February Piano Update

Hi again! February went fast, it doesn’t seem that long since I was writing about my January Piano update.

I’ll share the video with you which will tell you what I’ve been up to on the piano last month. I’ll put some commentary below just in case you prefer to read it.

Time spent practising:

64 hours and 14 minutes

This was 4 and a half hours more than January. Good going seeing as February has fewer days, too. This is due to my husband having two weeks off work for half-term. I was able to practice twice a day instead of just once – he was able to watch the toddler for a bit. It was brilliant.

Finished Pieces:

I’m still going hard on the grade 6 pieces! I’m starting to get used to the level and they don’t seem quite as daunting. My goal is to do six pieces from this grade before moving on to grade 7, so I need to finish 4 more.

As of now, the 6 pieces I’ve picked are:

• Schumann – Einsamen Blumen
• Ben Crosland – View from a Window
• Kuhlau – Allegro
• Debussy – Page D’album
• Christian Hartmann – Nocturne
• Mendelssohn – Venetian Gondola Song Op.19 No.6 

I feel like I should also pick another A piece as I’ve got mostly B pieces on this list.

Schumann – Einsamen Blumen (Grade 6)

I finished this! I didn’t expect to have finished it but managed it. Just needed to work on the speed and got to it pretty quickly. I panicked at the end of the recording and almost messed the final chords up!

Ben Crosland – View from a Window (Grade 6)

I finished this piece, too! I’ve not published the video yet but will do it soon. This piece was frustrating as I really struggled with the section on the third page. It’s quite a long piece, so recording it was a nightmare. One of my weaknesses is struggling to play longer songs. When recording, I finally got past a part I was struggling with and messed up immediately after out of panic. I ended up just recording from the place and editing the two clips together because I was so done.

I’m a bit disappointed in myself but at the same time, I didn’t want to waste more time getting the perfect take.

Bach Prelude in C Minor (Grade 4)

I finished and recorded this! Like this piece! There’s a lot of debate about the tempo but I am happy with how I decided to play it.

Plauderei – Theodor Kirchner (Grade 5)

This is a piece I learnt 2 years ago and decided it’s time to refresh! I love this piece so much. I’ve not published it yet but I will soon. There is a clip of it in the February Piano Progress Update video.

Last Of Us

I love this piece! It was a long one for me though and it was hard for my small hands. My hands often felt tired

Departure – Max Ritcher

This is a piece I did for the sight reading challenge, but I managed it in just an hour! This is a lovely and simple piece. It felt very satisfying to get done so quickly.

Zelda’s Lullaby

This started out as a sightreading study but then I went on to finish it and record the full thing. It took longer than I expected due to the jumps in it.

Current Pieces

Kuhlau – Allegro (Grade 6)

The scale runs in this are a real challenge, The rest of the piece is pretty simple and easy to play. I need to do a lot of work on the scales here. I sometimes get them but when I play the full thing, I always mess up.

Debussy – Page D’album (Grade 6)

This is my new grade 6 piece that I’m working on. It’s not too hard but I need to speed it up now. My first Debussy!

Christian Hartmann – Nocturne (Grade 6)

This isn’t easy, but my – what a beautiful nocturne. The challenge with this piece is that there are 3 voices and the middle voice needs to be played sometimes with left and sometimes with the right hand. Trying to decide which would be best is going to take some time.

Je te laisserai de mots – Patrick Watson

I started this for a sight reading challenge and decided to learn the full thing!

I’m really happy with my pianoing in February. I don’t think March will be as good. I won’t have enough time but I hope to get a few more pieces recorded.