Somewhere between yesterday and today, I cemented 2 lines of Giga.  I need to write out my variations in Finale.

Today, I got 1 line of Fuga learned that was challenging before but not now (?) and worked on another line that is really challenging, and is still challenging, and I didn't finish it.

Italian Pavane - 3 lines learned and the were fun and easy to play! Quite the surprise based on my initial impression of the piece. I need to figure out when I started this piece by looking at when I made my practice chart.

Holy crap! I started IP on 9/19. That means I learned it in a week and a half?!? A FIVE page piece?!? Da fuh?

Oh, and my fiddle class went well. I still need to get a decent strap, but I finally know how to hold it so it doesn't hurt my right shoulder, and I learned how to tighten the bow, hold the bow, and how to practice bowing with a loose wrist.

Woohoo! I'm calling Italian Pavane learned for all intents and purposes.  There are some measures that I just cannot figure out how I'm going to play, and I skipped those on the checklist and will come back to them later, but that's how I've been learning all my other pieces, and they seem to be turning out ok.  So... modified goal achieved! It's going to take a few more months to get everything recordable, possibly 6 months?  I need to go back through my previous charts and see if I can estimate that.

In prep for recording again, going through Chaconne and concentrating on a different color for each work session. Green for tempo.Need to work on scales.

I think I gave myself 3 blisters today. One for sure because it's visible, and possibly two more that are hidden deep under the skin.

Yesterday, I made a practice schedule out through the end of September 2014. Then I read that your learning time either expands or contracts to fill the time you've allotted yourself to learn  said thing. Based on that, I'm going to revise the schedule as I go along to try to push myself to get things done more quickly.

However, like today, when pushing myself I quickly see what my limits are. And they are short. Very, very short.

I need to work on trills with rt hand 1&2 exercises for Chaconne.

What's circling the bathtub drain of my mind

Should I stop playing the two Folk Songs, which I absolutely love, yet seem to be destroying my thumb joints and start on the next piece, which is First Arabesque by Debussy, which I learned in high school WRONG and which has resisted repeated attempts by me to  unlearn and relearn properly, which would probably lead to frustration, or skip First Arabesque also and move on to the next next piece and be disappointed about it? OR, I could replace First Arabesque with Second Arabesque, which is in an entirely different book. *marge noise*

I made notes on The Drive, which I can't remember now, but are safely written on the actual music. Something about dynamics and making sure both hands are playing at the same time. So nothing new.

I made up charts for the next two pieces so I have something to alternate with Folk Song 2 and LGR. I'm going to be starting on Folk Song 1 and Zarabanda (again).

I did overuse my fingers yesterday, but it's ok because I had other things to work on today based on my schedule, and got them done.  I'm surprised with the discrepancy between what I thought I could do when scheduling and what I can actually do.  I'm going to start timing myself to see how long it takes me to accomplish the cells, because I'm getting everything done in about an hour, and when my fingers are working, I can do about 3 hours of practice.

I actually started View from a Hill yesterday, not Nathan's ... whatever.  It's another beautiful, yet easy, one.

Marathon transcribing of songs to get back on schedule. I finished Monkeyland, started and finished Singing Rule Brittania, and started On the Beach. Monkeyland was such a difficult song for me to figure out. I think because I deviated from my usual method and tried to get help with guitar tabs. They were not helpful at all.  I'm also learning that the songs I like the best are, disappointingly, the simplest. I egotistically thought I had sophisticated taste. Apparently not. However, I liked the more complicated songs more after I transcribed them.

I went through my music and planned out the practice sessions I need to do before the end of the month. If all goes according to schedule, I'll be ready to record at the end of the month. So far, knock on wood, my calluses are getting more robust. Hopefully they won't peel off.

I managed to get all the cells I had scheduled for my session today done in the hour I had left for BOTH pieces. It's mostly going to be work on the dynamics and getting up to speed.

Tomorrow will be a planning session including recording and listening to LGR and Berceuse to see how to plan the "Campaign".

Prelude 3 - 3 more notes learned in 20 minutes. It will take 20 more days.  However, gave myself a blister and De Quervain's acted up again, so I can't set a final goal yet. Just a goal to take 20 mintues of practice time to learn 3 notes per day when I can.

Worked a teensy bit on dynamics, of LGR, but didn't want to make blister worse. Need to set goals for LGR and Berceuse, as well.

Weird, now my right thumb tendons hurt and my left hand feels fine, however that was the one that hurt during practice.

I am completely addicted to this:


My fingers are itching to learn it!

The other Flagello (Berceuse) I skipped today.

LGR - got it up to 80 mostly except for one pedal change.

Tried playing for 1/2 hour. With all the arranging and tuning, ended up being 10 minutes.  My thumb joint initially hurt when I bent it after plucking a string.  However, that went away about 5 minutes into playing. However, however, that could be due to my usual "pain in hands goes away when I play". 

I tried closing my thumb more like the left one, ie not aiming the tip of my thumb at the 1st finger knuckle, but the thumb knuckle to 1st finger 1st phalanx/knuckle area.  Kind of like when you make a fist puppet.

I am hoping that I am not just paranoid and that the cyst does not look bigger after playing.

So my goal is to play 1/2 hour every day for a week then bump that up gradually as I get back into shape. I will not be playing Prelude 1 again, though, that's for sure.

Recorded Insónia today on a whim.
Need to:
+ listen to all 4 or 5 takes
+ pick out best one or parts
+ stitch together (in progress)
+ make reverse intro
+ post to site
+ apply reverb and filters

ETA: + and rest delts. or stretch them or something.

Improv to Colin Stetson.

More exercising. Record one thing a month no matter the quality. Details close up, messy pieces further away. Try dresser.

The new strings are so much easier on the hands.

Same goals as last year: Record harp solos and work on list for show.

Azure Blue by Laika & The Cosmonauts from The Amazing Colossal Band.

Here Comes the Flood by Peter Gabriel, version on hard drive.

Night Prayers located: harp/Night Prayers.txt

Les Cloches du Monastere Op.54a by V. Lefébure-Wély arranged in style of Music Box Xmas.

Various melodies arranged in 17th, 18th, 19th century styles.

Street of Crocodiles.

Avengers/Doctor Who/BBC sound library from the 60s.

How the heck to play the sƒz in Zarabanda.