Pianoing, week 3.
Nov. 13th, 2012 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randomlingSo it's week 3 of my great adventure in relearning how to play the piano!
One thing I did notice was that week 2 all on its own was getting really boring, to the point where it was starting to become difficult to stay engaged. So I decided to mix it up a little.
Now, I've still been working through Lesson 2 all week, and playing the pieces and chords from Lesson 2 every day like a good girl. But I also decided that the best way to keep myself interested would be to give myself a bit of a challenge.
To that end, I decided I was going to learn some actual pieces of music. The idea was to start with stuff that made me think that I couldn't play it and, well, learn to play it. I certainly knew how to play stuff once, even if I was never all that great (I passed Grade 1, but decided afterwards that I didn't need extra exams in my life).
So in the course of the week I have picked up a couple of pieces which I'm slowly learning to play.
The idea is that I'm going to try to learn two pieces at a time: one that accompanies a voice or another instrument, and one that's a solo piece. This will hopefully mean I end up reasonably versatile in what I can play.
My accompanist piece is Gavotte for bassoon and piano by Michael Rose. My dad's a bassoonist, so this makes sense. It's a bit tricky in places, but not too bad for my (admittedly non-amazing) skill.
My solo piece is Queen Mab from Forest Fantasies by Walter Carroll. It's very short, but it's also pretty, and about the right level of challenge.
I'm at the "practice hands separately" stage of learning for both of thee pieces. The advice I've found in my piano book and online suggests this is the best way, and to only start playing hands together when you've learned both hands on their own.
I'll add these to my "repertoire" when they're done and practice them every so often so I don't lose them. Or something.
Week Two was all about learning chords. I learned C major and G7. I can now play both practice pieces (a simple "here, practice some chord changes" piece and a vast oversimplification of the Ode to Joy theme) by heart. They are nice and easy.
That's about all there is to say on Week Two really.
Concepts
Chords: F
Pieces
Good Evening Friends
O When The Saints Go Marching In
My practice routine should probably now go something like this:
Chord Practice
C, G7, F, with both hands
Pieces
Run through O When the Saints and Good Evening Friends
Gavotte - LH and RH practice
Queen Mab - LH and RH practice
In a few days, I'll probably check out how I'm doing on the Gavotte and Queen Mab and maybe give them a go hands together.
One thing I did notice was that week 2 all on its own was getting really boring, to the point where it was starting to become difficult to stay engaged. So I decided to mix it up a little.
Now, I've still been working through Lesson 2 all week, and playing the pieces and chords from Lesson 2 every day like a good girl. But I also decided that the best way to keep myself interested would be to give myself a bit of a challenge.
To that end, I decided I was going to learn some actual pieces of music. The idea was to start with stuff that made me think that I couldn't play it and, well, learn to play it. I certainly knew how to play stuff once, even if I was never all that great (I passed Grade 1, but decided afterwards that I didn't need extra exams in my life).
So in the course of the week I have picked up a couple of pieces which I'm slowly learning to play.
The idea is that I'm going to try to learn two pieces at a time: one that accompanies a voice or another instrument, and one that's a solo piece. This will hopefully mean I end up reasonably versatile in what I can play.
My accompanist piece is Gavotte for bassoon and piano by Michael Rose. My dad's a bassoonist, so this makes sense. It's a bit tricky in places, but not too bad for my (admittedly non-amazing) skill.
My solo piece is Queen Mab from Forest Fantasies by Walter Carroll. It's very short, but it's also pretty, and about the right level of challenge.
I'm at the "practice hands separately" stage of learning for both of thee pieces. The advice I've found in my piano book and online suggests this is the best way, and to only start playing hands together when you've learned both hands on their own.
I'll add these to my "repertoire" when they're done and practice them every so often so I don't lose them. Or something.
Week Two was all about learning chords. I learned C major and G7. I can now play both practice pieces (a simple "here, practice some chord changes" piece and a vast oversimplification of the Ode to Joy theme) by heart. They are nice and easy.
That's about all there is to say on Week Two really.
Concepts
Chords: F
Pieces
Good Evening Friends
O When The Saints Go Marching In
My practice routine should probably now go something like this:
Chord Practice
C, G7, F, with both hands
Pieces
Run through O When the Saints and Good Evening Friends
Gavotte - LH and RH practice
Queen Mab - LH and RH practice
In a few days, I'll probably check out how I'm doing on the Gavotte and Queen Mab and maybe give them a go hands together.
