Here’s a progress update from this past weekend, which will be exactly two weeks after the previous post. I didn’t make as much progress as I would’ve liked, but I think I did make some sufficient progress, and this will be a good point to analyze where I am before I go any further. It’s a full take with plenty of mistakes and slowing down for newer sections, but a full take nonetheless. I’d say I’m around 60-70% of where I want to be! Volume warning, though- not sure why, but the audio for this take is really crunchy during the louder parts…

Detailed Breakdown

I started out slower in this take in an attempt to calm my nerves, but I’m pretty sure I end up bumping the tempo up a bit later on. This opening phrase is probably the weakest area now; I’ve spent a lot more time practicing the middle portions, so you can hear the holes in my playing in the beginning. I need to go back with a met and break this down again… The lower RH Fs played with 1 are too quiet at 0:08. I also tend to not accent the final “downbeat” at 0:12 before the synchronized sixteenths and then triplets in the LH; for whatever reason, missing that accent usually means a better run with the rest of the phrase, but I really don’t want to sacrifice that accent… one more thing to work on. I played deceivingly well for the rest of this phrase, especially at 0:28- for all my other takes, I kept messing up here because I just haven’t played this opening phrase in like a week lol.

My LH has improved a bit for the octaves at 0:34. Still a long way to go, and this tempo was honestly pushing it a LOT, but I just need to be patient. My left arm and hand at least feel less strained/tired after I practice the octaves, so I think I’m building stamina. Hopefully.

0:53 is still the bane of my existence! I usually play it fine, but kept messing it up in this take here. Oh well.

I took out the interval in the RH at 1:05 for now, and I think I’m gonna omit it permanently. It’s a lot easier on my hand and at that tempo, I need all the extra leeway I can get.

RH octaves sounded amazing at 1:08, definitely a fluke, and especially the Db to F jump was chef’s kiss, man. Wish it sounded like that every time. The next set of octaves wasn’t bad, either.

The ethereal phrase from 1:21 is definitely better than the previous post. Currently struggling to keep the tempo up while also playing delicately and cleanly, but it’s a work in progress. I feel like I can play this a lot better in general. I played the RH part at 1:38 wrong; the middle notes in between the octaves should be moving upwards, not downwards (that comes later in a similar pattern, so my brain got confused). LH at 1:41 with the descending arpeggio and awkward crossover is remarkably manageable, thankfully. Mucked up the phrase from 1:43 a LOT in this take and I definitely need to practice it more. It’s one of those phrases that I could read through so I never really broke it down… and it shows. 1:56 is another phrase in the RH especially where I was worried, but it is extremely doable. (2:00 is the RH phrase that I got mixed up with earlier.) The arpeggio in the RH from 2:05 was not bad at all since it’s fourths in a shape that I can play comfortably, and then from 2:12 we’re finally in new territory.

The intervals at 2:12 actually have an accel, which I included in this take, but then I ended up at a tempo that was WAY too fast so I hit the brakes a bit from 2:14 lol. Mentally I was like WHOAAAAAAA THERE @ MYSELF ur wrists are going to FALL OFF!! I actually put the most work into this passage this past week; I got the met out and practiced carefully and patiently, and I think the practice paid off. For whatever reason, my LH gets cramped up more than my RH even thought my LH is just chilling with the staccato eighth notes… I think it’s just my LH being weaker in general. I am really happy with my LH from 2:23 where we start having larger interval accents followed by sixteenths. I still am trying to clean them up because it’s really hard to jump down to the sixteenths and also play them perfectly evenly with my RH… it’s pretty hit or miss for now. I think I need to start moving my fingers as I’m jumping so I can hit the ground running, but it’s hard. BUT, I know I CAN play the sixteenths evenly like at 2:33 (where there’s no jump), so maybe more practice will help with the sixteenths with the jumps? But I’ve already made them sound a lot better than when I started, so I’m not too heartbroken over this.

I got lucky with the fourths leading into 2:35 because I don’t always make that RH octave chord, and then we have some loud and dramatic chords which taper down into octaves in both hands. The higher RH octaves sound really muddy because I just can’t get the hammers to clear the strings fast enough with my octaves… it’s frustrating and I don’t know if there’s anything I can actually do about this issue. I guess it’s good enough if the accuracy is there for now. The arpeggio at 2:47 was sheer luck; I haven’t put in the practice yet, but sometimes I nail it at tempo like this. The end of the arpeggio is the hardest part because I go from 1 2 4 to 1 2 3 for the final repetition before the octave at the very top. 1 2 4 is already not exactly easy (arpeggios are… never easy for me LOL whoops), but 1 2 3 is definitely a stretch. Nonetheless, I do think it’s doable, and I’ve played it as a fluke before, so I’m sure after some TLC and practicing with the met, it should build confidence for me. Hopefully. Then we enter a transitional phrase from 2:48 where we bring the energy down for a moment before the del signo. My ornament in the RH at 2:53 is SO BAD even after some practice with the met. The 4 5 fingers are my weakest, and for some reason there’s a beat of space before my fingers will play the ornament. I don’t know why… it’s there even at slower tempos. I guess I just gotta practice more.

I’m supposed to be at pp at 3:00 for the del signo, but I don’t feel like that’s really obvious yet. My hands were pretty tired at this point, so I make mistakes and then just plow onwards LOL. 3:20 was truly a miracle until 3:24, where I finally screwed up that last jump. My right wrist and hand basically is locked up by this point from strain and I’m just brute forcing the octaves for the second time around. I’m just glad my octave accuracy is as good as it is…

3:30 is officially where the coda begins, and I definitely haven’t practiced this section yet. 3:34 has some very dramatic jumps in the LH which are fantastic, and then a descending RH arpeggio that is awkward at best and torturous at worst, but so far it hasn’t been as grievous as I’d expected… I slowed down from 3:39 so this is all pretty new still. Also missed a note in the RH sequence so I had to restart lol.

I anticipate some difficulty with 3:49 at tempo; LH has to stretch a lot for the arpeggio at the beginning so I can have an easier time at the top of it. 3:53 has another crossover in the LH which makes life 10x easier for me here.

3:58 is probably the single phrase in the entire piece that worries me the most LOL… The first two arpeggios in the LH have crossovers, and the RH is another octave + filler notes sequence, but this time, the octaves are extremely unfriendly compared to the filler notes. I’m probably going to end up doubling my thumb a lot, and I’m mostly worried about that C octave in the middle… we’ll see how it goes. If I have to, I will slow down a little bit so I can get all the notes accurately.

4:09 is another descending arpeggio that’s very similar to the earlier RH arpeggio, then we dive into a short sequence similar to what was at 2:14. Then 4:27 could be considered the climax of the coda? I guess? Dramatic and bombastic with all the accents and quarter notes. I anticipate some difficulty in the RH due to the triplets and then octaves. I was also fearing the arpeggios until I realized I have two hands so the one at 4:31 is probably going to be fine. The one at 4:40 is less straightforward and I’m still playing around with fingerings… I might swap out some LH notes back to the RH. I just need to find what will be easiest to play at tempo and also sound good.

From 4:46 we’re supposed to be prestissimo, which I didn’t do here because I am 100% not ready. The sequence is really similar to the opening phrase, and the LH is identical, while RH moves down an octave with that discordant interval. I FINALLY get to play the part I learned this piece for (the ascending octaves in the LH at 4:57), then we finish the piece with a whole lot of chaotic chords. The final chord is tricky because it’s easy to make it sound worse by bringing out the F# too much… I’ll have to work on fine-tuning that balance. It should also be played by just the LH, but I can’t reach it comfortably enough to strike the keys, so I’ll be splitting it between both hands. And then we’re done!

Current Thoughts

I didn’t really practice too much for the second to last week of January for personal reasons; I took it really easy and at most, I’d play through what I was already comfortable with (never a good habit, don’t be like me). Didn’t really do any detailing. But this week I got the met out again and practiced more carefully, and I can definitely feel the difference in my playing. It’s really hard to stay focused for the entire duration of learning any one piece, but I’m going to work harder to build better practice habits. And if I end up not practicing much for some period of time, I want to be able to just take a break completely instead of likely creating bad habits…

Anyway, so I didn’t make too much progress in these past two weeks compared to the first two weeks, which I guess is somewhat to be expected… but I’ll work harder to make up the difference in the coming weeks. I’m done learning the notes, so it’s really a matter of getting the LH octaves faster and cleaner, and also learning that coda section. Then ramping up the tempo for the entire piece and practicing it as a whole.

So far, I’ve managed to get past a few trouble spots without too much angst, but I am definitely dreading that octave phrase in the RH at 3:58. Everything else is… unexpectedly manageable (so far), and I think I just need to put in the work to get things locked in. AND!! I feel like I can probably play this piece in one take. I was considering doing multiple takes early on, but as I practice, I feel like it’ll be less trouble to do a single take like usual. I’m definitely building up more stamina than I had expected (or maybe the piece takes less stamina compared to my expectations?), so I’m feeling more and more confident about doing a single take. I’ll have to make sure to build in little breaks for both hands where possible to reduce strain… for target tempo, a best case would be 150 bpm, but if I have to settle for something lower, I guess I’ll have to make do.

Now that I can see the end, I’m aiming to finish this piece out by March. I know from past experience that I tend to slow down a lot in my progress as I near the end of the piece, and given all the hurdles I still need to resolve with this one, hopefully four weeks is sufficient… But then that’ll mean I’ve already spent two months on a single piece this year LOL oh well. I guess I should also start thinking about what to learn next.

But in any case, I’m still super stoked every day that I can play as much of this as I can already!! It was one of my dream pieces and it is indescribably cool to be able to play it with my own hands, sloppy job that it is so far. OH!! I should also mention I’ve memorized everything up until the coda (and the first part of the coda). Granted I should probably go back and practice that section where I messed up the direction of the filler notes, but I’m surprised by how much of the piece I’ve memorized so quickly… in all honesty, it’s starting to feel like this piece was never that hard to begin with, but I’m pretty sure that’s just because I’ve put in a month of practice at this point lol.