Class started with me mentioning to my teacher that I can identify and locate the major and minor 7th, but I can’t quite shape my hands on the chords instantly yet and will need more time. So he is holding off on going over dominant 7ths this week. I still played through circle of 5ths and major and minor 7ths for him though and he agrees I need to keep studying it. I think this week I will break up the 7ths into smaller chunks and try to memorize the shape better, rather than as a whole.
I played Hanon #2 hands together at 60bpm but did fall behind a little bit, so for this week I will work on getting it faster.
I tried Fly Me to the Moon at 100bpm on the grand piano, but couldn’t quite get it there, so we lowered the metronome and I played through it. Afterwards he gave me an option to continue practicing another week to get it there in terms of speed or to try the next version which is a lot more difficult. I think if I really drilled myself 100 is fine, so I said I think we can move on. So, we take a look at a different version of with grace notes and swing rhythm. So for this week I will be working on just the RH on this new version, slowly in chunks.
I played the Minuet assignment, 1st half hands together at 60 and 2nd part hands separately. For this week I will practice the entire piece hands together and also add some pedal.
He had me show the blue scales 2 octave with the chord change on descend, which was ok. So, this week I am introduced to 4 new chords that he wants me to memorize; eventually get to a point where I can play the chords while holding a conversation. He also introduced me to the app I REAL PRO and said it’s great to play with, especially if I get tired of practicing with just the metronome. The 4 chords are Cm7, Cm6, Dm7b5, and G7. I will be using Softly as in a Morning Sunrise as the piece, but only playing the chord changes.
I think between nerves and just not getting the transition from practicing at home solely on a Roland FP-30X and then jumping to the Kawai grand once a week adds a level of anxiety to my performance during the lesson and I don’t nail it as well as I imagine it would go. In any case, must continue to practice and drill even more. I think when I get to a point I feel comfortable with practice and piece on my own digital piano, I need to take it up another notch to compensate for then performing it on an acoustic piano and having better results.
Just My Things... 