Read Me First and FAQ: The Music of France!

WELCOME TO OUR LATEST TONEBASE PIANO COMMUNITY PRACTICE CHALLENGE: The Music of France! 

There is SO much music that has been composed and come from the beautiful country of France. Of course famous composers such as Debussy and Ravel immediately come to mind, but there are so many more!

Even going back to 17th century we have fantastic works by Couperin and Rameau, interesting romantic compositions by Alkan, Chaminade and Saint-Saens, plus contemporary music by Messiaen and Boulez! (Just to name a few!)

This month, join in this celebration of French music by selecting a work (or more!) that you’d like to play.

What are we doing?

We’re going to learn a piece by a French composer of your choice! The aim is to practice your piece every day and post progress updates twice a week. You choose what piece you work on, but you commit to practicing it regularly. A watch party featuring your submissions will take part at the end (date below!) 

When does this take place?

Challenge start: May 9th (or TODAY!)
Practice days: May 9-30 (21 days)
Watch party: June 2nd (link coming soon!)

HOW TO START:

1. Start by practicing a French piece of your choice.  

2. After 2-3 days, go to our BIWEEKLY UPDATES thread and post about one passage that you especially are especially satisfied with, one passage you find difficult to play, and one passage that reminds you of another piece.
If you are comfortable with it, add a video or audio of yourself performing it. This is optional, but it will allow you to share your progress with others!
I encourage you to post updates twice a week. No daily update expectation in this challenge! If you want to post daily though, feel free!  

3. After you post an update: 
Repeat steps 1-2 from above and keep practicing every day! 

Why are we doing this?

Because we want to challenge ourselves to practice every day
Because learning together is more fun than learning alone
Because we get to share our progress with others (whether video or just text)
Because new music is wonderful and these pieces were written especially for us!
Because we want to meet our fellow tonebase community members
Because we get to hear new music which we might not play ourselves 

How to choose your repertoire:

1. Choose something you feel you can complete in three weeks. 
2. Choose something that resonates with your musical rhetoric.  

The Fun Part:
At the end of our practice challenge, we will be hosting a Watch Party on tonebase LIVE! This will feature user submissions and shoutouts!
  

Here are the links to each week's discussion threads, where you may post your updates and reflections on the week's practice.

WEEK TWO: Joie de Musique!