Saturday, December 1, 2012

Berceuse - based on listening to the last page sped up, I'm adding slight pauses (denoted by commas, although I could denote with "ten." or birds eyes on the note to hold) to make the phrases stand out in what I think is a better way.

Wish I could play for hours more, but am limited by my endurance. :(

Friday, November 30, 2012

Warmup with (Flight).
LGR - Left hand is flowing and has dynamic separate from right hand. sounds good sped up.
Everything aches.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Some definitions

As I'm working on dynamics, I'm playing much louder and consequently gotten the skin on the pads of my fingers to that really squeaky point that comes just as blisters are forming.  Here's proof. Ow.

I forgot yesterday when I analyzed my pieces that I didn't know what the composer was asking for. So here is a vocabulary list:
Maestoso - ma·es·to·so  (mäs-ts, -z) adv. & adj. Music In a majestic and stately manner. Used chiefly as a direction. [Italian, from maestà, majesty, greatness]
Poco accel. (poco accelerando) - go faster little by little
Sempre - sem·pre  (smpr)adv. Music In the same manner throughout. Used chiefly as a direction.[Italian, always, from Latin semper]
Conto - a monetary unit in Portugese? Ah. Lento. Italian for WRITE LEGIBLY.
Cantando - Singing style. ?
Più moto - more motion.
Più agitato - more agitated, with implied quickness.
Velocissiomo - very fast, very quick, very speedy.
There are also some commas and double slashes (\\) at the ends of some measures. Commas denote a breath mark for singers. Double slash = ?





Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Practiceopedia

I discovered a new book at the library called "Practiceopedia" by Phillip Johnston.  It's available at the website Inside Music Teaching. It also seems to have fallen into that "out-of-print-charging-an-arm-and-a-leg-syndrome" over at amazon. $687.90? Really? Even the $125.50 used copies are a rip-off when you can order it direct from the source for a reasonable $39.95. 

Anyway, it had a wealth of practice tips - so many I couldn't get through them all in the time allotted, and I'm trying to incorporate some of them:
+ Analyzing the piece before you learn it - ie, what would you want a critic to say after hearing you perform it? You should have 4-6 descriptors.  I've never thought about that before in concrete terms, so I'm eager to see if it will make a difference in the finished product.  Before, I analyzed pieces as far as what key they're in and when it changes.
+Practice scales. IN TIME. And get them precise.
+Practice piece slowly, then add in dynamics at slow tempo, then speed up. This is very opposite what I was taught, and it's stressing me out, surprisingly. But, what can it hurt? (Besides my hands.) And I'm not getting the results I want using the old way so I need to try something different. You should be able to record the piece slowly, without fault, and use software to speed it up and have it sound exactly the way you want.

Lariviere - scales from = 50 - 200. Try (flight) instead - much more interesting.
LGR - Analyzed. Finger stabbed with scissors prevented serious work, and serious work is definitely needed.
Berceuse - Analyzed.