Almost done with the piece; here's the last phrase I've been working on this week. Still some work to do but it's coming along.

I just generally feel like my polyrhythm in the first phrase could be improved.. it's not a super clean triplet subdivision compared to the eighth notes.. the biggest challenge for the first 8 bars was the LH. I changed some fingerings slightly compared to how I first learned them to improve ergonomics and it helps!! I can still feel my brain trying to autopilot to the old fingerings if I'm not careful but it's getting there.

Tricky from 0:14- the crossover at the top in the LH for the first arpeggio is a little big for my hand; I considered changing the fingering but it's not painful so I figured I might as well practice some bigger crossovers. The next C major arpeggio is 5 4 2 1 which I am NOT used to and it shows. And the jumps between the octaves and triplets are just.. a lot.. This phrase is actually supposed to accelerate but I haven't really implemented it yet.. The huge peak with the chord at 0:23 is chef's kiss man, that RESOLUTION!!

I'm technically supposed to switch hands for the arpeggio at 0:23 at some point to the RH but 1) I've played it this way since the beginning and more importantly 2) this particular chord is way easier on my LH than my RH so it just doesn't really make sense to switch hands for me. It's also a major work in progress lol.. I love the broken chord at 0:27, it is the most comfortable position for my hands to roll chords and it is so easy to roll and so CRISP and beautiful..

Then we return to the very first phrase of the piece; it's exactly the same so it's just copy paste. The difference starts subtly around 1:04 (with another chord I cannot hit fully but we won't discuss that right now)- the chord shifts ever so slightly for the peak at 1:05.

The phrase from 1:08 is rubato and supposed to be REALLY rubato but.. I'm still working on the technique for the subsequent downward scale in both hands so I'm taking it more vanilla for now. The scale is OKAY now that I've put in a few reps but my LH tends to get tangled on the last few notes for some reason even though it's THE SAME DANG THING ALL THE WAY DOWN..... I'm thinking it might be related to my body position as the arms and hands move down?? It's a work in progress. If I focus on my LH then it's fine but once I stop babysitting then of course, it will get tripped up. But aside from that the challenge here was going from sextuplets to septuplets; not only am I not used to septuplets, but the combination of the subdivision change compounded by the frickin' downward scale in BOTH HANDS on BLACK KEYS just... sigh..... you know how I said that one bar in a previous post with the RH descending in sextuplets was the hardest bar in this piece for me? I amend my statement: that one's second hardest. THIS one is the hardest..... but really the challenge factor is moreso the technique/physicality of it. Polyrhythm is just a matter of getting used to it once you learn it.

If you know the original piece, you will recognize 1:22 as the opening phrase for the piano part!! The original piece goes faster compared to this arrangement but it is there... the og... honestly the first time I was reading through this piece and got to this point and recognized it I wanted to CRY LOL this arranger does this in other arrangements, too; she never references the original piece's piano part until the very end... for maximum angst probably which is on brand for me so it works out.

This recorded phrase isn't even that long but I HAD A LOT TO SAY, there was a lot to work on!! I did take a full take, albeit with some mistakes, for fun- this recording is actually snipped from that because my isolated recordings were awful.. honestly, no piece will ever be perfect to me since there is always something you can improve or interpret differently and so on and so forth, but I'm feeling pretty good about this piece overall so far. Granted I DID already learn it before thoroughly, but still. I think I've definitely elevated it from that first time!

(Now I'm thinking about FFXV while listening to the original piece and just.... big emo..............)