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August 27th, 2020
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I continued my tempo practicing from yesterday with Chopin's
Polonaise Op. 71 No. 2. Instead of focusing on the page I already
looked at, I turned my attention to the second page where there
are a lot of trills and thirds. As I was practicing I was telling
myself to have confidence in playing and to imagine being able to
complete the quicker sections without any troubles. That way of
thinking helped me practice the passages at the beginning of the
second page and I found myself pleased with the progress I made
with that change in attitude.
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August 26th, 2020
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I listened to a recording of Chopin's Polonaise Op. 71 No. 2
yesterday and realized I am playing it much too slowly. The
pianist I listened to played the piece at a completely different
tempo which gave it more texture and outlined the intricate
phrasing I have not focused on yet. This morning I sat down to
practice the Polonaise and tested my abilities to play the piece a
little faster. I only practiced one page but I spent a lot of time
altering my fingering, and ingraining in my mind and fingers how
the phrasing should be constructed. I was able to speed up what I
practiced however I think I will need to memorize the notes before
I start to play them at the appropriate tempo. That might be
difficult since I told myself I do not want to spend much more
time on these Polonaises. I am not yearning to learn something new
at the moment but I have been playing these pieces for five
months. That seems like a lot of time since I would like to be
able to vary my repertoire for the homes I play at.
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August 24th, 2020
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Chopin's Polonaise Op. 71 No. 3 was the first piece I practiced
this morning and I plan to practice his Polonaise Op. 71 No. 2
later today. I ended my practice session by playing through the
piece a couple of times because I wanted to judge if I could
perform it today if I needed to. I am used to practicing it in
sections but I surprised myself by being able to play it through
without any major mistakes or lapses of time where I would forget
the notes. Unfortunately I still need to semi-polish the piece so
I think it will take a few more days to achieve that goals, but I
am certain I will have it ready to perform for the next retirement
home I play for.
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August 20th, 2020
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I am incredibly motivated to finish learning the four Polonaises I
started at the beginning of COVID-19, so today I focused on
practicing unfamiliar sections of Polonaise Op. 71 No. 2. I was
surprised that I was able to quickly learn the patterns in the
different sequences on the later pages. Usually it takes me a
while to understand how to play certain parts but I identified the
repetition located in the fingering which made it easier. After I
identify the patterns I focus on putting the notes to muscle
memory. When I am in a rush I do not try to understand the
phrasing as much as I should but I still feel I have interpreted
the piece in a complete fashion.
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August 14th, 2020
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Chopin's Polonaise Op. 26 No. 1 is the piece I practiced this
morning. I am planning to play it for Casa Dorinda this weekend so
I would like to make sure it sounds pretty. I am going to listen
to recordings of it later today to compare my interpretation but I
think I do a competent job playing it. I have not done too much
sight-reading this week so I think my next practice session will
involve that.
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August 13th, 2020
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I started my day by practicing Chopin's Polonaise Op. 71 No. 3. I
can play through it steadily which means I will be able to perform
it soon. That means I have three out of four polonaises ready to
perform for the retirement homes. I started learning the
polonaises at the beginning of the pandemic so that means it has
taken me around five months to learn those four pieces. I would
have preferred to learn them quicker but I am not going to be too
hard on myself. I have been practicing other pieces at the same
time so not all my attention was focused on the polonaises.
Another project I would like to revisit are the sonatas that I
learned by Beethoven around eight months ago because I do not
feel I finished them.
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August 6th, 2020
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I am about to achieve my goal that consists of being able to play
four of Chopin's Polonaises. I am able to practice them at least
forty-five minutes every day without much issue. The two most
recent Polonaises have had slower tempos which works to my
advantage because then I can perform them while reading the music.
There are certain patterns which I have recognized in these pieces
but because I want to perform them sooner I have not focused on
memorization. Later today I will continue my practice agenda by
sight-reading music I have found online but I have not yet
decided which style I am going to play. I have not found any more
ragtime music books, so I will probably pick a random style.