Worked on Prelude 1 trouble spots identified from recording. I fixed the problem spots, sort of, but then had whole new problem spots. I'm fearing I'm never going to get this to a recordable status.

Played Prelude 2 with and without metronome. That will be recordable soon.

Played 1st page of Prelude 3 at ♪=160 and got tangled up at the G♮ - ♯ - ♮ - ♯ + B♭.

Recorded Zarabanda. Happily, I had exactly the dynamics I hoped I had in one section and the other sections just need a little work and focus. I think this could be ready to record soon, too.

Also played a little Grey Donkeys. I can play everything except the beginning. Nice. It's got some really beautiful sounds in it so I need to figure out a way to get into it without anyone noticing the bad beginning.

Mostly, though, the new Y△CHT is keeping my musical attention.

More attempts at transcribing - what I learned in school about how I listen is still holding up. I can listen to one voice at a time. I can listen to the bass OR soprano OR treble, but not all at once. And I can't transcribe for longer than an hour or everything starts to jumble together.

Worked on 1st 3 Preludes. Gave myself 2nd finger blisters - both hands!

Figured out I need to lean back from my harp in order to play the top register without doing weird (and double-jointed) things to my fingers.

Started trying to transcribe Peter Gabriel's "Here Comes the Flood". In order to be in tune with the recording I have, I have to be in all flats. However, the chords (I think) are D♭m7 and B♭♭m7 (playing A♮). It would make more sense these would be Dm7 and B♭m7 in the realm of sensible chords. Are these sensible chords? I guess if you're Peter Gabriel, you can do whatever the heck you want.

I also canNOT hear notes in the lower registers. I could not distinguish between 5th octave A and D. My music theory instructor said that would come with practice, but I'm not so sure.

Today is one of those days where nothing seems to go right.

I'm not able to play Prelude 1 in rhythm. It sounds uneven when I listen to the recording. I don't know how to resolve this.

And I'm in the middle of dyeing, so that's it for today.

Playing Prelude 3 is like hugging thin person with a right arm the size of a beer keg.

Turning the metronome on and off seems to help me learn faster? Or maybe it seems that way because it's new.

Haven't posted the past couple sessions because of torn cuticle and painful hot finger, but did play a little.

Worked on Prelude 3 today. Weird counting; I'm either counting 1-2-1-2-3, or 1-1-2- 1-2-3, when it should be 1-2-3-1-2 or 1-2-3-4-5. My brain knows where I should be in later measures, but not sure where that exactly occurs, either. Trying Kondonassis' recommendation to turn metronome on and off, and I seem to pay more attention with it off.

Actually getting better at counting, though, from practicing counting.

On Playing the Harp

On Playing the Harp by Yolanda Kondonassis

I checked this out from, once again, our lovely Inter-Library Loan system and sat down at the harp and read through it tonight.

I wish I'd had this last year when I was trying to figure out the proper positions for my fingers and elbows. Used as a sequel to Method for the Harp, this book has more than enough details and strengthening exercises to help me out.

Some of the tips that stood out:

Rhythm
I'm notoriously bad about counting measures, and am never sure where I am if I lose the beat. I do play well with a metronome, however. Kondonassis recommends

"when using a metronome," ... "playing through a given passage first without the metronome at a reasonable practice tempo. When you have finished, do the exact same passage again with the metronome."

And she recommends switching back and forth each time the passage is practiced.

The Art of Practicing

'Make sure you aren't reinforcing mistakes by trying to play through things "just to get the overall idea."'

That would be me!

Strengthening and Conditioning

"Add volume to your exercises as you would add weights to a barbell."

This is so blindingly obvious now that it's been pointed out to me.

A reassuring thought:

"People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied many times." - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

And a thought to chew on:

"Music is what happens between the notes." -Claude Debussy

What does that mean?

Started work on Prelude 1 again; getting some focus after talking to friends and family. :)

Also, started to work on Zarabanda again to get it up to snuff. After spending time in school, I realize I may need to practice like I study - in shifts where I don't spend more than one hour on one subject.

Downloaded Peter Gabriel's Here Comes the Flood to my iPod so's I can maybe transcribe it and finally pay back my sound guy. !

Played C Maj Sonata and tried Prelude 1. I actually still sort of have that in my fingers.

Finale did a surprisingly good job of recognizing the Bortniansky, although scanning it and saving as a .tif worked better than scanning it directly in as that didn't work at all.

Now to see if it will transpose it to anything recognizable in C♭.

Wore myself out being OUTSIDE. Finally, summer seems to be here. Short practice of Sonata in C Maj.

Need to:
-analyze it
-figure out how to play f and f♯ at the same time. Transpose it down 1/2 step? That would be B♯/C♭ major. Oy. Actually, C♭ would be just fine - I think that's what Salzedo did with Chaconne by Durand. Except that part is in C minor. Oy again. C♭ minor? What key signature would that even be? Need to analyze it, definitely.

ETA -and scan it in to Finale and clean it up because it looks like it was engraved on a sandy beach during an earthquake.

Getting my fingers in shape. Again. I'm tired of these interruptions. And my brain used to practicing/learning again.

Tried to play some Satie to see if my pedals are still creaking, and they are. Not sure if this means a trip to the harp repair person or just sucking it up and figuring out a different recording set-up.

And one more thing, er... two more things.

While researching Sonatas and looking for inspiration, I found these that I'm completely addicted to:



Then, in trying to track down some sheet music for these, I got a book through ILL (gotta love your local library) called Russian Old Music for Piano, and discovered I like a lot of Russian Classical music. Some of its appropriately minor and bleak, but then the pieces in major keys are fantastic, as witnessed above.

Uuuurrggghh...

I think I'm done with school. I mean, as in, I think I've turned in everything I'm supposed to turn in, or will soon.

I basically had to stop playing while I was in school as this term was a much heavier workload, despite dropping a class. But... but... BUT...

I now have many of the music theory skills I was hoping to have! I can identify Renaissance chorales and fantasias, Baroque Fugues, and Classical Rondos and Sonatas. I can (sort of) hear a tune and replicate it on my harp. I can tell when something modulates, and I know what a Napoleon 6th is, even though those were not on my list of things to learn.

This is exciting, people!

Been snowed under by homework, but today played a bunch of Clementi Sonatinas to study the chord changes and modulations. It's all I - V7 - I!!! (With some variations, of course.) And I love me some intervals of a 4th. Case in point: I keep trying to write in CMaj and end up in FMaj.

Was inspired to do my music hw instead of practicing so thought I should take advantage. But I did the hw on my harp, so I did play. Lots of lovely I - viiº / V - V⁷ 's.

Just played exercises today. Trying to pay close attention to the sound I'm getting.

Seeing how adding audio to my blog works...

I added an enclosure link, but I'm not seeing where it is in the blog post. Apparently, it only shows up in feeds?

Short practice today. Recorded more stuff. Have audacity book on the way that will hopefully help me get songs in postable condition.

Recorded page 1 of Prelude 1, hoping to put it online, but mostly to help me hear what I sound like.