October 2, 2019--Practice Blog

Kind of a tough day. I have two classes of Music Appreciation which are made up partially of athletes who think it will be an easy elective for them to graduate. And of course, I am currently make them listen to opera--Verdi's Rigoletto today--Questo e Quella and Bella Figlia. I had four students tell me they had to leave class early so they could attend a "signing" of an incoming athlete. If you have never heard of these, this is where the incoming student signs a piece of paper pledging to attend the university in front of the media with the other players standing in the background. Yes, they were going to leave class early so they could stand in the background of a photo opportunity. Needless to say, I was a little cranky the rest of the day and wish I had more time to practice so that I could take out some of the frustrations with music.

I only had a bit of time today to practice, so I tried to use it wisely. Piano: fixed a couple little sections of Debussy's Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum from Children's Corner. This piece is a piece of music about a composer making fun of finger exercises. Need fast fingers for it, but it is in an impressionistic style. There is a recording of Debussy playing it on a player piano during his life on YouTube, which is very eye opening.

I have been trying to get the lightness of touch heard in this recording.

Also spent time working on the middle section of Golliwog's Cakewalk. Debussy is making fun of Richard Wagner here, putting the famous Tristan theme into a ragtime piece. I was working on memory in this section as it constantly changes harmonies and doesn't seem to want to stick in my memory.

On the organ, i only was able to get about a half hour of practice time between two choir rehearsals. I spent all the time trying to get Bach's In Dir ist Freude back in my fingers for the Secrets of Organ Playing Contest this week.

And that's it. I am looking forward to tomorrow as there is quite a bit more time to practice. I do have choir rehearsals: one with a high school choir around noon and the college choir at 5. Two concerts coming up with these groups in the next couple of days.

On the picture, I just had this piece opened up on my piano today and it is making me excited to start working on it again. Two weeks....