I recorded this a couple of weeks ago and was lukewarm about it at best, but I haven’t returned to it since, so… I guess we’re gonna have to live with it! Here is the full version of “Lazy Afternoons”!! Listen during golden hour for the optimal listening experience (probably? This claim has no scientific backing). I played this with the top open, so hopefully the sound is a little more full compared to the usual.

Detailed Analysis

I’ve posted most of this piece already, so as usual, not too many comments on the portions I’ve covered in more detail before… I tried to improve my dynamics in the opening phrase (and overall, of course)- I hope it shows? I’m quite happy with how my LH rolled chords turned out at 0:55!! I started out playing them too tightly and that caused them to sound rushed and crunchy, but I think these looser rolls helped open up the sound. Reviewing now, the RH octave chord at 1:32 emphasized the middle note too much instead of the actual octave, whoops. I messed up during the phrase at 1:40 SO MANY TIMES lol I was basically not breathing during this take. The broken chord at 1:45 actually ended up smoothing out on its own considerably, which was really nice! It’s a huge chord for me so I was resigned to just having it be lackluster, but over time my hands adjusted. Muscle memory, baybee!! I think overall, this first big chunk was pretty strong and I’m happy with how it came out.

Still a lot to be desired for voicing at 1:50, but I guess it sounds better than the last post, so I’ll take it. LH is a little wobbly around 2:15, but I did a good job of transferring the voicing at 2:17 if I do say so myself. My favorite part to play is probably the part at 2:20!! There are some fun arpeggios that I had to work for a bit, like at 2:22, but it’s so satisfying to play and hear. Nailed the LH chords at 2:27 for the first time in my life, and on camera, no less. Nice transition for voicing in the RH at 2:35… Wait, listening to this… it’s not half bad… interesting… My error is missing the top note of the LH octave at 2:42 LOL I do NOT know how that happened! I winced but I carried on… (This ended up being the first take of many. It always ends up being the first take of many.)

I think the last post stopped around 2:49. There’s a subtle drop in energy for a bit as we build up to the final climax in the piece, though I could’ve done a better job with the whole build up. I wish I didn’t accent the top final note in the RH at 2:59… you can literally hear how my mind processes that arpeggio here, punctuating that string of notes at the end. From 3:00, it’s a lot of rolling, lush arpeggios, with one last hurrah at 3:10. I had to make an effort to keep the momentum going because I have a tendency to slow down during phrases like this. The RH chord at 3:21 is SO HARD to play cleanly- my hand is already in constant motion and then I have to hit THREE NOTES AT ONCE? Bro, please… my lack of technique… anyway, I did try to clean this spot up, but clearly it did not come through on camera. Oh well.

3:39 was the SINGLE MOST TERRIFYING BEAT in this entire arrangement LOL, OCTAVE SIXTEENTHS? IN THIS HOUSE? Please, I am only human. I was praying the entire time that I wouldn’t botch a decent take in the last 20 seconds… got lucky with this one. Overall a big fan of this closing phrase; it sounds rather regal, don’t you think? I added a drop in dynamics for the final chord for some Flavor.

Thoughts on the Learning Process

I went into this underestimating the piece a bit, but it wasn’t anything wildly difficult. I definitely could’ve polished this up further, but I didn’t have enough drive to do so- it sounded okay enough to me where I was content to leave it like this. I also wasn’t overflowingly passionate about this piece- yes, I like the piece, and yes, the arrangement is nice, and yes, Roxas is my SON, but it definitely doesn’t evoke the same emotional response as, say, “Those Who Fight”… but, I certainly liked this arrangement enough to finish it. “Those Who Fight” just evokes an abnormal amount of emotion from me. Nothing wrong with “Lazy Afternoons”, I promise. I also just have a hard time evoking emotions in general lately, but that’s neither here nor there. Is this TMI? It’s probably TMI. Anyway.

The most “difficult” part was probably that middle section with the constant sixteenth notes; the tempo isn’t that fast, per se, but it’s hard to make everything sound even while respecting the voicing with my shoddy technique. But as I’ve mentioned before, I quite like these arpeggio patterns (when they’re not going crazy fast) so this section was probably the most fun to learn, too. And, honestly, I’m pretty happy with how it came out. Doesn’t sound nearly as terrible as I was remembering, which is gratifying.

There was never a point where something felt unmanageable (even those octave sixteenths at the end weren’t the worst I’ve weathered), which was nice… I think part of the reason that I was able to learn this properly in its entirety was because it was so manageable. It was a good piece to start with for trying to build my learning/playing momentum again. Some parts definitely were too big for my hands so they didn’t sound as nice as they could have, but I wasn’t too torn up. Like, what can I do!! I acknowledge my physical limits. Sometimes.

Also I memorized the second half of the piece, but not the first. Not too surprised since the first half is sightplayable, while the second half isn’t ;)

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

It’s… been a very long time since I properly learned a piece like this. I think this actually might be the first one I’ve learned since January of this year (not counting “Those Who Fight” because that’s just… it’s a long story), which makes me kinda sad, but also, I’m glad I was able to see this through to the end. I feel like this is a milestone that helps me find move on from the darker days of the first half of this year lol.

This is a piece I’ve always held near and dear to my heart, so it was nice to be able to finally learn and play it. I was able to destress successfully playing this, and I got one of those “sounding good!” comments from Umma, so that’s a win for sure. Not quite sure what to learn next aside from chipping away at “Racing Into the Night”… we’ll see where the keys take me next.