Sonatina Prodigio

I started Sonatina Prodigio on June 18, 2017. It was a piece I had "learned" before. As in, I could play it slowly and badly, and just the first movement "Gagliarda". I worked pretty steadily on it through July and August.

It took me 11 days of focused learning in "Week 1" of "30 Days to Done" to get it to a passable level, in my opinion. Or a level where I could continue to work on it and actually progress.

I got bogged down at the end of August/beginning of September, or "Week 2", trying to improve the small sections again. I ended up stopping because I just couldn't focus that hard anymore after 15 days. I picked it back up in mid-October.

Then I worked steadily through to today, January 12, 2018, excepting Christmas holiday. I picked it right back up after that, surprisingly.

Gagliarda is definitely in much better shape than when I originally "learned" it. It's very wobbly, though.

Calzone haha! Canzone is fine. Maybe needs a little work on the harmonics.

Toccata needs to be memorized in order to flow. It goes so quickly that I can't find my place on the music when I need a reminder. It's pretty repetitive and I do have most of it memorized. The glisses need to be in time, as well.

Now I just need to play it a whole bunch, then set it aside for a while.

Reverie/30 Days to Done wrap up

Started: Monday 2/20/17

Finished: Monday 6/26/17
Total: 18 weeks

End result: I can play it passably, but it still needs a lot of dynamic work. And I'm trying to memorize it.

Details:
This is a five page piece, not too technically challenging. There is one very difficult section, and four moderately difficult sections.

I stopped working on this from 2/21 to 4/17 (almost 8 weeks) . Not sure why. However, I'm including that time in the learning time since I often can't predict how learning is going to go.

big section work, 2 pages one day, then 3 the next.
small section work, 1, 1, 1, 2.
small section work, 1, 4.
Week one: avg  1.875 pages per intensive work day

big section work, all
Small section work, all
Small section work, 7 days
Big section work, 3, 2.
Week two: avg 1.8 pages per intensive work day

small section work, 2, 3
small section work, all
small section work, 1.5, 2.5, 1.5
spot practice, 1, 2.5, 1.
Big section, all
Week 3: avg 2.5 pages per intensive work day

details, 2.5, 1.5, 1
big section, all
details, all
small sections, all
Week 4: avg 3.33 per intensive work day


Conclusion:
5 pages/18 weeks  = .27
1 page/4 weeks = .25

I could probably use this effectively as designed for a moderately challenging two page piece.

It's a heartening to see my learning increase as I work on the piece - I have to do less intensive work as time passes.

It would be interesting to break this down into hours, and see if I were not working full time how much lower this ratio would be.

I'm starting Sonatina Prodigio by Virgilio Mortari, and will also be interested to see if this ratio holds up. I have learned the first movement (not well) in the past. 

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Recorded it again?  Need to go back and record flavor variations.

★ 30 DtD. Giga.  Was able to play with Judy Loman's recording. Recorded.

Recorded Tambourin and Prelude 4.

Need to live with these recordings for a week.

30 DtD Chaconne. Recorded. Will listen tomorrow, ulp. Made so many mistakes as soon as i turned the recorder on.

30 DtD Giga. Did 1st part on 1st part.

SNOW DAY!

30 DtD Chaconne. Exhausting work. Couldn't keep my fingers on the strings.

30 DtD Giga. Skipped 1/2 the task because I didn't think I needed it.

Ran through Tambourin and Prelude 4. And 5!

And now, possibly, a nap. 

I'm behind! I really hope we have a snow day tomorrow.

30 DtD Giga. And now I can't play it fast. I think it will be ok, though. Still a lot of detail work needed.

30 DtD Chaconne. Got the last page done. Need to finish other 5.

30 DtD Chaconne

30 DtD Giga. Had a thought playing lower on the strings might help the left hand in the fiddly bits. We'll see. And I can play it with the original recording that I thought was ridiculously fast.

Worked on Bells in the Snow again. I think the multiple harmonics touch off my tennis elbow.

Marathon practice session today. Got everything done, though!

★ 30 DtD Giga. Finally finished the task I'd been working on for the past couple three days.

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Played with recordings. Other people are playing way slower than me in some parts, and way faster in others.

I have tomorrow off with Chaconne, use the space to run through Tambourin and Prelude 4.

I think taking two weeks to work on dynamics and shading with recording is a good idea, and I think I'd like to  revise or revamp the 30 Days to Done to include much more recording and analyzing.

1/2 practice of repertoire. Will finish practicing after watching first ep of Gilmore Girls!

1/2 practice of 30 DtD Giga. Got alllmost 1/2 done - 2 tasks on first part, 1 task on 2nd. Shoulder started hurting.  Another ep of GG!

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Got halfway through, tried to come back to it, but fingers sore. Good work!

I picked up a book today and my left thumb joint was in immediate agony. It also hurt while playing, but I was playing really well, so ...?

30 DtD Chaconne. Got through 1st 2 pages.

Steam-burned my thumb today. Awesome.

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Made notes on how I want dynamics to sound. Listening to myself practice is excruciating.

★ 30 DtD Giga. Recorded my practice today. Hopefully not as excruciating to listen as above. It's choppy, but I can get my enthusiasm to come through in parts.

Repertoire day. I can play Tambourin once before it falls apart. Or so I think. I can pay attention to the first half of Prelude 4 and make a conscious effort to play, but the 2nd half becomes note reading.

30 DtD Giga. Research - The Giga I'm playing is from Opus 5, and it is Sonata no9. It was published in 1700 and Corelli was apparently key in developing the Sonata into the form it is today. This was a time of ornamentation in music, and there are different versions, one possibly written by Corelli himself. I have no idea what ornamentations are in the version I'm playing. I like this description from the CD description at Bridge Records: "often lavish and warm-hearted character of Corelli’s oeuvre".

 30 DtD Chaconne. Couldn't get it together today.

It was also I good thing I wrote on my calendar that today is repertoire day.  I played so much today my arms and hands are actually sore. That doesn't happen very often. Some of my repertoire needs work. Some of it sounds great.

Just worked on Giga today. Easy, but I can't focus well and plus have to stuff my face with pizza.

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Detail work. Focused on trying to relax.

Great job today! I pushed through being fatigued and got everything done.

★ 30 DtD Giga. The practice combo worked really well today - cleaned up some trouble spots.

★ 30 DtD Chaconne. Worked through trouble spots. This quickly coming back into my fingers.

★ Played through Tambourin and Prelude 4 well.

Need to do research on Chaconne.

Today was exhausting. As a result (I guess?) I was unable to keep my fingers on my strings. I did the prescribed review of Chaconne, but couldn't manage Giga.

Despite having massive headache, I managed to get all my practicing mostly done. Then I remembered I'm supposed to go through my repertoire once a week. Oh well.

★ Chaconne - Seems to be infusing my hands again.
☆ Giga - almost made it to the end, but ran out of steam. Practiced the things that are different in the 2nd ending in the 2nd half.

★ 30 DtD on Giga and Chaconne. Moving right along.

I think the 30 days to done is more like 45 for me. The pieces I'm trying to do are too long to get the initial stages of practicing under one practice session each. This is ok!

It definitely made more sense to split Giga into two pages. Also, I am a sloppy player. Or I was when I learned this.

Chaconne is also sloppy.