording was a little scratchy yesterday. I had my microphone on the wrong setting, so tried to fix that today. It still doesn’t sound perfect, so I’ll be playing around with the positioning. Please let me know how it sounds today, though.

Session #186

Length: 00:19:38

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I started with the Mendelssohn prelude. It is coming faster yet, and is becoming more automatic for my fingers.

I’m a little unhappy with a few sections, which I have been working on. I’m trying to keep the accompaniment soft enough and bring out the melody. In measure 2, beat 3, I sometimes accidentally bring out that top A in the right hand too much. Same goes with a few other sections, such as, to a lesser extent, beat 3 of measure 3, with the top C in the right hand.

Also, I feel like I am a little uneven with some parts of the left hand. Well really the only instance of the perceived unevenness is in measure 4, beat 3, where the left hand has C#-G#-B-E (I’m not in front of a piano so don’t quote me on those notes). I’m not sure if I’m just imagining it though.

Other than that, I am very happy with my progress so far, except that it needs to be faster. I am afraid of going too fast, however, too soon, as I don’t want to have little inconsistencies sneak into my playing.

I also worked on the concerto a little, though not too much because my mom came home at that point and we had to get ready to go over to UPJ to meet with disability services. The run is coming better, but I’m still very rusty on the descending arpeggio.

Session #187

Length: 00:13:36

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I briefly worked on the prelude, but only to review it a few times. Still, I feel like it got a bit faster than earlier. I should really start using the metronome to have a more concrete measurement than just my memory.

I quickly got to the concerto. I pulled off the run pretty well, although the ascent up to the run was not that great. I’m trying to keep everything in mind my piano teacher at Duquesne told me. She said that ascent up to the top before the run should be like climbing up a mountain, getting ready for the very fast descent. I’m trying to get it perfect.

Also, the latter part of the run that ascends again was fine, but might have been a little out of sync between the two hands.

The arpeggio is inconsistent. The first few times was horrible, but then I ripped through it beautifully at least once. I played it a few times more slowly to try to solidify that improved playing.

Those jumps after the arpeggio are OK, but the last few I have a little trouble with. Nothing that should be too difficult, though.

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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 | No 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 #32

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Monday, February 16, 2009

I meant to practice a lot more today, but I wasn’t feeling so well so ended up not doing much at all.

Session #82

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I worked on dominant 7th arpeggios.

  • C: 96
  • C#: 88-92

I still need to speed up C#.

I was messing with different ways to sit on the bench, because I had heard some people say they don’t sit fully on it, so I was trying that, thus all of the pauses. It didn’t work out so well, so I’ll have to explore it further.

  • Time: 01:28:32 PM-01:43:42 PM
  • Length: 0:10:15
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:29:57
  • Session trend: 0:24:44

Session #83

I recently bought a course called Pitch Paths, for developing perfect pitch. I’ve heard claims that you are born with it, but I’m not so sure I believe that. Someone recommended this course on a forum I frequent, and it was much cheaper than others I’ve found, so I thought I’d try it. If it doesn’t work, well, it was only $22.

So, I spent a bit of time reading the 55-page manual, then adopted one of the recommended plans, and started.

Basically each track introduces a new tone, and correlates it with a "trigger tune," which is some fragment of a popular classical piece that begins on that tone. The idea is that once you practice that tone enough, the tune drops away and you can just recognize the tone.

It recommends starting with C, D, E, and F, so I played through those tracks, playing a few of them two or three times.

The tune associated with each tone is as follows:

  • C: Mozart: Sonata in C Major, K. 545: 1. Allegro
  • D: J. S. Bach: Minuet in G Major, BWV app. 114: From Anna Magdalena Notebook
  • E: Beethoven: Bagatelle in A Minor, WoO. 59 (“Für Elise”)
  • F: J. S. Bach: Invention in F Major, BWV 779

I played each one a few times, figured out the solfege for each, sang the notes before the recording did, and finally figured out the notes on the piano if I didn’t know them already. For F, playing it on the piano came first since I couldn’t figure out the solfege until I knew the notes.

I’ve also been associating them with the fixed solfege syllables. They’re easier to sing, when trying to sing the tone, as well as the tune.

Some of the tones are easier than others. I just tested myself on D, and was directly on. I have been a half step below C several times, as well as E. F is not as good because I ran out of time at the end, but when I just tested myself, I was a whole step off (on G instead of F).

It’s only the first day, so I’m optimistic that this will go well. I’m going to try to do this for at least 15-30 minutes each day.

  • Time: 10:29:58 PM-10:45:02 PM
  • Length: 0:15:00
  • Focus: Perfect pitch
  • Average session: 0:29:46
  • Session trend: 0:23:46

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 0:25:15
  • Total time practiced: 41:10:44
  • Sessions: 2
  • Average session: 0:12:38
  • Longest session: 0:15:00 in session #83
  • Average time per day: 0:48:27
  • Time per day trend: 0:51:48
  • Average sessions per day: 1.63
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.07
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #8):
      • Time: 1:28:23
      • Sessions: 7
    • This month (February):
      • Time: 26:15:42
      • Sessions: 65
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 297:56:29
      • Sessions: 601

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Posted in Arpeggios, Music, Musicianship, Perfect Pitch, Piano, Practice Journal, 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 #28

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Monday, February 09, 2009

Session #65

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I first worked on the piano concerto. I went through the beginning quickly, fixing minor mistakes, but otherwise I wanted to continue on with the second half.

So, I finally got past the 32nd notes, and into the fast part right before those octave runs. I don’t even have a guess as to the page, so don’t ask, but I know it’s between 10-18, probably around 14-15. I guess that’s a guess.

Anyway, I was having trouble with parts of that, specifically with keeping my hand relaxed, and with some of the jumps in the left hand, after it ascends and then comes back to the bottom. It didn’t go too badly, but it still needs work.

Then, I went into the octaves, but didn’t work on them much, mostly just getting to the descending chords in both hands after the octaves are done. I worked on that transition a bit, and then worked through those descending chords. I have a bit of trouble with those.

Finally, I worked on those arpeggios a bit starting around page 18, as well as going into that cadenza. That is a little better.

Session #66

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Next, I worked on that piano ensemble piece.1 I feel so embarrassed playing this piece, because it really doesn’t sound that great by itself. I mean, I like it because it sounds cool, but it’s just not that great or difficult of a piece. Nonetheless, I put it on my practice schedule, and so figured I should at least try to practice it a little. It was really hard practicing it for 30 minutes, especially while imagining everyone wondering what on earth I was playing.

Someone walked in on me while practicing this, because I had stolen their practice room2. There are certain pieces you don’t mind people walking in on you while playing, such as the piano concerto, but this is not one of those pieces. Oh well.

Anyway, I fixed the minor issues I found. There was actually a small issue with a shift in the right hand at the end, jumping from D and G down to A-Bb-C#-D3. Also, near the end, before it has those dotted 8ths, the right hand has G, A, G, F, E, D, E-C#. Usually I took that D with finger 3, but since I had to reach down for the E, I decided to take the D with 4. Well, that was turning out to be a little choppy, so I worked on making that smoother.

Besides that, I just worked through everything in general, making sure it was all correct and without error.

  • Time: 11:18:43 AM-11:44:18 AM
  • Length: 0:25:37
  • Focus: Piano Ensemble
  • Average session: 0:31:34
  • Session trend: 0:26:59

Session #67

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I next worked on the Brahms Rhapsody. This was right before lunch, so only spent 10 minutes on it, but I figured it was better than nothing.

I actually got a good bit accomplished. Everything is a lot better than I would expect, seeing as I haven’t played it seriously for about 9 months. I did relearn it, but I really haven’t practiced it seriously. All the jumps are still mostly in tact, though, which is great because I put a lot of work into those.

I don’t know how to describe where I stopped. It’s right before the left hand has the octaves and octave jumps and the right hand has a bunch of chords. It is building up to that F major scale.

Session #68

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Forgetting that I had more Brahms to practice, I went into practicing arpeggios.

  • C:
    • Diminished 7th: 96-104
    • Dominant 7th: 88-100

The diminished at 104 was slightly unstable, though a lot better than my attempt at D major at 104 on Saturday.

  • Time: 01:29:56 PM-01:44:55 PM
  • Length: 0:14:59
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:31:01
  • Session trend: 0:24:20

Session #69

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Next, I did arpeggios again, to finish off the short session earlier.

  • C#:
    • Diminished 7th: 96
    • Dominant 7th: 80-96

I mostly worked on the dominant 7th, because that gave me the most trouble. I just could not get that right for some reason. However, once I started getting it, I was able to go faster rather easily. It was much more difficult to play it at 96, though, so we’ll see how that goes.

  • Time: 04:05:34 PM-04:22:02 PM
  • Length: 0:16:29
  • Focus: Arpeggios
  • Average session: 0:30:49
  • Session trend: 0:23:33

Session #70

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I remembered about the Rhapsody, so decided to finish the other half of that session. I started where I had left off earlier.

I did the end of the main part a few times. The jumps were a little more rusty than in the beginning, but I got them without too much trouble.

I then did the slower section, trying to make it as melodic as possible, as my piano teacher always emphasized so much. I’m not really sure if it was successful or not, though it sounded good to me.

The pedal sounded a little less pronounced than when I used to play it, but I think Mrs. S told me to change it on each beat, so that’s what I was doing.

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 2:03:17
  • Total time practiced: 35:44:21
  • Sessions: 6
  • Average session: 0:20:33
  • Longest session: 0:37:10 in session #65
  • Average time per day: 0:48:44
  • Time per day trend: 1:01:19
  • Average sessions per day: 1.59
  • Sessions per day trend: 2.37
  • Estimates:
    • This week (week #7):
      • Time: 7:11:30
      • Sessions: 21
    • This month (February):
      • Time: 29:45:50
      • Sessions: 75
    • This year (2009):
      • Time: 299:43:18
      • Sessions: 587

Notes 
1. I have no idea what it is called yet, so I’m just calling it piano ensemble for now. I’ll find out on Thursday, and update the categories and the practice schedule appropriately. 
2. I had scheduled it, so I wasn’t budging. 
3. No idea if those are sharps or flats, so I am guessing, per usual.

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Posted in 1. Andante sostenuto, Arpeggios, Camille Saint-Saëns, Johannes Brahms, Music, Piano, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, Pieces, Practice Journal, Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1, 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 »

Practice Schedule Creation Script

Friday, February 6th, 2009

I just made a script that takes a list of things I want to work on in my practice sessions, each having a certain weight, and creates a practice schedule out of them.

The algorithm is something like the following. Note that a focus is something to be worked on in a practice session, such as a piece, or technique.

  1. Create two temporary lists of focuses
  2. While the main focus list is not empty:
    1. Take the first focus of the main list:
      1. If one of the temporary lists has fewer items than the other, add the focus to that list.
      2. Otherwise, randomly choose one of the temporary lists, and add the focus to that list.
    2. Remove the focus from the main list.
  3. If either temporary list has more than one item, repeat from step #1 for that list.
  4. Merge the two lists and assign it to the main focus list.

In this way, focuses usually are dispersed throughout the schedule instead of being grouped together.

You can see the result of this script here. Really, it is another script that reads the resultant schedule text file, which I upload to the server, and makes it into a list for the blog.

The code for the practice schedule creator is below.

<?php
  $focuses = array(
array(
'name' => 'Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22: 1. Andante sostenuto',
'weight' => 10
),
array(
'name' => 'Scales',
'weight' => 9
),
array(
'name' => 'Arpeggios',
'weight' => 9
),
array(
'name' => 'Rachmaninoff: Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4',
'weight' => 8
),
array(
'name' => 'Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo',
'weight' => 4
),
array(
'name' => 'Piano Ensemble',
'weight' => 3
),
array(
'name' => 'Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807: I. Prélude',
'weight' => 2
),
array(
'name' => 'Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1',
'weight' => 5
),
);
 
$sessions = array();
foreach ($focuses as $focus)
{
for ($i = 0; $i < $focus['weight']; ++$i)
{
array_push($sessions, $focus['name']);
}
}
 
$sessions = createSchedule($sessions);
 
$fp = fopen('C:' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'Users' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'Brandon' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'Documents' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'piano' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'schedule.txt', 'ab');
 
foreach ($sessions as $session)
{
fwrite($fp, $session . "\n");
}
 
fclose($fp);
 
function createSchedule(array $sessions)
{
 
$list1 = array();
$list2 = array();
 
while (count($sessions))
{
 
$value = array_shift($sessions);
 
if (count($list1) < count($list2))
{
array_push($list1, $value);
}
elseif (count($list2) < count($list1))
{
array_push($list2, $value);
}
else
{
$num = mt_rand();
if ($num % 2 == 1)
{
array_push($list1, $value);
}
else
{
array_push($list2, $value);
}
}
 
}
 
if (count($list1) > 1)
{
$list1 = createSchedule($list1);
}
 
if (count($list2) > 1)
{
$list2 = createSchedule($list2);
}
 
return array_merge($list1, $list2);
}
 
?>

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Posted in Computers, Music, Piano, Programming | 1 Comment »

Practice Journal: Day #21

Friday, January 30th, 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 3:35:14
  • Total time practiced: 25:26:56
  • Sessions: 6
  • Average session: 0:35:52
  • Longest session: 0:48:44 in session #44
  • Average time per day: 0:46:16
  • Time per day trend: 0:54:48
  • Average sessions per day: 1.36
  • Sessions per day trend: 1.67

Session #40

  • Time: 8:36:08 AM-9:17:04 AM
  • Length: 0:39:23
  • Average session: 0:33:47
  • Session trend: 0:32:06

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

I had a lesson today, so I went down as early as possible to practice, especially since I couldn’t practice the day before because the campus was covered in ice.

So, #1 on my list of things to worry about that my teacher might want to review, was the concerto. She told me to work on the second half of it, and I hadn’t done much working this week or last. This week, though, I have been trying to make myself work a lot harder, though the inclement weather yesterday kind of threw a wrench in that.

Anyway, I reviewed the piece. I went over the run in the beginning a few times because I was having a little trouble with it.

I also reviewed that slow section after the piano solo, because I wanted to improve the phrasing, and make the left hand smoother.

I had some trouble in the cadenza, after the part where the hands cross, and where there are a bunch of diminished arpeggios.

Anyway, then I practiced those arpeggios starting on page 18 a bit. I’m trying to get them faster, and more accurate, obviously. They are getting better, but still need a lot of work.

At the end, I practiced those arpeggios in the end of the piece. The G minor ascending arpeggio is going a bit better, but the D still needs a lot of work, too.

I’m sitting here listening to the recording, so I can summarize what happened more accurately, and I set Windows Media Player to play fast, and realized that is the perfect speed, that I need to be playing at. I have a whole lot of work to do on the entire piece if I want to make it that fast. I hope to God that I can do it.

Session #41

  • Time: 9:21:29 AM-9:46:01 AM
  • Length: 0:24:33
  • Average session: 0:33:33
  • Session trend: 0:31:21

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41.1: Rachmaninoff: Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4

I just reviewed Polichinelle a bit, trying to iron difficult spots. Especially tough are those jumps, as usual, pretty much all throughout the piece.

I was trying to improve the very beginning of it, making all of that a lot cleaner.

Over all, besides that, I was just trying to work on any trouble spots that came up.

Session #42
  • Time: 9:49:50 AM-10:17:13 AM
  • Length: 0:27:24
  • Average session: 0:33:33
  • Session trend: 0:31:21

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42.1: Technique

I worked on new scales and arpeggios. They aren’t technically new, because I learned them at my lesson last week, but I haven’t actually gone through them yet in practice.

I didn’t use the metronome since I was just trying to play them accurately, at whichever speed was necessary.

I went through A major, natural minor, melodic minor, harmonic minor, diminished 7th, and dominant 7th; and Bb major, natural minor, melodic minor, and triplets for harmonic minor.

Session #43

  • Time: 11:18:43 AM-11:56:15 AM
  • Length: 0:35:17
  • Average session: 0:33:27
  • Session trend: 0:31:23

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

This was immediately after my lesson, so I figured I should review the concerto, since she told me to exclusively work on that more or less, especially the last half, or from page 18-24 or so.

So, I worked on the arpeggios starting at page 18, as well as the strange descending run/arpeggio near the end of the movement, and the final two arpeggios in the movement. There’s really nothing to say about it, besides saying they are improving slowly, but seemingly surely.

The problem with that descending run/arpeggio is the left hand. The right hand is mostly fine, though it misses an F# here and there, but it is able to go perfectly fast. The problem is the left hand, and playing the two hands together without one lagging behind.

Session #44

  • Time: 3:02:43 PM-3:51:59 PM
  • Length: 0:48:44
  • Average session: 0:33:48
  • Session trend: 0:33:07

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

For the most part, I can just say, see above. I worked on exactly the same trouble spots.

Session #45

  • Time: 9:02:20 PM-9:45:35 PM
  • Length: 0:39:53
  • Average session: 0:33:56
  • Session trend: 0:33:48

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

Guess who. The concerto again.

This time, I thought I’d work on the beginning. I remembered a tip I saw that said once you extensively work on a section, not to work on the same section again that day. I also remember reading about post-practice improvement, especially over night. So, I did not drill the end again, which is good because I was getting frustrated with it.

Well, my fingers were really cold when I got into the room, so I was pretty much terrible at first. The run was unsynchronized and sloppy. I couldn’t figure out why, then thought I’d try warming up with some scales and arpeggios first. My fingers warmed up, and then I did considerably better.

Once I got to page 10, I pretty much stayed in that general area, give or take a few pages. I experimented with holding down sostenuto pedal along with the soft pedal, in that section with the descending 32nd notes in the right hand, and the slowly ascending notes in the left, with somewhat of a pedal point at the bottom. The reason is, the music specifies that the sustain pedal should be switched quite a few times throughout those sections, but I want that pedal point to sound throughout, because it just sounds better that way. But it’s awkward trying to press all three pedals at once, so I resorted to keeping the sustain pedal down instead. I’ll ask my teacher about it next week.

Anyway, I worked on that section quite a bit. I had some trouble for some reason, probably because I’ve not worked on it for a while.

Then I went into that very difficult section immediately after that. I never know how to describe it, but it has some jumps and both hands ascend a few times, and they are all 32nd notes, of course. It’s right before the very loud octave runs.

I kept getting interrupted, because I was trying to arrange transportation, so to speak, to a meeting I had to go to at 10:00, and I kept getting text messages.

Anyway, I ended by just playing that section slower, so as to try to play it more accurately, which is hard when the hands are so close to each other.

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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, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Technique | No Comments »

Practice Journal: Day #9

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Monday, January 12, 2009

Statistics

  • Time practiced: 1:05:12
  • Time practiced this week: 2:32:03
  • Average time practiced per day this week: 1:16:02
  • Average session length this week: 0:25:21
  • Total time practiced: 10:52:03 in 16 days
  • Average time practiced per day: 0:40:45
  • Average session length: 0:36:14

Session #16

Time: 2:50:46 PM-3:27:33 PM
Length: 0:36:48

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In the beginning of this, I accidentally say session 15 instead of 16. I had lost count.

I started out by warming up for about 8 minutes, with major, natural minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor scales, and diminished and dominant 7th arpeggios.

16.1: Rachmaninoff: Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4

I just pretty much reviewed the piece from about 0:08:00 to 0:13:02.

 

I had some trouble with 26-30, so I reviewed that for several minutes, trying to hit the chords accurately.

I also worked on those sections like 30-35, where I have trouble hitting the F# when descending, such as in measures 32 and 34.

I next worked on that middle section that is more melodic, from measures 59-91. I wanted to bring out the melody more.

In the next section, measures 92-101, I had some trouble with measures 93-94, and 96-97.

I finally worked on 107-111. I have trouble making those small shifts from beats 3 and 4 of measures 107-109. Same goes for measures 112-114.

Session #17

Time: 3:33:14 PM-3:52:10 PM
Length: 0:18:57

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I was really messed up with this one. I don’t know why I said 116.

17.1: Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo

I mostly just reviewed the piece at first. I had some trouble with that fourth page starting at measure 50, though I usually have trouble with that.

I then started back at the second half of the piece, I think around measure 41.

I went over the first page a few times with the metronome, since I sometimes have trouble with the tempo in measures 8-11.

Also I practiced the 32nd notes in the beginning a bit, especially in the left hand.

I just reviewed certain sections I was having trouble with, such as on page 4, and the end of page 4 into page 5, when the left hand has to jump from around middle C down into a low B octave.

Session #18

Time: 3:53:49 PM-4:03:15 PM
Length: 0:09:27

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Again, I was off with the session number, saying 17 instead of 18.

18.1: Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1

I reviewed that section I think around measure 40, up until the fast F major scale. I didn’t spend too much time on this piece; I just wanted to review it and make sure it was OK.

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Posted in Domenico Scarlatti, Johannes Brahms, Keyboard Sonata in E major, K.380/L.23/P.483: Andante comodo, Music, Piano, Polichinelle in F-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 4, Practice Journal, Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1, Sergei Rachmaninoff | No Comments »

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