This was the first full year where I’ve tried to maintain a blog with regularity, so I thought it’d be nice to look back at everything I’ve tried my hands at this year and maybe look ahead to next year, too.

Metrics

• Total music blog posts from 2020: 26

• # of unique pieces played: 14

• # of pieces previously learned before 2020: 2

• # of pieces completed (with full takes on blog): 8

• # of collaborations: 2

Of 14 pieces I started, I have 8 of them with proper full takes… if we include Noct’s theme and “Stand Your Ground” as spiritually complete, then we can round up to 10. 10 of 14.. not ideal, but not too bad, I guess.

26 posts means I averaged about one post every two weeks, but if you review the archive, there were months where I was more active (less depressed) which made up for the months where I was less active (more depressed). But, biweekly is pretty good for me! I’m happy with that.

I also had the opportunity to do a couple of collaborations with Alvin, which were super cool!

Best/Most/Favorite

• Favorite piece learned musically: Shadowlord

• Most fun during learning: Stand Your Ground

• Favorite phrases learned:

  • Shadowlord - RH arpeggio

  • Stand Your Ground - ascending RH octaves with descending LH bass line

  • 1000 Words - bar where melody is seamlessly handed off between RH and LH

• Most challenging phrases learned:

  • Shadowlord - RH arpeggio

  • Stand Your Ground - RH arpeggios with LH octave chords at the beginning

  • 1000 Words - bar where melody is seamlessly handed off between RH and LH, and also this one chord in the RH in the final appearance of the melody

  • Tender Strength - all the jumps in the climax with the triplets in the LH

• Best performed pieces (on camera): Shadowlord & Tender Strength

• Best learning experience: tie between Stand Your Ground and 1000 Words…

Thoughts on Progress

Honestly, I don’t feel like I improved too much technically this year. I think my musicality has improved a bit, and that I am better able to hear my flaws when playing, but I still lack the technique needed to bridge that gap. “1000 Words” was actually a pretty important step in my journey this year; I was able to practice phrasing a lot with this piece, and it was a big exercise in helping me become more attuned to the musicality side of playing.

Goals for 2021

The one piece I want to revisit and complete is Xion’s theme. Aside from that, we’ll see what I end up learning… I’ll continue to read through the books I have, and also pick up some smaller pieces if something catches my fancy, much like what happened this year. It would also be cool to do more collaborations! Hopefully in person once things are safe… eventually…

I hope that by this time next year, I can look back at my playing of the past year and feel more sure of myself in improvement. This year was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of what I learned, what with revisiting a couple of pieces and just hitting and running a TON of other pieces… I don’t want to stress myself out as a hobbyist and force things like STRUCTURE, but maybe that’s what I need a little of right now. But, I’m glad that I kept up with this blog this entire year, and I’m proud of myself for the pieces that I did learn during 2020. Onwards to 2021!