Shoshana's Practice Diary - Back to the Beginning
Well, not exactly the beginning, but pretty close.
I debated quite a while before started a diary here. It seems that most people are playing really advanced works, and here I am, playing beginner pieces.
I am 65 years old and returning to the piano after a long absence. I last played regularly in my late 30's, and then, like for so many, life got in the way and I didn't have the time or the energy.
I grew up in a musical household. My mother was a professional pianist who taught me until I was about 8 years old. I don't remember learning how to read music; I'm sure it was well before I could read the alphabet. When I was 8, I started formal lessons and studied until I was about 16. I was no prodigy, and like many kids, hated practicing, but despite all that, I was probably at an early advanced level when I stopped studying with a teacher. I continued playing regularly until I was about 25, moved, and no longer had access to a piano. During that period, my mom was always around to answer questions and give me advice and ideas on how to practice. And, I had access to her huge library of scores.
About three years ago, I bought an electric piano (Yamaha P515) and started playing again, but what with corona and moving twice, again my piano was neglected.
This spring, I decided that the time had come to get serious. After playing around a bit, I realized that I needed to take an orderly approach. Obviously, after not playing for so long, my technique has really suffered. I've lost a lot of the flexibility, strength, and endurance I used to have.
I picked a series to work with -- Exploring Piano Classics by Nancy Bachus. During the month of June, I worked through 19 of the 20 pieces in the first book. And then, I realized that I wanted to record what I was learning, so I could look back on it in the future and, hopefully, see the progress I'd made.
Little did I know how difficult it would be. The pieces are all very easy, but it's incredibly difficult to make them sound good, at least for me. Also, getting a clean recording with no mistakes is really hard.
Anyway, with a lot of help from my daughter, and a lot of googling, I set up my cameras, learned how to edit video, and the ins and outs of YouTube. Last week, I finished posting the last of these pieces. My goal with these pieces was to be able to perform them to a reasonable standard. I didn't memorize them and I didn't take a lot of time to polish them. If you're interested in seeing any of them, I've set up a playlist on YouTube: Exploring Piano Classics Level 1.So that brings us up to the present. This is getting rather long, so I will continue in my next post.
-
Since starting this project, I feel that my endurance has really improved. Initially, my hands would feel achy after a practice session. Now, I can work for up to two hours with no problems. My speed and agility seem to be improving, although they're not anywhere near where I'd like to be.
Several weeks ago, I started working on new material. I am working from two books:
- Exploring Piano Classics Level 2 by Nancy Bachus
- Classics for the Developing Pianist - Book 1 by Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield and Phyllis Alpert Lehrer
The Classics for the Developing Pianist series contains standard works, progressing from the early intermediate up to advanced level (in book 5). A study guide accompanies each repertoire book. I find this useful because I'm working without a teacher.
The Exploring Piano Classics series contains some familiar pieces, but also has a number of lesser known pieces. This series starts at the late beginner level and goes up to the late intermediate level. A technique book accompanies each repertoire book. In addition to exercises to accompany each piece in the repertoire book, there are also warm-up routines for practicing scales and arpeggios in various keys.
Between the two series, I have a great deal of material with which to work. I don't intend to learn every single piece in the books; I'm less partial to modern works and life is too short to spend time on something I don't enjoy. The material in these two books is still easy enough that I generally won't need more than a week to learn a piece and get it to a reasonable performance standard. There are definitely areas that I would like to improve -- I find it very difficult to achieve a nice sound with broken chord and alberti bass accompaniments in the left hand. But I doubt that spending more time on a particular piece will make much difference. I think that being aware of problems and working on them over time is the best way to go. As easy as these pieces are, I think that I'll get bored and my practice will suffer if I spend too much time on any particular piece.
So far this week, I have posted two videos to YouTube:
Minuet in A minor Z 649 by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I used ideas from a tutorial (free) from Josh Wright in working on this piece.
-and -
Melody in C No 21 from ABC for the Piano by FĆ©lix Le Couppey (1811-1887)
I'm less happy with this one, but this is as good as it gets. It's a good example of the problem I have with broken chord, left hand accompaniments. The right hand isn't the greatest either. But, as I say, I don't think I'm able to make it sound better at this point. Perhaps I'll try working on it again in the future.
-
Here are two more pieces I've posted this week:
Tarantella in C major by Frederick Scotson Clark (1840-1883)
I like how this turned out. It's not a difficult piece, but offers a definite technical challenge when played at speed. I'd like to be able to play it faster, but at this point, I feel too much tension if I push it. I'm pretty sure I'll be returning to it in the future.
Burleske from Notebook for Wolfgang by Leopold Mozart (1719-1787)
I think this came out reasonably well. It's one of those very simple pieces that are difficult to make sound really good (at least for me).
-
Lovely playing, Shoshana. Keep it up!
-
I enjoyed reading and listening to you. These are small pieces on the piano which are very pretty to listen to and certainly to play. Thank you for sharing, I find it very interesting that you took this time to share them with us on video. If this can reassure you, I am also one of those who is starting to play the piano again after having stopped playing for several years. I am very happy to return to this instrument that I have always loved. We look forward to continuing to listen to you in your piano progression. I believe you are on the right track.
-
Natalie Peh Aline Valade Thank you. I started recording videos because I wanted to make a record of my progress. I've found several benefits. One, my family now sees what I'm spending my time on. When I post a video to YouTube, the first place I share it is on the family WhatsApp group. I play pretty exclusively with headphones, so they've basically had no idea what I was playing. I'm still way too shy to play live for others. But, I want to share with other people and this is, I think, a good way to do it. Also, I have to play each piece through at least once with no mistakes (that I know of)
. Actually, now that I'm set up, I record all of my practice. I don't watch all of it, but I do review certain things; it helps me to pick up on potential problems.By working on small pieces like this, I'm gradually rebuilding my technique. At my age, I'm very aware of the potential for injury. Hopefully, with this gradual approach, I'll be able to advance without problems.
-
Shoshana Kalson thanks for sharing your return to playing the piano. I too had a 30+ year hiatus before starting to play again in November last year and taking in person lessons again in February this year, so I can relate to your story, especially about playing in front of other people. It never used to be a problem in my student days, I would play at the drop of a hat, on public pianos, in the school hall, concerts, accompanying, etc. I can't explain my near-crippling self-consciousness about playing for other people when I started playing again (ok, maybe I can, for me it was partly the obvious fact that I didn't sound very good at all when I started.... lol) But I think we are on the right track, recording oneself and posting it is a wonderful way to slowly get used to having other people hear our playing, and we can't find ourselves in a more friendly and more supportive place than tonebase to do this. Look forward to listening to your progress videos!
-
Natalie Peh I agree, Tonebase seems to be a safe place to share. I was also like you. I never had a problem with nerves when I played for others. I also sing (although less so now). The first time I was asked to sing a solo (after not singing in public for a number of years), I could barely get a note out! My heart started pounding and I couldn't breath. When you're playing the piano, that's less of a problem, but if you lose your breath when singing, it's catastrophic. Our choir director was great. The next week, he caught me before choir practice and sent me out with the person who did voice training for the choir. He said that he was sure that I could sing the solo. He told me to practice with her and when I was ready, to come back in, and I could sing the solo immediately. Well, my performance then wasn't the greatest, but at least I could breath. It took a lot of work to be able to be reasonably comfortable singing in front of others, but I was able to get to a point that nobody else knew how nervous I was. I think that we have a lot more trouble performing as adults because, somehow, it means more to us, and we're more aware of all the ways we can fail. Kids have such self-confidence. If they've been raised in a supportive environment, they don't think about failure.
-
Shoshana Kalson I see how as a singer, any nervousness is even more apparent and merely putting on a brave front won't work! So maybe playing the piano is already coming from a safer place. Agree that as adults and having been away for so long, we tend to lose the self-confidence, though there is no reason why that should be the case! I'm sure we can get back to that state of mind again.
-
Natalie Peh You definitely can. I was able to get over the crippling panic as a singer. I think there is always some nervousness before you perform. My mom used to say thatās a good thing. She said that, without it, your performance loses its edge. On the other hand, she had a friend, concert pianist on the international level, who threw up before every performance, with no exceptions. I donāt know how he managed it, but he would then go out and lay brilliantly.
-
Shoshana Kalson throwing up is quite an extreme reaction!
-
Natalie Peh For sure!
-
-
I'm currently making a post here at the end of the week with all the videos I posted to YouTube during the week. Should I make a separate post for each video as I post it? What do you think? Anyway, here are the four videos I posted this week.
1. Anonymous - Old English Air
2. Ecossaise in C major D 299 No 8 by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
3. Rustic Dance by Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
4. Menuet in G major BWV Anh 114 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
I'm reasonably satisfied with my performances. I particularly like the 'Rustic Dance'; it's fun to play and, I hope, to listen to. The Bach minuet is rather an old chestnut, but I'm trying to keep to my plan of playing most of the pieces in the book.
-
Shoshana Kalson These are excellent. I'm glad you're pleased with them. You play very musically. I think it's great you're posting to youtube. When I started playing six years ago, I worked off the ABRSM repertoire lists for awhile, and tried to find interpretations of beginning pieces that sounded musical. There are a few professionals who post on youtube. Honestly, these sound just as good or better. I'm glad they're on youtube so other people can find them!
-
Leah Olson I enjoyed working on the minuet. Baroque music is fun. Of course, there are rules, but it's possible to play with it and make it your own. Josh's video was really good and gave me a lot of ideas. I would love to have a subscription to his series, but my husband would kill me if I add another subscription.
What don't I like about my arpeggiated chords? I listened to the recording again. So, it's not awful. And perhaps this is one of those very simple pieces that are difficult to make sound truly good. In my head, I hear something that sounds more like a rippling brook and less like a hurdy gurdy.
-
Leah Olson Thank you so much. That's a real compliment! I decided to post my work on YouTube primarily to share my work and create a record of my progress. As performers, we create something new every time we learn and perform a piece. We didn't write the notes, but the interpretation is ours. I play primarily for myself and my own pleasure, but I feel that if I don't share what I've done, it's diminished somehow.
I'm not posting everything I work on here; most of this stuff is very easy and, I think, not of great interest to people here at Tonebase. I'm almost finished with the two books I've been working on, and I'll probably post a link to the playlists when I'm finished.
-
Shoshana Kalson That's exactly what I was thinking--it's a limitation of the piece, not your playing. My teacher has me finger pedal a bit on the pinky and think of the other three notes as a wash of color, rather than individual notes. I think that helps, but there's a limit to how much you can do with an individual piece. I think you will hear that rippling brook when you get back to Mozart, which based on your background and the speed that you're moving through these pieces, will be soon. I remember reading that the second movement of Mozart's K545 is Mitsuko Uchida's favorite encore piece. It has a beautiful alberti bass.
-
Leah Olson Iāll add the Mozart to my list. Iām thinking of doing a āsecond movementā project after I get a few other things off my list. I like 2nd movements - slow with, usually, lots of opportunities to be expressive.
-
Shoshana Kalson thanks for sharing your videos, I haven't heard these pieces before, other than the minuet. They all sound good!
-
-
The minuet is lovely, and the ornaments are so tasteful and add to the piece. Josh Wright posts good stuff. I used his ProPractice series for awhile because there is so much repertoire on there at all levels. I think the Melody in C also sounds good. I liked how you shaped the right hand. Can I ask what it is you don't like about your arpeggiated chords? I thought it sounded good, but I do think alberti bass can be very challenging. I'm always interested to hear how other people are approaching it.
-
Thanks for your posts, Shoshana! I am in a similar situation (playing again after hiatus of 35 years) and felt the same as you about sharing here when mostly works are at more advanced levels. I was never really comfortable playing in public but am inspired by your posts. If I can figure out the technical pieces of recording, I might post my own practice diary.
-
Jason It's very easy to do using your cellphone camera. No special equipment required, although I do have a microphone stand with an attachment to hold my cellphone. It's also really easy to post your recordings on YouTube so you send the link to people you want to share your recordings with.
-
Barbara Blakeslee Thank you! I will try to set it up with YouTube.
-
-
I love the approach you are taking. I listened to your playlist, and enjoyed being introduce to some composers I've never heard before. There is another series of books that you might really like. It is called "Play it Again: Piano," by Melanie Spanswick. There are three books, carefully graded, and each piece is accompanied by excellent teaching notes prepared by Melanie Spanswick. It is like having her sit beside you coaching you as you learn the piece. The pieces vary in era, style (jazz, ragtime and others are all represented). You will find old favorites as well as composers you may not have encountered. Melanie is a concert pianist, well-regarded composer, and teacher. She also has a great Facebook group called "Adult Piano Returners" which now has 15,000 members. I've been with that group since the beginning, which was only about a year or so ago. It has grown like lightening.
I'm 74 years old. Took lessons in elementary school, then didn't touch a piano for 60 years and had to start all over again, including learning the notes on the piano, reading music, etc. I'd say I'm in between advanced beginner and early intermediate now. Tonebase is such a treasure!
