Practice Log

[arensky]

Wow, it's right on the hour! I intend to keep a record here of all my practicing for the next two months at least. I will post when I start, logoff and then logon when I am done. I may also use this log as a sort of public practice diary, particularly when I come back from the practice. If any of you wish to share this space for the same purpose, please do. Ours is a lonely avocation. BTW, my program is...

Scarlatti, Sonata in Ab Major K.127
Scarlatti, Sonata in b minor K.87
Scarlatti, Sonata in f# minor K.25

Beethoven, Sonata in d minor op.31 #2 "Tempest"

Gershwin, Three Preludes

Schumann, Arabesque op.18
Schumann, Symphonic Etudes op.13

I'm not sure if the Arabesque and K.25 will happen. I have reserve forces, though; ditto for the Gershwin, although I'm pretty confident about those.

My recital date is March 15th, on a prestigious series in the next town. I will probably play the program first at my college on March 13th.

I also have to learn Mozart's Concerto #24 in c minor K.491 for performances on May 13th and 14th.

OK, here goes...

LOGOFF 10:13 PM

LOGON: 11:59 PM

[BoliverAllmon]

you practiced all of that in an hour.

[arensky]

you practiced all of that in an hour.

NO!!! When I sat down to write the post it was exactly 10 PM, I posted at 10:04 and went to the piano and my 11AM student called me, we talked for about 15 minutes then I got to work; spent most of the session on Scarlatti K.87, did a bit of K.25, went to the Gershwin Preludes 1 and 2, and returned to K.87 for about 40 minutes, focusing on smoothness/cantabile and the tied notes/i.e. contrapuntal relationships. This is a tricky piece, he packs a lot into 3 pages. Hard to grasp and get a handle on, but I think it's going to turn out well; memory is going to be tough here; tomorrow I will write in the chord changes, that always helps me. This was a short session (started late) but a productive one. tomorrow I will practice more.

BTW, the log entries work like this;

LOGOFF = arensky submits post goes to piano.

LOGON = arensky returns from piano, modifies previous post to enter stop time.

Part of me wants to go back to the piano and continue playing, but I think it's time for bed!

[pianistimo]

does mount nikitaka have anything to do with a metronome?  why do you climb your metronome? 

and why did your student call you at 11AM and cause you to stop if you were playing at 11PM?  if you meant PM -  you must be a very nice teacher to let a student talk to you at 11 PM.  (i thought the phones were unplugged for those of you who play so well).  for me, having a phone ring is like sudden death.  i can't get my concentration back for a while.  used to routinely unplug the phone.

are you going to make us feel guilty by posting an hour regularly per day - and seeing that some of us try to catch up on a week's worth of practice each weekend (for 5-6 hours)?  i should like to have a competition with you.  you have to stick your hands in the freezer for 20 minutes - and then we play something we each like. 

[pianistimo]

i googled 'climbing a metronome' and actually found that one climber suggested being like a metronome whilst climbing (halfway down the article).  www.gravsports.com/climbing%20Stories/climbing.htm

[arensky]

does mount nikitaka have anything to do with a metronome?  why do you climb your metronome? 

and why did your student call you at 11AM and cause you to stop if you were playing at 11PM?  if you meant PM -  you must be a very nice teacher to let a student talk to you at 11 PM.  (i thought the phones were unplugged for those of you who play so well).  for me, having a phone ring is like sudden death.  i can't get my concentration back for a while.  used to routinely unplug the phone.

are you going to make us feel guilty by posting an hour regularly per day - and seeing that some of us try to catch up on a week's worth of practice each weekend (for 5-6 hours)?  i should like to have a competition with you.  you have to stick your hands in the freezer for 20 minutes - and then we play something we each like. 

My student called a little after 10PM as I made my way to the piano, I was expecting the call, It's his last lesson for two weeks. The phone was off but I saw that he had left a message, so I called him back to confirm the Wednesday morning lesson. I hate the phone too, it's usually off when I'm practicing unless I am expecting an important call.

No guilt. I have only been able to practice for 1-2 hours lately, catching up on the weekend (when I am not playing Cocktail Jazz). I have two weeks off after my other student today is gone and I intend to make the best use of this time that I can. But some days I may not practice a lot. I've developed a sense of when the useful practice is over, and I'm merely forcing and beating my head against the wall. I have everything "sorta" memorized, and can play most of it except parts of Symphonic Etudes, Prelude 3 and K.25. Oh and the Arabesque, I might delete that and play one or two of the Bunte Blatter op.99 and/or Albumleaves op.124. I think it's very difficult. Probably won't start today until this evening, there's two lessons and the tuner is coming. Now, I will go clean the studio, it's a pigsty.

"Climg Mt. Nikitaka" has nothing to do with my metronome. Keep googling, I hope I haven't spelled it wrong....

[arensky]

Duh.... I did spell it wrong! Oh ok here's a link to the answer....

https://www.whatreallyhappened.com/pearl/www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/niitaka.html

BTW this site is great, particularly if you are a paranoid amateur conspiracy theorist like I am! 

[pianistimo]

considering everything - i think it's too late to worry.  we have so much communication going on now at top speeds, we'd be trying to intercept a message and be dead before we read the first letter.

a week ago i was getting up to get a drink of water around 3 AM and saw a meteor or something.  it was awesome.  it flew very close to earth and i knew it wasn't a comet (too close and not white).  the speed was incredible (i wondered at first if it was a missle), and i could see the orange-red ball leaving a tail, also i saw that it followed the horizon in a curve (so it must have been burning while in orbit).  never read anything about it the next day in the paper?

[arensky]

considering everything - i think it's too late to worry.  we have so much communication going on now at top speeds, we'd be trying to intercept a message and be dead before we read the first letter.

a week ago i was getting up to get a drink of water around 3 AM and saw a meteor or something.  it was awesome.  it flew very close to earth and i knew it wasn't a comet (too close and not white).  the speed was incredible (i wondered at first if it was a missle), and i could see the orange-red ball leaving a tail, also i saw that it followed the horizon in a curve (so it must have been burning while in orbit).  never read anything about it the next day in the paper?

Any noise? What did it sound like?

[pianistimo]

i don't recall any sound.  i was inside the house.  should have listened more, i guess.  i don't recall a whistle or anything - but it was so close looking.  it came over the top of the house - so i first saw it toward the top of the window.  my first thought was, 'oh, no.' then, i realized it must be a meteor because it kept extending my  ability to see it - and i watched it zoom (so fast!) into the horizon following a curve.  it was definately the scariest and most beautiful thing i've ever seen.  i've never been in the military so i have no idea what missles look like - but this was going at an incredible speed.

[pianistimo]

at https://spaceweather.com  and www.neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca

you can read about what has been sighted and what is expected.  after seeing this, i'd rather not know.  on december 21st (today) there were 749 potentially hazardous asteroids.  wonder if they are better seen since it is the winter solstice?

[lagin]

I'll take you up on your offer and share this thread with you.  I'm 2 hours behind my schedule right now, so I'll see if I can change that a bit.
Logging off:  5:32 PM 
Logging on:  7:34 PM

Mission accomplished.

[pianistimo]

logoff: 9:48 
logon: 9:50  1 sec of practice  (tapped a key)

watched tv.  thought about my program.  wrote an e-mail to my piano teacher.  contemplated getting piano tuned and repaired.  the bass is messed up.  it plays sort of staccato even with the pedal.  it's like the sostenuto is backwards.

[arensky]

LOGOFF: 9:33 PM

LOGON: about 12:10 AM

oops for got to logon last night, I was pretty tired. Spent the whole session on Symphonic Etudes, we wwill see today if the work paid off....

[arensky]

Right on the hour again, my subconcious clock must be working....

LOGOFF: 3:01 PM
LOGON: 6:07 PM

Schumann good. Beethoven bad. Gershwin and Scarlatti pretty good. Have almost all of the Schumann back in my head, makes it easier to work on. I'm going to a good friend's CD release party downtown in a while; I will probably practice later when I return....

[Jacey1973]

WHAT?? Is anyone else confused? What's with this logoff/logon malarky eh?

I just get up...practise....why do you have to logon to pianoforum?? 

[arensky]

WHAT?? Is anyone else confused? What's with this logoff/logon malarky eh?

I just get up...practise....why do you have to logon to pianoforum?? 

I am very sorry you are confused...and such language! "malarky'!! Oh heavens!! I might faint from the horror!!!

I have kept practice diaries in the past, I found it helpful in sorting out what was going with my repertoire preparation, particularly in terms of time spent vs. quality. Now that I am a teacher I it is even more important to understand this issue. This time, I have decided to have an open diary.

[lagin]

Arensky, I'm still sharing this with you, but I'm only using this when I fall behind schedule as motivation/accountability to get back on track.  I'm using my own schedule in my notebook for when I'm on track.  (I don't want you to think I only practice a couple of hours a week, lol!).  If you'ld rather keep it just for your records, just let me know, and I'll dig up my old thread which is almost identical to this, and use it instead.

[arensky]

Arensky, I'm still sharing this with you, but I'm only using this when I fall behind schedule as motivation/accountability to get back on track.  I'm using my own schedule in my notebook for when I'm on track.  (I don't want you to think I only practice a couple of hours a week, lol!).  If you'ld rather keep it just for your records, just let me know, and I'll dig up my old thread which is almost identical to this, and use it instead.

That's fine, during the semester I sometimes can only practice 2 hours a week! (of course I play but that is not the same...) However you find this useful, that's great; it helps to keep me in line, too!

[arensky]

Here we go...

LOGOFF: 11:44

Short break; Gershwin 3 is coming under control. It's a nasty little....back later... it's 2:15

LOGON: 4:20

Got a lot done. Maybe more practicing later, maybe not.

Maybe so...

LOGOFF: 7:47 PM
LOGON: 11:50 PM

Accomplished mucho, everything is coming together, but I'm still glad I have backup pieces....

[lagin]

Sigh, I'm always falling behind during these holidays .  I'm 2 and a half hours behind, but am taking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day "off," (Meaning nothing scheduled--yes, I'm a schedule nut!)  which means I have time to catch up.  So, I'll do a bit now too, and maybe an hour on both those days and then I can be all happy again .   (Yes, I have no life, it's true).  Funny story okay?  My piano teacher calls me up a couple of weeks ago and asks me to babysit her girls on New Years Eve.  She tries to compliment me by telling me that they thought I'd be perfect for the job.  I translated that for her, -- "So, what you're really telling me is that I have no life?"  LOL.  She got a kick out of it!  And yes, I am babysitting.  Anyway..................do do do
Okay okay,
Logoff: 8:25 PM
Logon: 8:57 PM
2 more hours to go, and 2 more days to do it.  I like holidays

[arensky]

LOGOFF: 10:55 AM

break, 12:11 to 12:35

LOGON: 3:02 PM

Thinking of changing my prgram, replacing Symphonic Etudes with Pictures at an Exhibition, which I have not performed for 6 years and needs to be brought out again; I ran through it and it is almost entirely memorized, and is much easier than the Symphonic Etudes...your thoughts?

Damn, I wish I had more time; oh well, we do what we can...

[arensky]

This is pointless, all this logging on and off, you're right jenni; however I will post here if I need to sound off about my practicing, I think I've completely redesigined my program again... I will tell later...

[I Love Xenakis]

Jenni!  Let's get married!

[arensky]

My recital has reached it's final form; I had to ditch the Schumann pieces, it was all too much. Not enough time to get everything the way it should be...

Scarlatti, Sonata in Ab Major K.127
Scarlatti, Sonata in b minor K.87
Scarlatti, Sonata in f# minor K.25

Beethoven, Sonata in d minor op.31 #2 "Tempest"

**************************************************************

Gershwin, Three Preludes

now, we change...

Gershwin, Piano Playin' Jasbo Brown (Jasbo Brown Blues)

Albeniz  from "Suite Espanola"

Granada
Cataluna
Sevilla
Asturias

While this may not be as pianistically impressive as the Symphonic Etudes it will make my life easier, as I also have to get the Mozart Concerto #24 in c minor into my fingers and head, as well as write cadenzas for it. And the audience will probably prefer Albeniz to Schumann, anyway....