Played for about an hour - sort-of repertoire stuff. Now sore back and arms.

And I am suspicious I have a cyst in my left thumb joint, which is probably why it hurts.

Post vacation - 2nd day

Fifteen minutes practice yesterday was not enough, achingly so.

Thirty minutes today was way too much.

Post Vacation

I'm going to try for 15 minutes of practice today to start reconditioning my hands after a week away from the harp. If I can get up from the computer. Of course, I've already sat down and played quietly earlier, but I'm not counting that towards my time.

I almost have Rêverie memorized. Some skips and bumps.

Opus 28 just has one remaining hiccup.

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. 

Repertoire day, so tired, too much!

1st page of Reverie is pretty easy. From then on, just minor correction points. Should go quickly, then adding in dynamics.

Sort of practice day. Sort of repertoire day.

Real performance

Today I actually played out in the real world! It went pretty well. The three people that were there said they really liked it. I basically played background music.

I was less nervous than I expected, but still tense. My tennis elbow kicked in mid-way through.

The things I though I had memorized, I had memorized in the context of playing alone at home.

I don't like having the music stand blocking me. 

I was able to focus on musicality for the first half hour and remained somewhat engaged until the last half hour. I didn't get bored.

Eating a hearty lunch with protein, starch, and lots of greens was a smart move.

Repertoire day. Meh.

Henry L. Jacobs, Merchant moved to Providence, RI in, or before, 1909, per the Worcester Directory of 1909. There was a Hattie Jacobs listed in a couple of the Providence directories as cashier, but at a different address in Providence Directory of 1914.

Also, she was the Director of the Alhambra String Sextette in 1901 in Worcester.

Worked on Siciliano - there are some sticky spots.

Worked on something by Cabezon again. PLaying lower so it sounds miedieavel. :)

Relearning, or brushing up on....  something by Bach. Also feeling like I'm catching the cold that's going around and getting dragged backwards. However, that practicing is going really well.  It's coming back into my fingers quickly and I wish I could learn everything this quickly.

For the first time in a month my hands hurt not because they feel like they're swollen, but because of normal muscle aches.

I need to have repertoire work days, instead of just playing through everything.

Dress rehearsal - I have to remember to take a break when I get tired of playing. Everything needs work. Or I need to pick simpler things to play. I have about 2 hours of music.

There are about 4 spots in Opus 28 where I trip up in the memorizing.

Rêverie - worked on 3 against 4.

Dress rehearsal went badly , which is why I have them.

Today was repertoire day. I think I played for about 1.5 hours. It may have been 2.5?

Tomorrow is practice performance day.

Almost have Opus 28 memorized. Need to do that with others! They're so easy!

Starting work on Rêverie, since it's been stuck in my head from Westworld.

Dress rehearsal - it's helpful to play in a different space. Different lighting, difference acoustics. I hear different notes than I ordinarily do and I think getting used to that is useful.