15 minutes to keep limber, but hands don't seem to be working at all. Slightly looser now.

No practicing today: too tired from bike ride home through snow. Shoulders and back and sides too sore.

Still recovering from not practicing for x number of days.

Took a few days off because lt thumb increasingly painful. Made the realization at work today that I'm picking things up with my lt hand completely differently than with my rt. My rt thumb stopped hurting ages ago. When I concentrate on hold my lt thumb the same as my rt, it doesn't hurt. And the same thing goes for scales. I already altered my lt thumb position so it doesn't hurt when I play a while ago, and I realized today it is mirroring my rt thumb position more closely. Need to concentrate on that!

Hard to come back to scales after almost a week off. Or playing at all, really.

More scales. Scaly scales.

So I can play (Flight) around ♩=104, but I'm not sure because it is SO FAST. I can't hear myself with the metronome. I know it's at least over ♪=200. It is also going to take a lot of work, concentration, and strength to get the whole thing to that level. But I can do it.

Rt thumb non-existent when going up scales because of lack of pressure. Pulling with elbow to go up, but need to push to get thumb pressure?

Lt thumb is weak when going down.

Both are due to the different arm angles which exert different pressure at different times. It's all physics! Or dynamics of materials movement. Or something.

R thumb is non-existent, which is why the L hand is behind.

Visualizing playing scales at work today may have helped with actual playing of scales? Need to really focus on finger strength when playing for evenness.

Never, ever, tune harp in all ♯'s.

E V E R.

Ha! Judy Loman does not play (flight) at ♩ = 152! Ha, ha, haha, ha!

I take that as permission I do not have to, either.

Worked on right hand, as needed. Right hand is so very sloppy. Don't forget to do nerve stretches.

And relax your jaw, for cripes sake!

Left hand is apparently not uneven, the right hand is, which is making the left hand sound uneven. Left hand alone = fine. Right hand alone = no so much. I think we know what we need to work on. *nods*

Between needle felting and blister from yesterday's lengthy practice, I could only play ½ hour. *grumble* Wanted so much to play more.

Woohoo! Another 1 + hour practice. I guess I will just work on scales, give my hands a chance to heal (the right one is already 100% better yay), and not sweat it.

More work on scales. Can't manage to get the left hand even. 3rd and 4th are more dominant the faster I play. Is it because I start late or early and am rushing? Maybe need to play really loudly to strengthen fingers, then play quietly?

This is the kind of piece you really need contiguous hours to learn. Or I do.

No practicing today, either. Managed to sit directly on my thumb joint while jumping into bed last night. Also, home sick-ish.

I do not understand how I do these things.

No practicing for me as I spent the whole day cooking. Yay. And did something to my thumb in the process.

Meant to practice ½ hour, ended up playing over an hour. Thumbs hurt, but not while playing carefully, and not playing harmonics in left hand.

I guess I will continue with (flight) until my thumbs are better, then decide what other pieces to learn.

No practice.

Managed to crunch my thumb at work. Go me. But strangely, it doesn't hurt any more than it has been. Practice was ok with scales, not so much with the Clementi. I notice all my hand joints hurt when I play that. Are there alternatives? Or do I need to work up strength?

Twisted my knee while playing. I can't win.