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August 8
To start this off, here's a little walk-and-talk through the piece.
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Eric Phillips didn't know this piece or the Opus, we definitely recognize Sor's harmonic progressions and melodic development. Nice discovery Eric and thank you for sharing your progress... until the next challenge
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, Blaise. It is a very "Sor-esque" piece.
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Eric Phillips What a charming piece! Will you practice all 6 of them? I found that "Practice Diary" is very suitable for posting longer pieces or suites. It would be very engaging if we could take a journey into Sor's musical realm with you.
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Wai I have thought of that, but I’ll check out the other pieces in the opus.
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August 9
Here's is an update after the second day. It's a first take, so plenty of mistakes. As usual, it's the B section (in D major) that needs the most work.
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August 10
I listened carefully to the video I made yesterday and identified the problem spots. I then practiced those spots like crazy. I'm feeling a bit frustrated right now, because they don't seem to get any better. It's a feeling I have a lot, sort of like, "Well, I guess this is as good as it gets." I don't know how to get over this hump.
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Eric Phillips hard to say until you tell us what they are. But usually when you focus on details it takes more time to get assimilated. At least to me they get resolved with short practices over a longer period of time as opposed to long practices over a short period of time, like it has to be slowly integrated.
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Blaise Laflamme I know, but I’m not patient!
There are lots of little things that need to be better, but the biggest thing is getting the B section (in D major) to be legato, with the awkward fingerings and shifts required by the music.
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Eric Phillips I hear you! I struggle with the same thing, playing legato is a long term life goal!
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August 10 (afternoon)
Okay, I know it's a little weird posting two updates on the same day, but I had a pretty good practice session with this in the afternoon, and so I just wanted to record it. Naturally, the quality of my playing came down a little once I hit the record button.
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August 11
This morning, I did a lot of very slow practice, focusing on the problematic measures, but also on the entire piece. (I did not, however, go quite as slowly as Jack Stewart likes to practice.)
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Eric Phillips That was very good, Eric. This version seems more confident than the previous recording. I hear definite improvement.
BTW, I just listened to Manuel Barrueco's version. He seems to use rubato and tonal variation more freely. Also Norbert Craft increases the tempo in the B section which I thought was effective.
BTW2, I practice slower because I'm older.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I’ve listened to Barrueco, and it’s great. I haven’t heard Craft’s, so I’ll have to look that one up. I’ve heard a couple versions on period instruments, which is always nice to hear. I also like Judith Bunk’s version, and watching her video gave me some good thoughts about fingerings.
And you may be older (not by much), but your slow practice method shows how much wiser you are.
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August 14
I haven't posted an update of this in a few days. This performance is far from perfect, but I'll probably make this my final posting of this piece (at least for now).
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
