Basic Christmas tracks

 In addition to the songs I had learnt from Smallwood’s Piano Tutor, I have spent the last few months learning basic arrangements of ‘Silent Night,’ ‘Carol of the Bells,’ ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas,’ and ‘Deck the Halls’. I have also picked up Nancy and Randall Faber’s arrangement of Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’ from Performance Book 3A (which I have not bought) and haltingly picked up Christian Petzold’s ‘Minuet in G Major’ BWV Anhang 114 from Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach.

My halting, unsmooth playing has re-inforced my idea that I need to learn the basics better. So I have bought Jane Magrath’s Masterwork Classics Level 1-2. I had also bought Yiruma’s Solo but realised it is way beyond my level.

I shall spend the next few months (and I devote increasingly less time to the piano nowadays because I get caught up in a lot of other work) to the Masterwork Classics book to see if I can increase the smoothness of my playing.

ABRSM Aural Trainer app

 Today I bought my first mobile app ever—the iOS ABRSM 1-5 aural trainer. I have realised I cannot figure out if a song’s pulse is 2, 3, 4 or some other beat. I also cannot identify which key/pitch a sound is in. Maybe this app will help me to understand it.

A preliminary look shows me it gives me the answer of whether a song’s pulse is 2 or some other beat but if I cannot understand it, the answer does not actually show where the beats are.

ABRSM Discovering Music Theory workbook 2

 Today I completed doing this. It has exercises on the minor scale in which I have not played any pieces yet. I think before starting the 3rd workbook, I should perhaps increase my skill set to play ABRSM Grade 2 level-pieces in the minor scale.

End of tutored lessons

I have ended my sessions with my tutor. I am unable to follow a metronome and hence cannot play a lot of songs in absolute correct pulse. I was not particularly fascinated with my tutor’s teaching methods. So I have decided that I shall progress at my own slow pace focussing on an outline of my own making. Let’s see how that turns out.

I have also realised I have a poor sense of pulse. In the ABRSM aural test clapping exercise (as demonstrated in YouTube videos), I often cannot figure out where the beats are and whether they are in 2 time or 3 time or 4 time.

Moreover, I also have a poor sense of pitch. In the ABRSM aural test echoing exercise, I absolutely cannot figure out what the chord is and what the starting pitch is.

So, there is a lot that I need to work on myself before I can take lessons. Which is why I have decided to terminate my lessons with a tutor. 

12 major keys

After a four week-gap of no piano practice owing to some non-musical issues, I have completed learning the scales of all the 12 major keys— C, G, D, A, E, B, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb. Other than B, Db and Gb, I can also play the scales in contrary motion.

My favourite piano pieces

Classical and Ragtime: https://music.amazon.in/user-playlists/5002fd2ac953479a9cb72b432edced24i8n0?ref=dm_sh_94j8JHIJI5b9xNBYsv5g8ExOi

Obviously, the earlier pieces were written for the harpsichord or the fortepiano but now they are mostly played on the piano.

• François Couperin 1668-1733 Le tic-toc-choc ou les maillotins
• Christian Petzold 1677-1733  Minuet in G major, BWV Anh 114
• JS Bach 1685-1750 The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846/1
• Haydn 1732-1809 Piano Sonata No. 50 in D major, Hob. XVI:37: I: Allegro
• Mozart 1756-1791 Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, Op. 6. No. 2, K. 331, "Alla Turca"
• Mozart 1756-1791 Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545, "Semplice"
• Beethoven 1770-1827 Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, Für Elise
• Beethoven 1770-1827 Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op.2 No. 1
• Beethoven 1770-1827 Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27. No. 2, "Moonlight"
• Beethoven 1770-1827 Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
• Friedrich Burgmuller 1806-1874 Opus 100, No. 2, Arabesque
• Chopin 1810-1849 Nocturne, B. 49
• Chopin 1810-1849 Fantasie-Impromptu, C-sharp minor, Op. 66
• Chopin 1810-1849 Valse in D-flat major, Op. 64 No. 1, "du petit chien"
• Chopin 1810-1849 Polonaise No. 6 in A-flat major, Op. 53, "Heroic"
• Chopin 1810-1849 Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2
• Chopin 1810-1849 Waltz in A minor, B. 150
• Chopin 1810-1849 Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
• Robert Schumann 1810-1856 Traümerei
• Theodore Oesten 1813-1870 Dolly's Dreaming and Awakening
• Isaac Albéniz 1860-1909 Suite española No. 1, Op. 47, B.7: V. Asturias
• Debussy 1862-1918 Claire de Lune
• Debussy 1862-1918 Preludes, Book 1, L. 117:VIII: La fille aux cheveux de lin
• Erik Satie 1866-1925 Gnossiennes I. Lent
• Scott Joplin 1868-1917 Maple Leaf Rag
• Scott Joplin 1868-1917 The Entertainer

Piano versions of other instruments: https://music.amazon.in/user-playlists/439177cd608140c4869c00c908e892e5i8n0?ref=dm_sh_zWtoHDczukz4Ohd1o1XYpBBRp

Handel (1685-1759), Suite No. 7, G minor, HWV 432, Passacaglia (Piano version by J. Halvorsen)

Piano sonatas recorded by the composer: https://music.amazon.in/user-playlists/d9ee3645ad9042328f107284c4f82d34i8n0?ref=dm_sh_p8KuZFeABWM5bB0FnCpXNlMGF

Piano sonatas by Yann Tiersen (b. 1970) used in the movie Amélie

An artist I have discovered recently: Yiruma (b. 1978): https://music.amazon.in/albums/B099KQQ64C?ref=dm_sh_UvBlHPDVwiQC1QswNJGCtDHeL

Performance anxiety?

 I usually try and practice all my pieces every day. I mostly perform them all right. However, when I go to my teacher's house for 30 minutes per week, I often stumble and play the wrong notes. Is it because I am playing on an instrument (a Harry Hobbs upright acoustic piano) that is not mine (a Yamaha digital piano)? Or is it because of performance anxiety?