Week 1: Status check! (also pick your piece!)
Hello and welcome to the WEEK ONE Main Thread for this challenge! 
Alright everyone - this is the thread where we'll all be posting our daily updates.
Make sure you've read the rules before replying (<- click)
Twice a week between January 23 - 30 I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
1. Pick your piece!
2. If a new piece, post your sight-reading of it (never hurts to practice this valuable skill!) If it is an old piece, let's try and dust it off, and play through what we can, to evaluate its current condition. Let us know what your "piece status" is!
3. Optional: Tell us WHY you picked this piece that you love so much!
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I have gone back and forth on what I would like to play for this challenge. I really wanted to play one of Mussorgsky's short pieces (Meditation, or Une Larme), but they are more of a reach than I can reasonably do right now. So, I'll go to my second love: "Fiddler on the Roof." I'm not yet certain which song I will play from this musical - I initially pulled out "Sunrise, Sunset," but it has some small technical challenges that make it too much for me (though my son played it beautifully on a sight-read this morning). I'll post by the end of the week with a firm choice and initial run-through.
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Michelle R that's a great choice. I love that piece since participating in a university production many years ago!
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Michelle R I think a bunch of us on Tonebase are nerds at heart. I was premed in undergrad and still get all sorts of medical newsletters (NEJournal, JAMA, etc.) even though I had a completely different career path!
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Will Green Thanks so much, Will!
It seems that while being rich in Spirit (or poor in spirit, right???) is of inestimable worth, it can also sometimes be quite the lonely road. That was certainly the case for me over 30 years ago in high school - which is why I identified with characters such as Tevya in FotR. Watching him sing his heart helped me feel less lonely - I think music, in general, does that for me. Listening to, or playing, beautiful music (some days, even just chords!) helps me feel connected to myself, to others, and to God. Music is such a precious gift!!
God bless you, too!!!
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Derek McConville Thanks, Derek!
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Gail Starr Fellow Nerds Unite!
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Michael We need a logo for our new sub-group: The Nerds of Tonebase. We will be competing with a cat lovers of Tonebase, but I think we can grow our membership over time, right?
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Gail Starr Absolutely! We鈥檙e Nerds, and we鈥檙e proud of it!
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Michael I have the same challenge Michael. So difficult to sing while playing! I hope to learn how someday.
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Michelle R Nice to hear you play and sing a little! Singing and/or making music must trigger the center of our brains that gives us joy. Thank you for also sharing your nostalgic memory of the first time you heard this song.
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I am learning Haydn's sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50, composed around 1794 and one of the last works he wrote for piano, and for this challenge I'd like to choose the second movement, the Adagio in F major. It was written as a stand-alone piece before he wrote the rest of the sonata, which is dedicated to Therese Jansen-Bartolozzi, a virtuoso pianist (she was supposedly one of Clementi's best students), whose playing Haydn very much admired. This movement appeals to me because it is songful, almost operatic, and it feels like an opportunity to be especially expressive.
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Harriet Kaplan Nice! We have lots of Beethoven and his student (Czerny) and now his teacher too. Looking forward to hearing this!
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Harriet Kaplan Can鈥檛 wait to hear you play it, Harriet!
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Harriet Kaplan looking forward to hearing this expressive piece!
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Harriet Kaplan Love this sonata! Looking forward to hear you play it!
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Harriet Kaplan Wonderful choice, Harriet! Looking forward to hear you play it!
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Harriet Kaplan Thank you for the excellent back story, Harriett. I didn't know any of that. Can't wait to hear you!
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Harriet Kaplan I'm looking forward to hearing you play - Haydn always brings such joy!
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I have chosen Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement (that's the only movement I can dream of playing!). My dad taught me to play this when I was a kid, so truth be told, I've been playing it for a while. This piece will always have a place in my heart as I feel connected to my dad whenever I play it (he's been gone a while).
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Randi You sound great already! Such a lovely memory of your dad.
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Randi Beautiful playing and dedication! <3
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Randi Really enjoyed it! How great to still play something your dad taught you!
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Randi Beautiful :)
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I'm learning BWV999. I divided the piece into a few chunks and try to memorize a chunk and rotate them over the next week. Here's what I have so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjDm9nV33c8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIiaqtsADuM
I will add the transition to each chunk and hope to memorize the entire piece. I won't have access to piano for a week due to traveling.
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ALICE BEAUTIFUL
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ALICE Great job memorizing already!
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