What did you practice today?

[pianoplayjl]

I saw this thread on PW and thought it might be funny to have one here too. Just one bizarre thought. If no one responds then I'll keep this as my practice diary. 

What spots did you cover? which measures did you work on? what technique did you learn?

Ok, I'll start. I practiced the Bach prelude and fugue in C minor for my up coming class recital. I mainly worked on slow practice and voicing.

Your turn.

JL

[johnmar78]

ok my turn.

I just got my recording rig, and 2X mic stand.
I have been prepartion for chopin op27-2, op25-8, and op10-10. In between breaks I do  op10-12, op10-4, op25-12. Twice a week on bach prelude and fugue bwv 846.

Next

[pianoplayjl]

Today I had a lesson and worked on Beethoven op 10 no 2 1st mvt. Jeez, the details were very complicated. I had to stop every 2 measures for my teacher to explain something. I felt really bad and felt like a broken recorder. Far out.

The most important thing I learnt to day was how to do the  1 bar trills. Originally I was chipping the A note with my 3rd finger and it was curled. Now I had to straighten it and use my forearm to do the trill. I had to exagerate the motion.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Just then I finished my practice session. I was originally working on Beethoven, but strayed off into my old repertoire. So really today I was mostly working on my old repertoire, trying to relearn some sections in the pieces.
For Beethoven I was mostly working on the Alberti Bass. It is very troubling for me. It sucks when you have to play them very fast and then suddenly crash. I also paid attention to bars 46-49, particularly the right hand. Very tricky and complicated to play. I had to slowly read the fingering. It sucked. Confounding sometimes.
Tommorow I'm working on Bach P and F in C major.

What did you practice today?

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Lol no one? fine.....

Today I fared better than yesterday, in that I managed to last longer working on my current pieces. But still I got distracted and ventured into my old repertoire. Mainly working on Debussy Prelude 'minstrels.'

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Seriously, anyone? Anyone?

[amelialw]

Worked on teeny bits of problematic spots in beethoven's 32 variations, a whole lot of etudes from Czerny op.299 and some of Chopin's variations brilliante

[pianoplayjl]

Mainly practicing Bach P and F in C minor again for my class performance tommorow. My nerves are getting to me. Mainly slow practice and relaxed shoulders. I got my sister to rate the peice and I'm glad to say it was good.
For Beethoven's op 10 no2 1st mvt, I tried the broken chords section in page 3 hands together. Looks like a fun section to play!

JL

[ajspiano]

I'd have thought this thread would get a bit more action..

I worked a bit on doing a jazz arrangement of 'my favourite things', also chopin 10/1..  also got carried away and lost my focus for quite some time just doing blues improv..

[jas_sorian]

Chopin Prelude No. 2. I'm trying to find out why my hands hurt after playing this piece. 

I also practiced Nos. 3, 4, 5, 9, 15, 20

[pianoplunker]

I saw this thread on PW and thought it might be funny to have one here too. Just one bizarre thought. If no one responds then I'll keep this as my practice diary. 

What spots did you cover? which measures did you work on? what technique did you learn?

Ok, I'll start. I practiced the Bach prelude and fugue in C minor for my up coming class recital. I mainly worked on slow practice and voicing.

Your turn.

JL

today before work
I practiced playing and singing Vanilla sky by Paul McCartney
I also went half speed through a section of Mozart Fantasy in Dminor K397
I went 1/10 speed through the very first section of the new Albumblatt by Brahms ( not as easy as it looks ! )
I improvised and sang a poem a friend had written for a Eulogy

Now after work I usually play alot more but today i must rest my hands  and just take in some posts on this board

[patrickd]

Today I mainly practiced WTC book 1 prelude no 5 in d major and the Rachmaninoff Prelude in g minor op 23 no 5.

[flyinfingers]

I practiced an hour and a half -- pretty much every day and my teacher said it's too much.  I'm not understanding that at all!  What's up with that statement?   I'm at a loss!

[pianoplayjl]

Lol every day is the same for me! Still the first 2 pages of Beethoven's sonata op 10 no 2 1st mvt. I'm tried the 1st page hands together and found it pretty hard except for perhaps the first 10-15 measures where notes were scarce and mainly double octave chords. I also did some hands together at bar 54 onwards until the break. I found it hard particularly the section where the right hand plays trills and the left plays broken chord. And the hardest thing was that the hands had to be crossed.
For Bach Fugue in C major I experimented by listening to my I-pod whilst also playing at the same time to boost my concentration and playing 'subconsciously'.

JL

[flyinfingers]

Is that the four-voice Bach Fugue One that goes with the well-tempered clavier?  Yes, I've been working on that for a week now and haven't gotten too far -- well, not too far at all, mostly hands separate.  It's tricky, from what I've read! 

My teacher told me it's too hard for me, but I learned the Prelude part quite well and I'm the type of person who wants to finish and that is what was there when I turned the page!  I'll learn it on my own, if I have to.   I really love the Prelude!  Am working on memorizing that.  I'm having trouble memorizing pieces, though, I might add, must be my age!  Aaargh!  I can't remember having these memorizing troubles as a youngster!

[pianoplayjl]

Is that the four-voice Bach Fugue One that goes with the well-tempered clavier?  Yes, I've been working on that for a week now and haven't gotten too far -- well, not too far at all, mostly hands separate.  It's tricky, from what I've read! 

My teacher told me it's too hard for me, but I learned the Prelude part quite well and I'm the type of person who wants to finish and that is what was there when I turned the page!  I'll learn it on my own, if I have to.   I really love the Prelude!  Am working on memorizing that.  I'm having trouble memorizing pieces, though, I might add, must be my age!  Aaargh!  I can't remember having these memorizing troubles as a youngster!

How coincidental! You should be doing pretty well. I've only made it this far in 3 months. I only have the 1st page of the fugue hands together but I usually do it separate. Did Bernhard mention in one of his ingenious posts that it is a good idea to do it voices separate?
And what a contrast the piece. The 1st part is easy while the 2nd part drives me nuts. Not challenging physically but mentally it is. I'm even speculating that a complex Bach fugue is more harder to memorize than, say 2 Chopin etudes. The prelude is easy enough even for you.

BTW I played Bach's WTC 1 no 2 for a class little performance and I think I went well.

JL

[flyinfingers]

Well, I guess I'll relenquish myself to a three-month project for the first page because that is probably the rate it's going to be, if not longer!  It is difficult for me, like she said.
I'm amazed at how long it takes to finish pieces.  I still can't memorize pieces from four months ago when I started taking lessons again.
Let me know how you progress on this piece.   Good luck and we'll be in touch.  Going to sleep now with my doggie -- oh, and hubby too!  HA! 

[nanabush]

Resurrected my Ligeti etude...did a huge chunk of it at the end of the summer, but been focusing on recital rep for the last few months; I have a jury in april (3 weeks after recital lol), with etudes and a concerto movement... so yaaaa Ligeti needs to get moving!

"Fem" for anyone who is familiar; worked on the part on the second last page where the left hand has the 'endless' run in the low bass.  Amazing writing there, not too bad to put together, but I worked on clarity with it.

Voicing in F# major part of the Debussy "soiree dans Granade"

Db major section of Chopin Bb minor Scherzo - keeping the left hand quiet, but not bs'ing it.  Getting the right hand to sing during this part, and not clip the 1/8 notes.

AKA, I'm getting uppity over details now that I have a month left before I have my recital

[pianoplayjl]

Well, I guess I'll relenquish myself to a three-month project for the first page because that is probably the rate it's going to be, if not longer!  It is difficult for me, like she said.
I'm amazed at how long it takes to finish pieces.  I still can't memorize pieces from four months ago when I started taking lessons again.
Let me know how you progress on this piece.   Good luck and we'll be in touch.  Going to sleep now with my doggie -- oh, and hubby too!  HA! 

Good luck with that! I won't be of much help but I will help as I may. This is my first tip: when practicing such a complicated piece, I find it best to break down the fugue into smaller sections i.e. practice spots and from there work on the practice spots over and over again. I find that is more easier to memorize.

Resurrected my Ligeti etude...did a huge chunk of it at the end of the summer, but been focusing on recital rep for the last few months; I have a jury in april (3 weeks after recital lol), with etudes and a concerto movement... so yaaaa Ligeti needs to get moving!

"Fem" for anyone who is familiar; worked on the part on the second last page where the left hand has the 'endless' run in the low bass.  Amazing writing there, not too bad to put together, but I worked on clarity with it.

I am only familiar with the devil's staircase etude so I bet it has to be that one.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

I had a look at pages 3 and 4, hands separate of course but I tried half of page 3 hands together until the alternating chord/broken chords section. I think page 3 is just about the easiest section in the whole piece, and I consider myself pretty familiar with it. Page 4 I haven't practiced before but I had a look and tried snippets before today. Page 4 was pretty hard, particularly from bars 94-115 in the right hand. There were some sections I had to play an arpeggiated diminished chord and was stretching my fingers! I'm sure with some pracitce I will get the hang of it. Just about it for today and I didn't practice that much. Slept in.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

My goal for today is to get the first half of the first page hands together as slowly as possible with as minimal errors as possible. I'm also going to continue work on the fourth page hands separate and hopefully speed it up. I going to have to ask my teacher to set some practice spots soon. It is getting to me. And also the first half of the 3rd page hands together and speed it up.

JL

[j_menz]

Restraint. I wasn't very good. 

[roseamelia]

Finished a book ;D but now practicing Lilacs in the moonlight, and toccata breve.

[m1469]

So far, scales/arpeggios, Rachmaninov prelude in D Major (a long time, there), Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso, Beethoven's Appassionata, Mov. II, and some of III ... more to do, more to do.

[pianoplayjl]

I'm still working on trills especially in the second half of the second page. The trills were made harder by my awkward arm and hand position. On Wednesday my piano teacher assigned me a Brahms exercise. I must say, I like the Brahms exercise alot and it is effectively a piece to me, though only half a page. She made me play the chords loudly which I haven't been doing. Probably partly due to my hesitations in some parts where I don't know the notes as well as others.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Working on Brahms exercise and I am having difficulty in transposing the pattern. Dumb of me, really but hopefull as I get more familiar with the pattern I might be able to transpose it. I've been practicing from bar 47 onwards and trying not to look at the score so that I can remember the fingerig, which is a part I find difficult, especially from bars 47-50 with the little jumps in the right hand. Also working on the troublesome trills and I saw a little improvement when I decided to sit not as close as I usually do.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Today it was mainly scales and Brahms. There was something I that I discovered: I haven't played the scales in a while and as I finished playing the F sharp minor, I realised that it was perfect again but this time I sped up the tempo for the scale. Still no errors so clearly the accidental neglect of the scales has worked for the better, for me at least. For the Brahms, I mainly concentrated on the right hand and at last I did the full cycle of 12 keys, although in a very slow tempo. I forced myself to say aloud: Right, Left, Right, Left, etc. Tomorrow it is the left hand's turn. Left hand is harder than the right had, IMO.

JL

[jas_sorian]

Still the same Chopin Preludes. Also worked out fingerings for some Chopin Mazurkas, and the first piece from Janacek's On the Overgrown Path.

Am I the only one who does not do scales? 

[pianoplayjl]

Still the same Chopin Preludes. Also worked out fingerings for some Chopin Mazurkas, and the first piece from Janacek's On the Overgrown Path.

Am I the only one who does not do scales? 

No you are not. I don't do scales all the time though I know the importance of it. I just can't fit them into my practice session. If I had more time in my practice session then of course I will do some scales. Besides there is too much so I simply split them into 2 days. Besides, I have the Brahms exercise to practice. I have never seen anything like it. Scales, technical exercises, they are the same thing. Good luck with working out the fingerings-they are a headache for me.

JL

[amelialw]

This was for yesterday... Haven't done my practice for today yet since I am officially back in a sec school teaching music

I just finished crafting out a new plan which was instructed by my teacher in Canada. Even though I will be starting lessons with a new teacher really soon she wants me to go on building my foundation more on my own. We decided together that ultimately my end goal is to train myself so that I can be a concert pianist/ performer one day. So my goal for now is to focus on specific composers for a period of time and be able to work independently. To get to this present one I've already experimented for about 2-3 weeks to see what works and what doesn't work

I've been placed on a diet of Czerny,Haydn and Mozart; for now mainly Czerny and Haydn. I'll be focusing on learning the whole book of op.299 and getting it up to performance level as for Haydn I am working on Hob 23,32 and 35

[pianoplayjl]

I managed to once again get the first page of Beethoven sonata op 10 no 2 1st mvt hands together but in a moderate tempo and with many mistakes. Somehow though, I felt satisfied after doing that. Also doing some hands separate with counting, which I usually do without the counting, because it is easier and you only have to concentrate on the fingering.
For the Brahms I 'worked' out what I think is a good way to learn it, by playing in 8 grouped notes. After a set of 8 I stop and then start again. This only applies to the right hand because I am not familiar enough with the left. I am going to try and play the left hand with the motions.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Basically for today I am going to try and do what I did yesterday but make the left hand of Brahms exercise 40a faster. I do find that it is almost twice as hard as the right hand. Perhaps I have to start focusing more on the left hand instead which is my non dominant hand. Perhaps for day I will work on the Bach prelude and fugue in C. No goals for that one...except perhaps to start bringing out the subject entries, which are scattered everywhere thoughout the piece and that is what makes it hard for me. I am more used to fuges with subject entries that are isolated.

JL

[pianoplunker]

Today I worked on the last section of the piece Albumblatt in A minor by Brahms - still figuring out the fingering. I find I cant play it as written, I need to incorporate my right hand to do some of the left hand notes  So far it looks like I will be able to get it worked out.
Did a run-thru of Mozart's Fantasy in Dminor and then focused on the Presto sections. Focusing on playing evenly. Practiced them very loud and deliberate followed by soft and very legato. Trying to make sure my arms are involved always. Then practiced chromatic runs since part of the Presto section has a chromatic run/. So I made up my own little excersize of chromatic runs sort of like flight of the bumble-bee but longer runs. Tried different fingering on those runs too . AS soon as I get the execution of the Prestos , this piece will be near performance. This is where I get impatient and want to hurry up and just play it. But I am older and wiser now.
I am not sure if this is wise, but I turned a eulogy a friend had written for her brother into a song. I havent told her - not sure I should or will
Played  Poem by Zdenko Fibich
Played Your Song by Elton John
Played Homecoming by Hagood Hardy

[jtguru]

Chopin Prelude No. 2. I'm trying to find out why my hands hurt after playing this piece. 

I remember having the same problem with this prelude, and I never figured out why. My left hand would get more tired from this than from something like Chopin Op. 10/12....


Anyway, my today.
I relearned mvts. 1 and 2 from Beethoven's Op. 2/1. I'm going to go learn half of Mvt. 3 in a little while.

[pianoplayjl]

I managed to get the left  hand moving in the Brahms Exercise and even managed a bit of hands together and I found aout it wasn't that hard to get it together however slow the tempo is. I rethought what my teacher told me about the exercise and I am trying to do it properly again. Still waiting for AJSpiano's video and his thoughts.
For Beethoven, pretty much the same as yesterday, regretfully.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Pretty much no progress in Beethoven but I think there was a little progress in Brahms. I had the exercise hands together and even managed 1 bar without making a mistake and a stutter, which I usually do. It was easier than I thought it would be. Mastering the rotation motion would be a whole new matter. Sychronisation was very easy and essentially as my teacher told be they were mirroring each other, the hands.
I also strayed off and practiced Chopin's Raindrop Prelude. I'm sorry to say that it has rusted up a lot despite having last played it a month ago.

JL

[jas_sorian]

I also strayed off and practiced Chopin's Raindrop Prelude. I'm sorry to say that it has rusted up a lot despite having last played it a month ago.

I also practiced that. Also sorry to say that it's still rusty. And I practice it everyday. 

[pianoplayjl]

I also practiced that. Also sorry to say that it's still rusty. And I practice it everyday. 

Just practice in smaller sections and work on voicing, and hands separate. THis piece takes 3 months to learn.

JL

[jtguru]

-Finished re-solidifying mvts. 1 and 2 of Beethoven sonata Op 2/1
-Finished mastering the minuet of mvt. 3
-Learned the trio of mvt. 3 hands separate
-Mastered the opening theme of mvt. 4

[brogers70]

Well, I'll join in....

30 minutes technical stuff: Ab and F min scales and arpeggios HS and HT, technique exercises extracted from Beethoven sonatas, tremolo from the Pathetique, scales and arpeggios from No. 16 in G, 16th note figurations out of the Presto of the "Little Pathetique", the coda from the Finale of the Pastorale, Haydn's first sonata (for fast Alberti bass).

10 minutes: review the third movement of Beethoven Sonata 9 in E major, focusing on the recurrences of the theme and on the cross rhythms at the end

10 minutes: review the Gigue from the Bach Bb Partita, especially the final F major arpeggio that concludes the first half.

20 minutes: Ab major Prelude from WTC I, already in decent shape, working on articulating the staccato in the main motif consistently, without overdoing it.

30 minutes Ab major fugue from WTC I, already wrote out the individual voices and practiced voices separate and hands separate, now putting together HT the first two pages, about 3 bars at a time.

20 minutes reading the LH part of Chopin's Ab Nocturne (my teacher wants me to do Chopin, but I have trouble getting motivated for it when there's so much Bach and Beethoven I haven't played).

That's a pretty typical weeknight practice for me. On the weekends I do something like that and also review things I want to keep in my repertoire.

[pianoplayjl]

I had a piano lesson today. Today for half the time I was working on chord rotation like exercise. I started on a C dominant chord and then I had to 'scoop' with my wrist, bring my hand, and then drop the chord on the next octave. Basically the same thing again for the next and then reverse scoop and change chords. The Brahms exercise 40a was pretty much not a problem, excpet that I have to work on rotating on the inside. The rotation on the outseide was fine, my teacher even said I was overdoing it abit. Forearm and wrist are alligned and wrists locked. I managed to have it hands together. For double octaves in the black keys I have to use a 4. Once again, I have to use FOREARM action and the wrists have to be locked. I learned alot for technical stuff, stuff I usually don't learn in 1 typical lesson.
For Beethoven's op 10 no 2, I had to shape the right hand, particularly the chords and octaves part. I keep missing the notes and that was embarrassing. I have to start using the metronome to practice this piece because there has to be a constant rhythmic drive in this piece and it is a very lively piece. My teacher remarked that a characteristic of Beethoven's music is that there is a  constant rhythmic pulse in his pieces.

JL

[keyofc]

Debussy's Sunken Cathedrale

Also I've been practicing different keys for the G7#5#9 chord

[jtguru]

-Worked with my partner's piano teacher on the Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# Minor Duo, mainly on musical aspects of the piece.
-Put hands together in the trio of Mvt. 3 in Beethoven's Op2/1, which involved changing my fingerings several times in the series of first-inversion chords. >_> That was much more difficult to get comfortable than I thought it would be.

[pianoplayjl]

I'm not going to practice my current repertoire. I'm going to work on my 7th and 6th grade pieces so that they don't rust up again. It has been 4 weeks at least, since I played the pieces, except 2 weeks ago when I played Bach's prelude and Fugue for a class gig.

JL

[pianoplayjl]

Mainly Brahms exercise 40a. I started hands separate and then together, although there was minimal forearm movement and rotation, regretfully. Almost half my practice session was taken up by procrastination. For Bach's Fugue in C major from WTC 1, I started putting the hands together from page two. I am slowly going to put them together, perhaps only 3 bars a day. I read that somewhere and thought that would be a good idea.

JL

[jtguru]

-Did polishing-up work on Mvt. 3 of Beethoven Op 2/1

-Memorized through bar 25 of Mvt. 4 (I had already done the first ~8 before today). I will need to smooth together my playing of this tomorrow before memorizing more; right now there are too many spots of hesitation. I am not finding the tempo to be a challenge, though, which is nice because it means I won't have to spend as much time on this as I was expecting.

[lostprin36]

Hey, I have completed the basic of piano. So can anyone suggest me that what will be best for me......!

[pianoplayjl]

Brahms again and Beethoven. For Brahms 40a no progress apart from speeding up each hand. Neglect of forearm motion, however. For Beethoven, I have to practice with metronome Crotchet=70. There were some parts I put together because I thought it would make more sense that way when practicing the metronome. Also, I played a bit of the 18th variation from Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini. WOnderful piece of music, I can't wait to learn it when my piano studies mature  a bit more.

JL

[jtguru]

Didn't post yesterday because I didn't do much, but yesterday I smoothed out those first 25 bars of mvt. 4, and added through bar 29.

After today, I am now through bar 58 or so, through to the repeat!  This movement is oh so much fun.
Now, after smoothing out this section tomorrow, it's on to the (technically) easy part of the movement....Let's see, there aren't any triplets at all for the next 50 bars...so the next couple days should bring me a good 50 bars! 

[pianoplayjl]

I tried a bit of table top practice for my Brahms exercise. I mainly concentrated on turning inwards my forearms, which I have been struggling playing on the piano. Playing on a table top is much easier than on a piano. I also recalled I was in a workshop once and I remembered that it was a good idea to learn and practice on a table top, which escpecially applies to new pieces. Hmm... I might try learning grade 1 pieces away from the piano but they are probably a bit easy.

JL