Tammy's Practice Diary

Hi Everyone!

 

Thanks so much for setting this up, Dominic and Hilda. It really helps with the motivation! Here is my current practicing hot list. I categorized them into different buckets as I like flitting between different things; I find that the the variety helps. 

 

[updated March 14, 2022]


PERFORM IN APRIL

- Selected movements from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals

 

POLISH TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM IN MAY:

- Grieg Piano Concerto, entire first movement 

- Rameau: Gavotte et Six Doubles (nail contrasts in the repeats)

- Chopin: Mazurka in A minor opus 17 no. 4 

 

LEARN SOME NEW THINGS:

- Finish the Rach 2 first movement, back half (worked on the first half in a summer program last year)

- OR Stephen Hough's My Favorite Things (maybe? v. cool piece)

- OR Relearn Kapustin's Concert Etude 1 or 6 (learned these 2-3 years ago, not sure what condition they're in today... probably in a terrible state, I found these pieces surprisingly hard when learning them in 2019 and 2020) 

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    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    GRIEG STATUS AND PRACTICE VIDEO: JAN 7, 2022

    (1) Animato Passage: Need to clean it up, and urrrrgh need to land the chromatic thirds. I get stuck halfway. 

    (2) Cadenza and Finale ā€” the cadenza is sounding somewhat decent I think.  Need to make the melodic line of the tremolo part build more and sound less bumpy; am still messing up the notes in the low growly LH roar; and need to secure the big final octave passage. 

    Like 8
    • Tammy Brava!

      Like 3
      • Will Green
      • Mystic/Musician
      • Will_Green
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Tammy Can't wait to hear your progress with this. It is already a solid beginning and the sound is definitely a powerful one for this massive cadenza. Brava! 

      Like 1
    • Tammy Great video! Will be interesting to follow your progress. It's seems that you have very clear idea of what to work on, and it's already very good. Well done! 

      Like 1
      • Tammy
      • TT2022
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Sindre Skarelven Thanks, Sindre! I feel Iā€™m at the stage where I can play it, but not cleanly, consistently. I find this refinement part the hardest to keep at without losing interest or moving on to other things. Learning a brand new pieces is always more fun as I can see the results more quickly and more obviously. Refining is a different case ā€” I find it takes twice the time for less obvious results! šŸ˜¤

      Like 2
    • Tammy So true, absolutely agree!  

      Like 1
    • Monika Tusnady
    • The Retired French Teacher
    • Monikainfrance
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Tammy, I love this video. I love it because you let listeners into your head with your playing AND comments. Itā€™s exactly what a practice video should sound like in my way thinking. Thank you for this!

    Like 1
      • Tammy
      • TT2022
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Monika Tusnady Thanks Monika! Interestingly, I found it quite helpful to say things out loud while making the video ā€” just the act of acknowledging ā€œok this part is messy/not secureā€ helped to narrow my focus on the few most important areas I need to practice.  (As opposed to trying to tackle everything all at once, which is so daunting!)

      Like 1
    • CK Lau
    • Piano Teacher, Learner and Student
    • br0wn
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    It's so interesting to watch someone who is actually playing the piece, and self commentary at the same time. Thanks for sharing. 

    Like 1
    • Gail Starr
    • Retired MBA
    • Gail_Starr
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I simply love your commentary!  I would have the same technical challenges with this, so you are doing beautifully.

    Like
    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Weekly update - Have not practiced much since last weekā€™s video! ā˜ ļøšŸ¤”

    Like
    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Week of Feb 7: Have been traveling and not practised at all in the last 3 weeks, eeks! But getting back on the wagon now ā€¦

     

    - Just started the first page of Stephen Houghā€™s My Favourite Things. Love it so much! 

    - Am finding refining the other pieces (Grieg concerto, Rameauā€™s Gavotte & Variations) a bit of a drag ā€¦ this is always the hardest part with practising. I love learning new pieces but struggle with the refining stage. 

    Like
    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Did some musical tinkering with the Chopin A minor Mazurka opus 17/4, here is the state of play.

    Like
    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view
    Like 4
    • Tammy beautiful

      Like
      • Tammy
      • TT2022
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Andrea Buckland Thank you! Working on the nigglesā€¦ 

      Like
      • Will Green
      • Mystic/Musician
      • Will_Green
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Tammy LOVE!!! 

      Like
    • Tammy
    • TT2022
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I spent the last 2 weeks learning three movements from Saint-SaĆ«nsā€™ CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS. Here is the Royal March of the Lions, where I am accompanied by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic (hehe!).  I'm not always in time with them...  

    Like 3
      • Will Green
      • Mystic/Musician
      • Will_Green
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Tammy Wonderful!

      Like
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