Well this week I went to Billy Hyde and picked up a few books that will come in handy for me. The first one my teacher recommended for me is 'A Dozen a Day.' This book is to help me to excercise and strengthen my fingers as well as my sight reading and timing. It has 12 excercises that you can practice each day before you start any of your technical work, so I think this will be a useful book.
The other books I purchased are called Jazzin' Around book 1 and 2 by Kieren Bailey. Book 2 has a couple of pieces in them which I am allowed to play for my grade 2 exam. They are Two Part Intentions, and The Little Song. I'm wanting to branch out a little from the classical and do something a little more up beat. I have heard both of these pieces and they both are really swingin' tunes. Just a matter of which one I can play better.
The final book is called Getting to Grade 2, by Elissa Milne. The syllabus has this book listed with around 8 pieces for list A and a couple from list C. It comes with a CD which I have had a listen to. A couple of them stand out to me, again it seems like the swinging upbeat ones catch my attention, I will have to have a few more listens and then make a decision so I can make a start on them.
So with all these new pieces of sheet music to work with I have decided, so far, that from my series 15 booklet I will do from List A- Menuet (from Clavierbuchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach). For this week I have to practice the first 8 bars with only the left hand.
For List B- A little flower (by Cornelius Gurlitt). I am to practice the first 4 bars this week using both hands together.
For List C- Miniature Prelude and Miniature Fugue (from Five Miniature Preludes and Fugues) by Alec Rowley. I have to practice the first 4 bars from the prelude and the first 4 and half bars for the fugue with both hands together. My teacher felt that it would be better for me to learn these three pieces all at the same time but at a slow pace so one is not better than the others and vice versa, and once I choose my other two open pieces then we will start on those as well.
For my technical work I have some new scales to learn. In the Majors I have to learn F. In the Harmonic Minors I have to learn E,B & D and for the Melodic Minors I have to learn A & E. I have to learn some new contrary motion scales which are D,A and F Major and E & D Harmonic Minor. Some new arpeggios are also on the agenda. Broken Chord G Major and E Minor. Anyway a busy week for me this week.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Whoo Hoo!!! Goal Acheived
I had my piano lesson today and received the result of my exam. I passed with a B. I am over the moon. I thought I did OK but a B is more than I could ask for. My teacher presented me with the examiners notes and my certificate. We read through it and I could pretty much say that it reflected what I felt had happened in my last blog. I was a bit disappointed with my melody because I just got a big cross which meant I didn't do any of it right but I kind of knew that. Just thought I might have at least got the first couple of notes right. Anyway overall I am stoked.
The one thing that stood out the most is that my tone, (light and shade) needed more work. This, I feel would be much improved if I were playing on a piano instead of a keyboard, but I think I did well considering that I do only play a keyboard and not a piano. One day I am hoping that this will be different, but for now I have to work with what I have.
My teacher and I took a look at the Second grade syllabus and worked out basically what I might like to do. I have the Grade 2 series 15 booklet, so I picked my list A, B, & C pieces, and I have two open pieces that I can do. I have chosen to do a Jazz piece which I really liked the sound of, and the second open piece I haven't decided on yet. They have quite a lot to choose from so I will have to have a listen to a few before I make a decision. Anyway its a great feeling knowing even though I'm a stay at home mum I can still set myself some personal goals and achieve much more than I ever dreamed, regardless of whether anyone thinks its worth anything or not.
I want to thank my old teacher Gwen and my new teacher Maria, for their great guidance and teaching. Without them I would not have thought this at all possible for me to do. Their encouragement and ability to see some potential in me gave me a lot of hope, I just pray that I can continue to work to the standard that will represent all their hard work that they invest in me.
The one thing that stood out the most is that my tone, (light and shade) needed more work. This, I feel would be much improved if I were playing on a piano instead of a keyboard, but I think I did well considering that I do only play a keyboard and not a piano. One day I am hoping that this will be different, but for now I have to work with what I have.
My teacher and I took a look at the Second grade syllabus and worked out basically what I might like to do. I have the Grade 2 series 15 booklet, so I picked my list A, B, & C pieces, and I have two open pieces that I can do. I have chosen to do a Jazz piece which I really liked the sound of, and the second open piece I haven't decided on yet. They have quite a lot to choose from so I will have to have a listen to a few before I make a decision. Anyway its a great feeling knowing even though I'm a stay at home mum I can still set myself some personal goals and achieve much more than I ever dreamed, regardless of whether anyone thinks its worth anything or not.
I want to thank my old teacher Gwen and my new teacher Maria, for their great guidance and teaching. Without them I would not have thought this at all possible for me to do. Their encouragement and ability to see some potential in me gave me a lot of hope, I just pray that I can continue to work to the standard that will represent all their hard work that they invest in me.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Did the best I could
Last Thursday I had another practice session at my piano teachers home. I feel that I am getting use to the feel of the piano keys now and actually prefer them more than my keyboard. I practiced all of my scales, my contrary motion scales, broken chords, chromatics, and my three chosen pieces. My teacher so generously asked if I would like to do some aural testing as well. We went over my theory notes for each piece and that was it. I really felt that it had helped me, immensely, having these few practice sessions. I practiced again that night until 11:15pm and again in the morning of my exam day, being Friday.
It seemed like the whole morning I was just a ball of adrenaline. My thoughts were only on doing this exam and my nerves were showing it. I made my way to the exam venue and I had no idea what the exact time was but I knew I had some time before I had to go in, so I parked my car and studied my theory notes for the last time. When the time had come closer I decided to go in, as I needed to be 10 minutes early to get my name marked off and to receive my exam sheet to give to the examiner.
It wasn't long until I got called in. My heart started thumping so fast. I sat down and tried to calm myself, but it just wasn't happening. So I thought to myself, 'Oh well, I'll just have to play through it like I did in my lessons,' and that is exactly what I did. With hands shaking profusely I went through my scales, and surprisingly I hit the right notes. I was so happy but still had to keep a level head. All the technical stuff was complete, now for the pieces.
Skachka was my first piece, and I felt like my shaking fingers would just give up on me, I made a slight mistake, but just played on and completed it. With an inward sigh of relief I tried to compose myself again. The examiner requested my next piece, which was Les Plaintes D'une Poupee. I asked him if I could just have a second to get my head together. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest, but I couldn't calm down.
I began my piece, all started well, but I tried not to get carried away, I just stayed focused. I made a little mistake, but I remembered what my teacher said and just played on without stopping. When I played the last note of this song, I was ecstatic. It was the one that had been giving me the most trouble but today it just came together, I wouldn't say perfectly, but the flow of it was there.
Light Blue was my last piece and I feel that that one went OK too, until I got to the last couple of notes. My last triplet just stalled for a second, just enough for me to lose position for the last note. I then played it wrong and tried to fix it by playing it again and played it wrong a second time. I knew I should have just left it at the first wrong note, but something was telling me to show that I did know the note that should have been played but it didn't come out that way, but overall I was happy with it.
Next came some theory questions about my pieces. What Key are they in? What does Andantino mean? What does Molto legato mean? What are the three grouped notes called? I felt that I answered these relatively correct. Then the aural part. Sing the tonic note, which in my head sounded correct. Clap the rhythm back, which also sounded OK to me, then sing the melody. This one I don't think was that good, but my teacher said its better to sing something than nothing at all. So I gave it a go. Maybe the first half was right, but the second half I kind of ad-libed.
Some sight reading followed. I am so glad that my teacher showed me an easy way to do these, because it was taking me a long time to figure out where to put my fingers to start, but on the day, the first thing that I knew for sure was where to put my fingers to start, whether I played all the notes right, time will tell. Anyway that was the exam all done and what seemed like the longest 14 minutes ever, but I had survived and come out feeling pretty happy with my effort. I can say that I tried my best.
I now have to wait for about a week for the results and I don't know what is harder, the exam or the waiting for results. Lets hope there will be celebration and not commiseration.
It seemed like the whole morning I was just a ball of adrenaline. My thoughts were only on doing this exam and my nerves were showing it. I made my way to the exam venue and I had no idea what the exact time was but I knew I had some time before I had to go in, so I parked my car and studied my theory notes for the last time. When the time had come closer I decided to go in, as I needed to be 10 minutes early to get my name marked off and to receive my exam sheet to give to the examiner.
It wasn't long until I got called in. My heart started thumping so fast. I sat down and tried to calm myself, but it just wasn't happening. So I thought to myself, 'Oh well, I'll just have to play through it like I did in my lessons,' and that is exactly what I did. With hands shaking profusely I went through my scales, and surprisingly I hit the right notes. I was so happy but still had to keep a level head. All the technical stuff was complete, now for the pieces.
Skachka was my first piece, and I felt like my shaking fingers would just give up on me, I made a slight mistake, but just played on and completed it. With an inward sigh of relief I tried to compose myself again. The examiner requested my next piece, which was Les Plaintes D'une Poupee. I asked him if I could just have a second to get my head together. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest, but I couldn't calm down.
I began my piece, all started well, but I tried not to get carried away, I just stayed focused. I made a little mistake, but I remembered what my teacher said and just played on without stopping. When I played the last note of this song, I was ecstatic. It was the one that had been giving me the most trouble but today it just came together, I wouldn't say perfectly, but the flow of it was there.
Light Blue was my last piece and I feel that that one went OK too, until I got to the last couple of notes. My last triplet just stalled for a second, just enough for me to lose position for the last note. I then played it wrong and tried to fix it by playing it again and played it wrong a second time. I knew I should have just left it at the first wrong note, but something was telling me to show that I did know the note that should have been played but it didn't come out that way, but overall I was happy with it.
Next came some theory questions about my pieces. What Key are they in? What does Andantino mean? What does Molto legato mean? What are the three grouped notes called? I felt that I answered these relatively correct. Then the aural part. Sing the tonic note, which in my head sounded correct. Clap the rhythm back, which also sounded OK to me, then sing the melody. This one I don't think was that good, but my teacher said its better to sing something than nothing at all. So I gave it a go. Maybe the first half was right, but the second half I kind of ad-libed.
Some sight reading followed. I am so glad that my teacher showed me an easy way to do these, because it was taking me a long time to figure out where to put my fingers to start, but on the day, the first thing that I knew for sure was where to put my fingers to start, whether I played all the notes right, time will tell. Anyway that was the exam all done and what seemed like the longest 14 minutes ever, but I had survived and come out feeling pretty happy with my effort. I can say that I tried my best.
I now have to wait for about a week for the results and I don't know what is harder, the exam or the waiting for results. Lets hope there will be celebration and not commiseration.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Not long to go
Well there is now only a few days to go until my exam. The nerves are already starting to kick in. During my lesson this week, I forgot my D minor scale fingering. When I did it I couldnt believe that it actually happened. At this point in time, that is not something that I can have happening. I still didnt play Les plaintes d'une poupee all the way through without making any mistakes, but I did finish it through on the first go. I just cant get my head around what it is that makes my hands shake, just because someone is watching me, when I know that I have done it at home quite a few times now without making errors. I guess its the fact that I am in the spotlight and feel that anything less than perfect is no good, which may be a little unrealistic, but its what goes through my head while I'm playing.
I will be having another practice at my teachers house the day before the exam. I really enjoy playing on her piano. The keys are much quieter than my keyboard keys. My keys seem to make more racket than the sound coming from them. I noticed this when I recorded myself playing through the keyboard recorder. The abscence of the noisy keys being pushed allowed me to hear the piece properly. When Oh when will I be able to get a real piano, only God knows and boy am I praying. I guess all good things come to those who wait.............
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