Week 2: Status Update and one NEW improvement!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK TWO 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 August 7th - 14th I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
1. Let us know what status your "Unfinished Business" piece is at!
2. No matter what, let's focus this week on ONE NEW improvement for your piece!
3. Optional: post a video of your update, and work!
154 replies
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I’m practicing a lot without pedal
this week to make sure that I really play “technically proper” (not sure how to say that in English) and I try to listen to all the different layers in the music when playing. Playing without pedal also has the advantage that you can directly check on legato and phrasing in the right hand. I also practice the different voices separately which helps to listen to them when playing hands together again.
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Here's my first video of the Mazurka op 59 nr 1. My goal for this week was to get threw the piece and memorize it. So I'm happy with making that, and I feel like some of the "unfinished business" is done.
My goal for next week is to get threw Rachmaninov op 23 no 4 and memorize that one. If time I will go deeper into the music the last week. No matter, I will work more on these pieces during the fall.
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I'm on a brief vacation and have been out of town for most of the week (Thursday through Sunday), so my options for working on my piece were limited to memorizing it by reading the score (which is how I memorize my music anyway, but it's always nice to have a piano so you can work on the sound in parallel). And even that has only been possible during the little bit of time I haven't spent with my hosts. I hope to upload a video documenting this week's modest progress by the end of Monday, but it won't be today anymore because I won't be home until midnight.
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Here's a bit of my Week 2 Practice session. Using ideas from Henry Kramer's wonderful class on Chopin Etudes, plus the exercises from Alfred Cortot. Doing LOTS of hands apart and starting to memorize. Aline Valade is also learning this one!