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.

Using the new practice session structure yesterday I worked on scales from Poetical Studies, ran through Preludes Intimes, and worked on Srebotnjak's Prelude 4.

Notes on the session: I want more speed out of my scales, but can't do that until I've warmed up? It takes a while and takes too much time out of my limited practice time? Will I loosen up over time to the point where I can sit down and bang out some scales quickly? I need to learn the last 2 Prelude Intimes.

Today, I worked on arpeggios from Poetical Studies. I ran through Solfegietto and the first few pieces in Medieval to Modern. Ran out of time.

Notes: My hands feel great.

Trying to relearn Solfeggeitto by KPE Bach and I'm getting now that it's just the same pattern repeated in different keys. I also need to play it more evenly. Do I need to make a practice sheet?

Also trying to work on the problem measures in Automne on 2nd page. Not sure why the transition from line to line is so difficult to have stick in my head. Got tired trying to play it 5x well and let myself not work on it as hard as I could have.

Got Dennis O'Halloran's book of piano solos and wrote in a lot of pedal changes.

Tambourin - Still working on trouble spots.

Fuga- Simply played through a couple times. It's sounding a lot better, I think. Still some problem spots. Need to record it and see what it really sounds like.

Played through several other things just to keep them in my hands.

One spot on my bow seems to not hold rosin, so I'm getting no sound out of that spot on my bow. Very disconcerting.

I was thinking about my recording session today and the immediate thought was, "It didn't go well as expected." However, that is not true: it didn't go as well as I fantasized.  The dream was to record each piece perfectly once. Yeah, right. I managed to play everything nearly perfectly at least a few times, so there will be some editing.  It took less time than previous sessions. So, really, it went better than expected.   And this is after chipping my tooth on a fork today and seriously doubting my eye-hand coordination. And speaking of eye-hand coordination, my workouts have made a difference in my ability to move my harp.  I practically threw it in my car, not realizing how much stronger I've gotten.  It was like having extra help from someone who knew exactly what they were doing. No arm strain or back strain. It was great!

So, Siciliano, Gavotte, and Sarabande are all recorded and I can stop working on them! Six more to go.  Eight if I re-record the two that I'm not satisfied with.

I seem to have gotten over the recording mind-blanking-thing that was happening with Siciliano. Either that, or it's so hot I'm delirious.

I know I played Thursday. I may have played Wednesday? I can't remember what I did. Probably a little more work with Tambourin.

Oh! and I worked a little on the spots I had trouble with in Siciliano and Gavotte to keep it recording-ready. Or to get them to recording-ready.

Worked a little on Giga. Ran through Tambourin as a workout. Started working on Siciliano again.

Darn, an order I placed for Nicolas Flagello's Two Pieces for Harp Solo was cancelled. :( Not back ordered, but completely cancelled.

Detail work on Giga.

Tried to record Siciliano on my own and once again, it was like I'd never seen the music. Plus crows cawing and people slamming doors didn't help the quality of the recording.  Good thing is the decorations I put in sound good.

Tambourin trills still need work. They do not come out clearly in recording.

Gavotte went better. Sarabande was almost flawless.

Just ran through some stuff in 15 minutes.

Slammed my thumb at work today, and I'm using that as an excuse why I couldn't play trills in Rigaudon.

I also realized maybe part of the reason I can't focus is because I'm not writing a summary at the end of each practice sesh.

I am working towards polishing Tambourin and Rigaudon. I am doing that by playing each one until I make a mistake, working on the mistake, starting over from the beginning and hopefully going further the next time. Basically plowing through it.

I'm still working on Automne as a fun thing. It's almost done.

Sarabande, Giga, and Siciliano still need to be recorded.

I started Fuga and I think I'm going to hate it. I have to figure out how to play it so I like it.

As expected, the pieces I want to record tomorrow that were in good shape, are not in good shape.  I hope the detail work I did sinks into my brain overnight!

Recording every practice session is maybe helping?  Different parts fall apart differently at different times. It's impossible to know what to work on.

Need to do pressure testing on Gavotta, Siciliano, and Sarabande for recording next weekend?

I dropped a knife on my finger last night - not sure how that happened - and it's still gushing. I wasn't able to practice, really, but got my fingers warmed up enough to where they felt ok.

Siciliano REALLY needs the melody line brought out, and the mid-range quietened.

Gavotte - need to learn the additions I made.

Tambourin - continue work on trills.

Test record Siciliano and Gavotte tomorrow.

I think Gavotte and Siciliano might be close to being ready to record.

I've almost (re)learned Sarabande in under a week. It helps I learned it before and it's slow.  But I need to not let that keep me from putting as much dynamic work into this as the other pieces.

A lot more progress on Siciliano and Rigaudon. Still need to practice variations of Gavotte in prep for recording.

I forgot what I was going to write...

Oh yeah, I need to learn Siciliano with the chords broken and record that and compare it to unbroken.