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Practice four was rough for me today. (teacher is awesome ...it was all me)
I did okay with Twinkle in practice....but I memorized Scarborough Fair WRONG.
..and I keep looking at my fingers....and I just didn't do that well.... I was having anxiety all morning...(just the way I roll...not about the lesson)... but I went and tried to make it work out. I held back tears and listened to all the critic, assistance, advice....
I need to read the music as I play...
I need to not look at my fingers...
I need to keep bowing...
I need to relax...
I need to walk around just playing the D scale and not looking but listening to it....
I had a few tears on the drive home..... got some FAST FOOD.... GASP!!
I am home now... I have recording of my teacher, and her on the piano also....so I have some tools... I need to work hard this week...
I put on my big girl pants and I am ready to go. I don't want to play mechanically... I want to play lovely music....sigh...
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

Members

Well, that is what teachers are for, Coolpink. They spot things you can maybe do better and make some suggestions for you to try.
The recording of the teacher and of her playing the piano accompaniment should help a lot, though.
Walking around while playing the scale a piece is in can help a lot with loosening up and relaxing, and it will give your fingers even more of a chance to learn where they need to go.
As a lesson, it sounds like it may have been one of the harder ones. But you didn't give up. You are going to be ok.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....GQXozGdJEw
Practice session...and why I can't keep time the way it is supposed to be. I choked on all three versions...but that is typical with camera...and well today...without camera as well.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

Members

Good job! And almost perfect by that third take. You are doing very well, and I have no doubt that in even less than a week, you will have this song down very very well.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

Honorary tenured advisor
Regulars



CPK,
I learned something a while ago. I no longer care what others think of how well I play or how bad I play. If I enjoy what I'm doing that is all that matters. I listen to peoples comments and try to do better but if I can't than so be it. You are doing good. Keep practicing and enjoying your self doing it.

Honorary tenured advisor
Regulars


Kinda....we'll I don't know a lot about timing...foot tapping or metronomes....the music is easy and straightforward ....my mind gets it ...but I don't always coordinate it...every so often I play it...SF and I like it....to me it is good.
But..it was not good for the timing or the recital. I will work tomorrow and Sunday.
Btw what the heck was all the flashing????????
Thank you FM.."I haven't played the game.....guess I better give it a shot. Thanks.
Kevin... I like your style......
Springer. ....I kind of agree ...but I find making music with others rewarding ....well time will tell.
CdB........I snuck in a few E E E G's this afternoon........I watch the tutorial every day.....I am getting ready!!!! Woo hoo
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

Members

I have never been good at tapping a foot to keep time while playing. Too much like trying to walk and chew gum at the same time for me (and yes, I also can't dance worth a crap). LOL So I always spent a good bit of time playing with metronomes, drum machines, click tracks or timing strobes over the years to get tempo and timing down better. Tapping a foot and playing at the same time is a bit beyond my capabilities, though. If I could, I'd also try to learn to play drums, but alas..
So far as the flashes, ghosts? Angels maybe? Look kind of like some of the "paranormal" videos. LOL But most likely (also likely with at least a good number of paranormal vids) it is your camera trying to cope with the strong backlighting from the window and lamp behind you. The autofocus will keep trying to focus on you, but as you move a little bit and it has to change the focus, it is also trying to figure out how to make the lighting look good. I just gets confused for an instant now and then.
So far as the song goes, as I have already said, you have it coming along quite nicely. One thing I would warn about at this point is to not over-practice it.
As the song would usually be done by a band with vocals, it is 5 or 6 passes, maybe a couple more if someone is taking an instrumental solo. If that is about how many times through you'll need o play it for the recital, then I wouldn't do the whole song more than maybe 3 times a day between now and the performance. Otherwise you run some risk of going stale on the piece and kinda hating it by the time you do the recital. That would be a shame with a pretty piece of music like this.
If you don't already know all the lyrics, learning them and going through them in your head as you play can help a lot to keep the song from feeling too repetitive in practice.
If your teacher hasn't already told you how many times through the basic melody you and the other students will be playing it at the recital, you should call and ask. Sometimes they can expect people to figure that out from rehearsals, and may forget to mention it. But at this point you have the basic melody down fairly well, so you want to be practising the piece at the length you will perform it at. If you don't, you run the risk of feeling like you should be finished after one or two times through the melody, and if the group has to play the melody through 5 or 6 times, you can get more tired and confused than you would imagine in that length of time. Also, doing the melody the number of times you'll be doing it in the performance lets you practice the transitions between verses down to get them nice.
This is also a good time to work on your breathing. The easy way to do that without having to think much about it is to breath along with the words of the song as you would if you were singing them. It can help with your timing, and also with keeping down panic. To panic real good, you need to either breathe too fast or hold your breath. It is harder to panic if your breathing stays steady. That may sound silly, but try it sometime when you're worrying or having a bit of anxiety. LOL
Anyway, that is what I personally would be doing with practice right now, if I were in the same situation. Playing the piece at full length maybe 3 times a day and trying to get the breathing figured out. When gig day is 5 or 6 days away, then I'd drop down to doing the song at full length only twice a day and identifying and practising any little trouble spots that still remain for a few minutes a day (a few minutes is 5 to 10 minutes in this case).
Other than that, remember to play other music and work on other pieces to keep from obsessing too much over this one.
But the song is coming along well. You are getting a lot of feel into it, and there are only a few small spots that are still giving you trouble. They will clear up over this next week. It is going good!
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

Thanks Daniel. I think that is what I am going to do. I have three audio... piano... piano with her humming the melody and the violin. I will play it through focusing on keeping time and and not looking at my fingers. That is a big thing for me right before the recital. I am going to do my best for the not looking from here on out...but on the performance night.. if needed.. I am looking. LOL She has noted that it is the piano intro....then the melody ... piano then melody again.... it will be the longest 1.20 second of my life. ha ha... I will practice the scales that I know without looking at my fingers and I will start working on the other project that I am looking forward to learning. Sad Romance. Thanks for all your help. I will keep you posted. Happy Saturday.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
Regulars

Not that I am one to give timing advice but....
I cannot get the rhythm to a song right until I can hear the lyrics in my head as I play. Once I laid off the purely instrumental songs and focused on some with lyrics I knew [notable Red River Valley] I did a heck of a lot better at playing.Hear yourself singing along, and you will know if , for instance, you are doing "parsley, sa-aa-aage, rosemaryand thyme" on your tempo or if you have it right., cuz you won't feel your song having to speed up or slow down to stay with your notes as you bow.
Free advice, no refunds! LOL

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