<---Back to Homepage--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 9, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Today was my second day back practicing after my vacation. I felt like I should get back into my normal routine, so I again started by playing Suggestion Diabolique, continued with Ballade and Partita 2, and finished by sightreading Final Fantasy. I am still memorizing Suggestion Diabolique, so nothing that is nothing new. With Ballade, I just need to get it in my muscle memory so I can perform it easier without having to read the music as much. I have to review Partita 2 until I am comfortable playing it by memory, but that is as far as I can go practicing it on my own. The rest of practicing for Partita 2 takes place in front of the residents at the retirement homes. Yesterday I did some sightreading, and was rusty at it, but today I did much better sightreading. I was a little surprised how out of touch I felt sightreading after my vacation, however it came back to me quickly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 10, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I was not able to practice so much today because I had a lot of outside commitments. I still was able to practice for 2 hours and 15 minutes, not including the 50 minute performance at the retirement home, but I was a little sad I did not get to play more. What I did get to practice was more of the same, if you have been following my practice logs for the past couple of months. Today further cemented the idea that I need to start playing Suggestion in front of people. I think I will play it at Alexander Gardens a second time when I am there in two weeks. The rest of my practice time was split between preparing for Heritage House and reviewing Partita 2. I am a little ashamed I failed Partita 2 the last time I preformed it, so I am now trying to figure out where I went wrong. For the time being I am going to continue performing it, even if I do a poor job.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 11, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I practiced at my parent's house today, which was nice because they still have the piano I grew up playing. My practice routine did not change much from yesterday, except that I noticed my memorization of Diabolique has almost reached it's end. One new thing I did today was play Pathetique 1, which was nice because I did not stutter through much of it. In fact, I was able to play it like I had never put it down. I had to review a couple of passages such as the notable bass section in the second part of the piece. Today's practice session went great overall, and I was able to sightread for fifty minutes as well. I again chose to sightread a Final Fantasy Opera, which was a slow process. I finished it though, and it sounded pleasant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 15, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I wish I sightread today, but I had to prepare three lessons. When I have full days like this I usually have to cut my practice time, and unfortunately sometimes I cut the sightreading portion out. Maybe tomorrow I will make up for it and sightread earlier so it will not happen again. I can afford it because I am between pieces and I spend most of my practice time reviewing older repetoire. I can not get much further with Suggestion Diabolique practicing it myself, so I think I will start listening to Brahms again to pick a new piece to play. Pathetique 1 was what I went through today after I finished reviewing Suggestion Diabolique. There were only five or six sections that needed polishing, but when they are polished it makes a big difference in how the piece comes together in a performance. Tomorrow I will continue again with Pathetique 1, and perhaps move onto the third movement. There is not much left for me to review of my old repetoire, so I will have to spend a lot of time listening to recordings of pieces I find interesting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 16, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I did not spend very much time practicing Suggestion Diabolique today. Total, I spent 25 minutes on it, which mostly included memorization of the second page and review of the rest of the piece. I spent most of my practice time working on the first movement of Beethoven's Pathetique, because I will be playing it at Heritage House tomorrow as a challenge for myself. Last time I was at Heritage House I ended by playing Liebestraum 3, and this time I would like to play something equally as impressive. I worked on the same passages I usually do for Pathetique, such as the section where both hands are in the bass. There are probably about fifteen different spots that need to be cleaned up, but they are more about polishing than relearning the entire section. I was happy with the progress I made practicing Pathetique today, and feel I will be able to play it well for the residents at Heritage House tomorrow. I also had an opportunity to sightread today, which is important because I skipped it yesterday. Today I sightread a lot of Christmas music, as well as music from Charlie Brown movies. I had an easy time sightreading today, and feel like I am in a good stride for improving my sightreading daily.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 17, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I mostly practiced in order to perform well today at Heritage House. I did my normal routine that includes Suggestion Diabolique, and I continued with Pathetique 1. I was determined to be able to play it for the crowd at Heritage House, since it is a little more difficult to play there than at other homes. The audience that comes to see me play at Heritage House is about twice as large than at other retirement communities, so I get more nervous. I practiced a good amount of Pathetique 1, including all the passages yesterday that I was trying to polish. After I did that, I spent some time sightreading more Charlie Brown Special's music. It was not too hard to sightread those pieces, since they are written so a wide crowd can play them. I am not sure what I want to sightread tomorrow, but I will probably find something.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 18, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I approached Suggestion Diabolique from a different angle today, which included noticing a lot of details I had missed. Another aspect of the piece I missed was the pedaling. I do not like spending too much time focusing on pedaling sometimes, because I feel it can be a cheating device that covers mistakes. For Suggestion Diabolique, a lot of the sections need to have distinct staccattos, and I suppose I got carried away with that and forgot I needed to pedal some sections. After I worked on my pedaling with Suggestion Diabolique, I went back to Pathetique 1 and reviewed that for my performance at Valle Verde today. I reviewed the same sections, and after I was through with that I went back to Liszt and practiced Un Sospiro and Liebestraum 3. I reviewed Brahms too, since I am most likely going to be learning a piece by Brahms next. I am hoping it will be his first Rhapsody. I had time to sightread as well, which was nice, however I sightread from a random book that had no meaning to me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 22, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All I felt I should have practiced today was Suggestion Diabolique, because I wanted to start playing it for retirement homes. I went through the piece a little more than ten times, playing it from memory. There were a couple sections where I stopped and repeated the difficult parts, but I was happy with how much I could play without using the music. After Suggestion Diabolique, I practiced Pathetique 1 in the same manner. I was a little more confident playing that than Suggestion Diabolique, mostly because I have been studying it off and on my entire adult piano playing career. I sightread as well today, mostly picking popular songs from several different books online. I did not have too much trouble sightreading because I took it slow. I wanted to have enough time to place my hands on the keyboard in the correct spots.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 25, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I had a lot of time today to practice, so I chose to start two new pieces. One of them is Brahms' Ballade 3, and the other is Brahms' Op.76 No. 2. The latter sounds great with it's staccatos and quick tempo. I am using several practicing techniques with this piece that I normally do not use, and that is making my practice time more enjoyable. The Ballade is a little more simple, but it is dramatic and direct. It reminds me of the first Ballade in some points, but for the most part it has distinct passages which make the piece sound interesting. I sightread out of random books today, but it was a little boring. A lot of the books were easy pop music which I do not have too much interest in, so I will have to think about what other kinds of music I want to sightread for the future. The downside of sightreading is that you always need new material, and there is only so much new material that will work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 26, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I am having a great time learning my two new Brahms pieces. I think I will choose a third piece in addition, since the Brahms' are not too difficult. It has been a while since I have learned anything new, so I am taking the opportunity to enjoy the process and reincorporate practicing techniques I can only use in these beginning stages. I like the third Ballade because it reminds me of parts of the first which are dramatic, and I like Op. 76 No. 2 because it has a lot of interesting character with it's staccatos. I predict I will be able to learn the notes for these pieces without too much trouble. Already I can play the two pieces at a slow pace evenly, except for this one section in Ballade with a confusing, 6 sharp key signature.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 29, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I knew today I had to practice for Heritage House on Halloween, but I wanted to spend the first hour and a half of practice time on my new pieces. I am using the same practice techniques on each piece as yesterday, and playing them steadily so that my muscle memory is accurate in timing. Op. 76 No. 2 is coming quickly, and so are the chords in Ballade 3. I am getting used to the 6 sharps key signature, F#, and it is easier to sightread the chords than it was last week. I was surprised how easy it was to come back to these two pieces after the weekend, but I had no trouble jumping back in and reading the notes with not much issue. For my Heritage House practice, I went over Pathetique 1, Ballade 1, Liebestraum 3, and Rhapsody 2. I hope I will not rush Pathetique 1, since last time at Heritage House I made sort of a mess of it with my nerves. Ballade 1 should be easy enough to perform, and Liebstraum along with Rhapsody should not be too difficult as well. I expect to at least fake these pieces.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 31, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I practiced a lot of my older pieces today since I was planning to play at Heritage House. These pieces included Pathetique 1, Liebestraum 3, Rhapsody 2, Ballade 1, and Doctor Gradus. The challenge I have at Heritage House is not getting too nervous, however I cannot practice that on my own. Thankfully I had time to also sightread today, however I did not sightread too much. Sometimes when I know I have a performance, I skip my usual practice routine so I can review my repertoire. I do not feel too bad doing this since I still get to practice something. My practice session today made me feel more confident about playing at Heritage House, which is a great goal.