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September 21st, 2020
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I made a mistake this weekend and continuously picked at my left
thumbnail, which infected the side where it contacts my skin. The
unfortunate result makes playing the piano a little distracting
due to the dull pain that occurs when I play a note with my left
thumb.
In spite of this I was still able to practice one of Chopin's
Polonaises this morning for forty-five minutes. This past weekend
I performed three of Chopin's Polonaises for a retirement home,
giving me a better idea of what I need to work on during my
practice sessions. I like performing for others because it puts me
in a pressured state of mind which reveals another level of
playing ability. Playing for others speeds up my learning time
because it also takes me out of any practice rut I may have been
stuck in.
This morning I focused on drilling four sections in Polonaise Op.
71 No. 3. The sections I practiced were those I stumbled through
this weekend while performing. Besides those sections I do not
have too much else to work on for this Polonaise. The speed I play
it at is not too slow but also also not too fast. I notice in a
lot of audio recordings this piece is played quite quickly,
however my playing style is more introspective in tempo.
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September 4th, 2020
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This past week I have been focusing on practicing Polonaises Op.
71 No. 2 and No. 3. In my opinion I have been successful since my
goals were to speed up the pieces to a performance tempo and I
have been able to do so after a lot of drilling. There was an
interesting moment of practice this past week where I drilled two
particular lines for an hour so I could accurately play the notes
without getting sloppy due to the tempo increase. I am happy with
the results of my work and am also sure I will be able to perform
these two Polonaises soon.