Melanie’s practice diary - starting again!
Forgive me people; I’ve not played the piano for around 20 years! And it’s time to make amends!
I also confess that I completed my BMus(hons) at Kings College, London in the late 1990’s before disappearing into corporate life. But then, with hectic work / family life etc I just stopped playing. Then whenever I tried to play my old pieces it was a disaster and I was totally unmotivated!
Anyway, enough of this! I’m going to start re-learning some basics:
- Moonlight Sonata / Für Elise / Mozart Sonata in C+ K545, and some other old classics
Then
- Haydn Sonata in E minor
- Howard Ferguson’s 5 Bagatelles (Probably No. 4)
- And maybe dabble with Bach’s invention in C major…
And to help my fingers feel less like they are stuck in treacle, I intend to support this with scales, arpeggios and the like.
2 replies
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Well the last two days have been so much fun! There are so many excellent resources on Tonebase I’m almost finding it distracting!
Yesterday and today:
- Watched the workshop on and worked on / revisited the first movement of the Moonlight sonata
- Watched the workshop on Haydn’s Sonata in E minor and started working on that.
- Part way through Garrick’s Musicianship skills
- Watched the workshop on Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C major - revisited the Prelude.
- Completed the first session on the Tauberman technique
- Watched the workshop on scales and fingering. Practiced scales / arpeggios.
I work from home, freelance. And have to admit, all this is eating into my actual day job, but it’s hard to work when my piano is in sight and I just want to learn so much more.
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Well, I have discovered that I’m easily distracted! Rather than concentrate on passages I’m struggling with, I want to “rattle-off” pieces I used to play many years ago. Which is a disaster as I’m just too rusty. So, I’m taking myself in hand this week and concentrating on bar by bar. Have downloaded the Modacity app and set up a practicing list with my objectives for each piece. And limited myself to three pieces to work on, plus scales / skills practice.
- Haydn Sonata in E minor
- Schubert Sonata in A minor D 845 and
- Beethoven Moonlight sonata first movement.
Let’s see how this pans out.