Sixteen

So, in my defense, I did blog yesterday-last night, but my laptop battery died and the computer shut down before I was able to post my entry. So enough excuses-16 more days!

Yesterday I rehearsed Barber 3rd with Aaron. We played through it with the metronome several times and eventually I was able to play it through without the music. I just need to do this several more times so I am comfortable playing it from memory in front of people!

Then we ran through the Brahms 1st movement. The tempo is up to performance tempo now, and now I need to remember all the musical elements that I worked on when it was slower.

We also ran the Barber 2nd movement and part of the 1st. With these movements I need to practice what I am going to do when the piano plays without me. I don't want to look distracting, and I want to look like I am enjoying the music while I am not playing. It is pretty much my favorite piece on the program, after all!

Maybe I'll perform some Bach for mom and dad tonight...

Eighteen

Today I rehearsed Brahms 4th and 3rd, and Barber 3rd with Aaron. It's coming together and we just need to get the final movements at a faster tempo! I'm actually getting excited about my recital now :)

The Brahms 4th movement has a lot of syncopation that Aaron and I have to bring out individually. In my lesson today Amy kept referring to molasses and taffy, things that have to be stretched and drawn out. Brahms is like that with his complex rhythms and sonorities. When I play this sonata I think about exaggerating all of the dynamics and making sure to feel every eight note or subdivided note, without making it sound that way.

In the Barber 3rd movement, I am challenged to just keep playing my triplets the entire time while the piano part switches from triple to duple meter, and back again. It's pretty fun to play, but I have to figure out how to block out the piano part so it doesn't throw me off-for now.

I'm going to go practice more, right now...

Nineteen

Today I ran through the Bach. I need to work on what I think about when I'm playing this piece because I get distracted easily. Usually I try to think about the chaccone rhythm and keeping the tempo. I also try to keep the climaxes of each of the 3 larger sections in mind.

Then I ran through the Barber concerto. I worked more on the 3rd movement, with music. It's at quarter=122 now. I just need to feel more comfortable running it with Aaron--then I think I will be able to really enjoy playing this wild movement.

I also worked on Brahms 4th movement. Nothing really exciting here-just waiting to be able to play it faster with Aaron....

Tomorrow is a lesson with Amy and Aaron :) Hopefully it's positive!

Twenty

Wow. I am really bad at updating this everyday. So yesterday I got a lot of work done on Barber 3rd. The whole movement is at quarter=118, so just a bit faster!! I played through the Bach D major section again from memory and was able to bring out the chaccone/bass line more easily by not sustaining so many bass notes.

Goals for this week:

1. Start to play Barber 3rd like a piece and make it interesting with the orchestra accompaniment, not just like an etude. I need to listen to the syncopation from the piano and go with that. This movement is starting to rock, so I just need to have fun with that!

2. Play through the entire concerto starting Wednesday.

3. Work at the middle section in the Brahms 4th movement to get more comfortable with the notes/fingerings. Play through the entire piece with Aaron on Wednesday when we rehearse, hopefully in Souers!

4. Practice performing Bach more in Souers. I need to work with the recital hall space and think about the acoustics that Souers offers and not rush through the endings of phrases. I just need to run through the ciaccona more in Souers.

I am taking a day off today to celebrate Spring Break, but I will definitely try to run through some Barber 3rd and Brahms 4th later tonight... stay tuned!

Twenty Two

Hey twenty 2 more days!!!

Here's what I did yesterday since I forgot to write about it then: I had a lesson with Amy! We worked on the D major section in the chaccone. Amy suggested I not sustain certain bass notes so long so that the chaccone theme can more easily be heard in the bass voice. I really like this suggestion! She also suggested that I think more about the climax of the piece near the end of the D major section -before the d major bariolage section- and change the bowing here so that it resembles the very beginning of the piece and makes the climax that much more important. So today I practiced this middle section with the score and tried to think about these things. I really like these suggestions and I look forward to seeing what more I can do with them tomorrow! I also ran the third and first sections of the piece.

In my lesson yesterday we also touched on the 3rd movement of Barber. Amy and I decided on a tempo marking (quarter= 138) so I feel a lot better about reaching this goal by the end of Spring Break. We worked more on the bow stroke and practicing shifts in slow motion to make sure they happen effectively at a faster speed. Today (Friday) I memorized the rest of the movement! I now know all of the notes, I just have to get the tempo consistent and worked up to 138. This will definitely keep me busy for the next 2 weeks. I also ran through the 1st and 2nd movements and tried to solidify the bowings in the middle of the second movement.

So just incase you didn't see it earlier: The Bach ciaconna and the entire Barber concerto are memorized!! Maybe I can memorize Brahms while I'm at it...

Time to rest. The real work on Barber 3rd starts tomorrow!

Twenty Five

Ok. So more of the Barber 3rd movement is being conquered. The first two pages are feeling pretty comfortable at a fast tempo and the bow stroke is going well. Now I have to kick the last almost 3 pages into gear. I practiced with long slurs today just to see how fast I could get my fingers to go. There are lots of patterns and easy-to-memorize passages in the last 3 pages, so hopefully I can finish memorizing ALL OF IT by Friday--that's the goal!

I also played through the Bach today. I tried to keep a more consistent tempo without a metronome. It took me almost 18 minutes to play the piece. Pretty Awesome. I just need to perform this more and learn what the audience sees/hears when I play it. Will Harvey and/or Amy be able to decipher my "big picture" musical ideas? We shall see.

Also...just got done working on the Brahms 2nd and 4th movements. The 2nd movement is sounding more cohesive and I'm really trying to relax my left hand, play on with flat finger pads in the left hand, and think about shifts before they happen so the musical line is more flowing and not out of tune. The 4th movement is going well, I just need to get it together with Aaron, and up to tempo!

Back from round 2, a.k.a. playing for Harvey in Souers!! I played through the 2nd movement of Barber. He said I need to drag out the beginning more because the piano has such a long introduction that culminates with my entrance. He also suggested that I use my right arm more and basically fling it in circular motion when following through with up-bows. Harvey said I should be more dramatic in my upbows and follow through with the phrases. He also said I should go for the big shifts without care because I am the one with the melodic line. When I finally get to play the tune, I should use more bow (or just practice with separate bows?) to get an idea of how long and drawn out I can make the phrases. I should do the same thing (separate bows) on the super high passage work. Harvey said I had a beautiful sound and that I should make sure my vibrato is always turned on and that I should just make the entire movement slow and passionate and drawn out.

Then I played the 3rd movement of Brahms. Harvey showed me a light, more free bow stroke to start the beginning of the movement. He told me to use my right arm more on the down bow octaves and to pluck up and vibrate on the pizzicatos. Harvey also suggested I stretch out the pleading double-stop melodies and slow down the end section of the movement. This was a great night-thanks Harvey!!

Twenty Six

Ok, So I didn't blog yesterday-oops. Yesterday I worked on Barber. I worked on spots in the 1st and 2nd movements with the music open, just checking intonation and bowings/fingerings. I really need to start performing the 2nd movement so I can explore what to do with all the long phrases. Then I worked for about an hour on the 3rd movement. More memory is coming, but I am a bit anxious of pushing myself too fast to memorize this piece and that it will be done incorrectly. Must keep moving on! I practiced it more in rhythms, and thought about having the next note ready whenever I was playing a note (still looking at the music).

Later I rehearsed Brahms 2nd movement and Barber 2nd movement with Aaron. We hadn't rehearsed for a week so it was good to do a run-through. After the initial run through I mentioned that the tempos dragged a little and we tried to fix that in the second run through.