Five-Year Check-In

Last Day of Year 5 (and MY BIRTHDAY!!!)

I've been playing from John Thompson's Fifth Grade Technique book. Working on some technical exercises from composers like Mozart, Handel, Bach. Also some carry over pieces from last year. I still have the Nocturne in C Minor and Waltz in A-flat Major (L'Adieu) by Chopin, Consolation 2 by Liszt. 

I was playing a bit from Handel's Suite 14--one of the technical exercises--and it's surprising how simple it sounds and yet how much it shows that my fingers have yet to learn. I guess it's of a baroque persuasion and as such is like finger food--full of technical challenges that, when overcome, increases your prowess as a pianist. At least, that's what I'm hoping. 

Yesterday it was actually starting to solidify. It took a while to really get under (into) my fingers. At least 3 weeks or so. (It's very short.) I can feel my fingers relaxing into it more. 

Oh, and I have audio. It's error riddled, but hopefully the quality of tone will show its progress. 

Four-Year Check-in

Last Day of Year 4 (and MY BIRTHDAY!!!)

Yeah. Apparently I only post once a year now. Luckily, that's not my practice schedule!

It's the first hour of my birthday, and it seems I can't get to sleep. I'm pretty much Level 9 RCM now. Figured it out this past week. I'd probably cop a merit in the Level 8 exam, based on my playing and less-than-stellar knowledge of the scales and arpeggios. I play them at speed, but I'm not great at the melodic minors (especially the contrary motions) and the dominant and diminished arpeggios.

Currently working on

• Chopin's Nocturne in C-Minor
• Mozart's Rondo alla Turca
• Liszt's Consolation 2

Still no Rachmaninoff yet. Maybe next two years might be a better estimate. I've heard RCM Levels 9 and 10 together take 3 years.

Three-Year Check-in

Last Day of Year 3 (and my BIRTHDAY!!)

I am reminded that I bought my digital piano three years ago as a birthday present to myself. (It arrived a day late). Yesterday, on the penultimate day of year 3, I found I had attained a solid level of competency in playing Maykapar's At the Skating Rink and Karnov's Dance of the Elves. I was also beginning to speed up Burgmuller's The Storm (though I haven't finished memorising the entire thing yet). I kind of fell off practising a bit in the past two weeks because of moving--which included packing and shipping the piano overseas. So that's understandable. But I'm now back into the swing of things. 

I also noticed that my reading has improved. I am still no longer illiterate. I have yet further to go, but this is heartening and a good place to be at my current RCM-8 level. 

Still Going

I never stopped.

I'm working consistently on Maykapar's Toccatina, Karganov's Dance of the Elves, Maykapar's At the Skating Rink, and Burgmuller's The Storm right now. They're coming along well so that it actually feels like I'm working at the right level--which is a good thing. I'm also continuing my sight reading work, though I often supplement or replace some of the lower-level sight reading with reading I necessarily do while learning new pieces. Relatedly, I've also been trying to "re-learn" Chopin's Prelude in E Minor and so have been mixing sight reading with that task. I'm also still practising his Waltz in A-flat. But... I've also abandoned some pieces.

Texts I've fallen off learning/practising:

• Bach's Prelude in C Major
• Kabalevsky's Etude 
• Grieg's Little Bird
• Left-Hand Etude (though I'm advancing toward it in the RCM text)
• Schubert's Scherzo in B-flat
• Beethoven's Sonata in F-minor

Nevertheless, I'm still looking to resume the John Thompson Grade 5 book--that's what practising Bach's Prelude in C Major and Schubert's Scherzo in B-flat was all about. Maybe I should just move on to the Cui (Orientale) and call it progress, because I find that I'm learning The Storm with speed and alacrity, and this sloth in learning the other two might just mean I'm not all that interested. Sigh... I want diligence! Not this wishy-washy behaviour.

I also think I need a new technical regimen. The current one feels tired and old; it needs rejuvenation. I need to practise the black-key minors in contrary motion. I've learned C#, but I'm just intimidated by trying the other four. One of the problems with starting contrary motion is that it tends to undermine the level of confidence I've usually just achieved in having "mastered" the parallel motion. Suddenly I become clumsy again, and the whole thing just gets disheartening. It makes me feel like I've regressed--though that could never be farther from the truth. 

Sigh again...

Despite all this sighing, I know I'm getting better every day. I really feel like soon I'll be ready for RCM level 9--not exam level, but to tackle the work that will eventually get me to exam level. I am forever in awe of this gradual path that has the ability to take me from my current level of mere competency to one of advanced pianism. It's unbelievable sometimes, but I just have to remember to trust the process. It worked for many others, and it'll work for me too because I'm not special.