Twelve

I just had a lesson with Amy on Barber 3rd and Brahms 4th. For the Barber Amy said I need to make it musical now, since I have the technical part learned (finally!!). I am to work following the direction of the notes and getting a lighter touch so that my sound doesn't sound so labored--and hopefully will allow me to go faster! I need to crescendo to the tops of phrases especially on that part before rehearsal 5 when I have the ascending line with Aaron. On the last page Amy said I just need to go for it, and that's pretty much all I can do! On the last line I need to make a large gesture on the final Eb upbeat so that it looks exciting even if-God forbid-I miss the last note. I feel somewhat better and more confident about this movement now!! Yay!

On the Brahms Amy said I need to sing along more in my style. I'm chopping phrases to exaggerate the dynamics and it's not good, and not working. So I need to remember to sustain every beat and not simply gloss over notes. Aaron rushes a lot...I guess I rush sometimes, so we need to get that under control.

Yesterday I ran through my entire program again. It went better than the previous day, meaning that I wasn't so tired and flabbergasted at the extensiveness of the program. I feel like I'm at a stagnant point with the Bach, it's not as exciting to play right now, and I think I'm worrying about the tempo too much. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow!

I'm getting a little more excited for these recitals each day, so that's good! My recital in Columbus is in 4 days--woohoo!