Week 1: Getting down to Business
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 July 31st - August 7 I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
1. Pick a piece you want to revisit!
2. Let us know how far you got with it, what is "unfinished" and what your goal is for this challenge!
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I'm finishing the first week by posting the "baseline" from which I hope to start improving. Jarred Dunn's Chopin Mazurka TWI has reminded me of the value of practicing both hands separately without pedal, so that's what I'm doing with my 脡tude-Tableau. Here is the right hand:
https://vimeo.com/852200493/f2c150331b?share=copy
And here is the left hand:
https://vimeo.com/852208954/4b66cf774b?share=copy
The goal for next week will be to produce something that sounds a little bit more like music.
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Alexander Weymann I can鈥檛 open the link to the videos
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Ursina Boehm thanks for letting me know. I went ahead and made the videos "public" rather than "unlisted" - maybe try again and let me know if you can play it now? My Vimeo links used to play just fine over the last few months; not sure what the issue is. But my computer literacy is not great.
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Alexander Weymann that sounds very clear and well prepared. What a demanding piece! Looking forward to the next update!
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Alexander Weymann Sounds great! Recording hands separately was a game changer for me too in the Mazurka TWI. Love Rachmaninov. Can鈥檛 wait to hear more!
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Alexander Weymann That鈥檚 a great starting point! Your hands looks nice and relaxed, and you have the technic needed for this etude!
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Derek McConville Vidhya Bashyam Sindre Skarelven I appreciate your kind comments. Yes, it certainly is a challenging piece - but highly rewarding! Sindre, thank you so much for saying that I have the technique necessary to play it, because serious doubts about my technical ability to conquer this music have always kept me from trying to finish it so far. But I think that by being super disciplined and methodical in my approach (learning both hands separately, keeping my foot off the pedal for the first couple of weeks, memorizing it securely before trying to get it into performance tempo etc.), I might actually stand a chance. We'll know by the end of the month.
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Alexander Weymann It worked! We can watch the videos now. I love seeing the practice/learning process. I need to post a video today! I didn't record my "hands separately" this week, but I'll do it today!
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Vidhya Bashyam Yes! This is my new "normal", too. Love it!
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Alexander Weymann You'll ace it!
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Now it works
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I made a first recording of two passages of the Polonaise-Fantaisie as a starting point of my practice: (1) mm 22-66
(2) mm 242-288
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Ursina Boehm wow - both of these sections sound gorgeous already. So difficult to balance the many complex layers of sound here, and you are doing that really well. And I love your choices for rubato and agogic accents. Can't wait to hear the piece in its "polished" state by the end of this challenge!
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Ursina Boehm Bravo! Beautiful already!
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Ursina Boehm Beautiful phrasing and dynamics! Sounds so great already, looking forward to hear where you鈥檒l take this further!
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Alexander Weymann thank you! I will first focus on the technical issues, as those are the passages where I lose my self-confidence when playing it in public.
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Vidhya Bashyam thank you! I want to be able to stay focused on the music when playing the technically challenging parties of this piece.
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Sindre Skarelven thank you! Let鈥檚 see how I can improve it
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Ursina Boehm That鈥檚 absolutely great. Sound wonderful. I love this piece. Thanks.
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Hi everyone,
This is my Week 1 - progress update - the opening bars of the Valse - still just finding my feet in terms of tempo (and the notes) ... I find it tricky to stay in tempo with these ones so there will be lots of practice with metronome required before the next update I think!Derek
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Derek McConville I think this is fantastic for week 1, Derek. It put a smile on my face. Looking forward to hearing more!
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Derek McConville lovely! Smile on the face is right. Full of life and played with a beautiful sound.
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Derek McConville Sounds great!
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Derek McConville What a great start! This Valse is enjoyable, those repeated notes are so much fun. Looking forward to hear more!
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Derek McConville Hi Derek! Great start. I would practice the left and right hand separately. Because if the left hand is stabile in tempo you get more control.
Have fun! -
Derek McConville The tempo is perfectly fine and sounds with dancing spirit. As Sindre says: great start!
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