Week 4: The Grand Finale 
WELCOME TO THE "A FRESH START" COMMUNITY CHALLENGE!
Embark on a musical journey with our latest challenge, "A Fresh Start". It’s time to dust off that sheet music you’ve been eyeing and dive into a brand-new piece!
CHALLENGE TIMELINE
- Challenge Start: Kick-Off on April 15th!
- Duration: April 15th to May 16th
- Watch Party: Join us on May 15th at 10 AM PST to watch selected submissions!
WEEK 4 ACTIVITIES
- Polish and Perfect: As we approach the end of the challenge, focus on refining your piece. Pay attention to dynamics, expression, and the nuances that make the music come alive.
- Final Submissions: It's showcase time! Submit your final performance video. This is your chance to shine and demonstrate how much you've learned and grown over the challenge.
WRAP-UP AND CELEBRATION
- Final Watch Party: Join us for the final watch party where we'll celebrate everyone's accomplishments and enjoy the beautiful music you've all created. Date and time to be announced soon!
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Dear friends, I must reschedule the Watch Party to May 16th at 10 am PST!
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martin Is it changed to May 15th instead? Please confirm which date is it. Thanks!
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Barney yes, 15th at 10 am!
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martin Got it, thanks!
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Sor - Le Calme Op 50 Sections D, A', and Coda
Here is another recording of the last four minutes or so of this piece. The mic was working this time, so the sound is better. Hopefully the playing is better too!
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Eric Phillips Every time I heard you play, I could really feel your love for music, very well played, Eric!
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Eric Phillips Ah, what a difference a good recording makes! In addition to the recording your playing is really beautiful. You use of different 'colors' really brings this piece to life. Great job!
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Eric Phillips as Jack noticed your sound is different than usual, looks like you're using another spot... a good improvement that highlights your great playing even more!
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Wai Jack Stewart Blaise Laflamme Thanks, guys. And yes, Wai, I do love this music!
I'm glad to hear that you like my sound. When I listen, of course, I always cringe at the sound (both of the recording and my playing sound). I just watched Brandon Acker's livestream on no-nail playing, and THAT is the sound I want!
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Eric Phillips first step.... cut off your nails! ... and post a pic please!
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Blaise Laflamme Been there done that! And just like Brandon said, I couldn't get a good sound, so I grew them back. I guess I need more patience and to change my technique if I go that route. Maybe this summer I'll give it another shot.
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Eric Phillips Oh cool... you're right about giving yourself enough time to learn the technique and produce a decent sound, that's not as simple as saying it!
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Eric Phillips wonderful playing. So musical and intense. Love it.
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joosje Thank you, Joosje!
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Sor - Le Calme Op 50 (May 7)
I know I just posted yesterday, but I had a couple hours of unexpected practice time today. I decided to see if I could play the whole thing from beginning to end without the score, and it turns out I can. Plenty of mistakes still and much room for improvement, but at least I didn't go flying off the tracks (although I came close in the D section).
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Eric Phillips That's really impressive, Eric. He really knows how to tell a story and it's been interesting to see how this has developed. I'm curious if material like this is something you'll keep up with and keep working on or will you move on to other things? I sometimes feel obligated to keep material current that I've worked hard on to learn so I find myself spread too thin occasionally. And that's considering I don't play 10-minute pieces.
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Steve Price Thanks Steve. Not sure what I'll do. I always have the best of intentions about keeping a piece in my "ready to play" category, but then reality hits and I move on. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do on this one before I would consider it to be at "performance level" even for me. I do really love it, and in an ideal world, I'll keep it up.
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Eric Phillips impressive indeed. Inspiring piece and rally great job, practicing, developing musical intensity, and memorising. I think it’s worthwhile to keep beautiful pieces of this quality and length in your hands over a longer period. Mixing with a new piece and some you’ve been playing before. So you have some programme of 30 - 40 minutes ready for a concert, or just enjoy challenging your musical stamina. ….
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joosje Thank you, Joosje! As much as I love Sor, I actually have nothing of his committed to my long-term memory. For some reason, Tarrega and Villa-Lobos are much easier for me to retain.
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Eric Phillips Wow, Eric! This was excellent! Bravo on the playing and stamina.
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Barney Thank you, Barney. It's funny, but since recording this, I have played all the way through it many times, and the problem of stamina diminishes a lot the more I play it.
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Eric Phillips wow Eric, what a monumental feat to be able to play such a long piece and so beautifully. It'd take me months to get past 3 minutes of that piece with some sort of competence.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thank you, Nijwm. Like most of us, I tend to play shorter pieces, but there is something very satisfying about the story that can be told with a longer piece of music. Of course, by the standards of piano repertoire, this piece would be considered short.
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Eric Phillips That's really interesting Eric. Right now, I'm someone who's just scratching the surface of classical music's history and heritage, currently looking at classical guitar repertoire in tiny bits and pieces, picking out things that strike an emotional chord in me. That's why my current obsession with Barrios whose music is so soulful and emotional. Having said that, his music draws so much on his rich cultural ancestry.
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Stravinsky's Les Cinq Doigts - Andantino, Lento, Allegretto, and Larghetto
This will be my final take on these. A couple of others in the set are doable on guitar but not by me at this point. Two others I'm not sure how they would work. The piano score is really dense and the transcriptions I've seen call for things like drastic alternate tunings and string mutes.
Thanks to the community for all the feedback and encouragement on this challenge.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
