a southern gal in the north

The tuner to whom I was referred got back to me today and was so very accomodating.  There will be a technician at my house tomorrow night when I get home from work!!!  To fix the stuck keys (only one more day of playing with that – halleujah!)  and he will also evaluate the piano and let me know the good/bad news in terms of its condition.

“Learning an instrument, a skill, is different from learning by reading a book. Music is a living thing. You learn so much about yourself through learning to play an instrument. Its about integrity. Your ego is constantly being teased when you play, and if youre really going to meet a Beethoven sonata head-on, its not about you; its not about how good you are or how fast you can play; its really about getting beyond yourself. When you come with humility to a piece of music, its contacting the best parts of yourself — the part that feels deeply. You have to be willing to have those feelings; a lot of people arent. Music can create beautiful moments out of nothing. Youve all felt it. Anyone who relates to music knows that feeling of being touched by a piece deeply its such a privilege.”

(The above quote was taken from an interview of well-known New York piano teacher Denise Kahn by Noah Adams of NPRs All Things Considered for his book Piano Lessons).

keys that is.

the e and f in the middle of the keyboard are sticking … its very difficult to play pretty much anything with those two keys misbehaving. i thought they would unstiffen with a few days of playing but NO.

called my old piano tuner but he wont make outside NYC visits, so he referred me to someone. left a message and hope he calls back tomorrow or i may inflict damage on those poor keys

not really

but is d$#% annoying.

Today being saturday i was able to do what i like without starting at 730!  after dealing with the cats and some email and making a big pot of tea… i made my way to the piano around 11ish.  of course the grocery delivery service came just then.  so 20 mins later, warmed up then work on the Sinfonia of the C minor Bach Partita (#2).  I had worked on this years ago; hadnt finished learning it so the first two pages are familiar but not much of the rest.  I love the grandeur of the opening section – i hear it as all brass in double choirs – and then the contrapuntal fluidity of the middle section leading into the fugal last section.  Right now my main work is learning notes and fingering and getting the patterns in my hands.  I am surprised at how much of that work from beforeis ingrained in my fingers. Lots of very careful and slow work – groups of measures each day.  I have learned the hard way; at this initial stage of learning a mistake made becomes so difficult to correct later. even though I want to rush ahead and read thru and play faster, I hold back and work slowly and deliberately; helps too in keeping my mind focused.

Its funny, i will be working on a passage, maybe repeating a pattern of notes a few times.  i am looking at the notes and realize that my thoughts are off somwhere else –  all kinds of places and memories. Bubbles floating up, bits of lessons and conversations (former teachers – voice and piano) drift in and out and mingle with current problems (how can i keep this drafty apt warm without spending a fortune on oil this winter?) and other daily issues (a particularly annoying work email exchange that started early this morning and continued thru the day) and all the things i need to do (organizing my yarn stash, sorting out the basement, caulking the windows)

Sometimes i push them away and refocus on the task at hand, sometimes i give in and follow them, then stop, refocus on the music, the notes, fingers, – what is the tempo, where am i now?   i stand and stretch, write out the "to do" or just let the annoying episode play out and then refocus to the music at hand.

Odd in a way, hearing those voices from past lessons, conjured up – things i had no idea i would remember years later – but appropriate to the task at hand… funny and weird too.  like a recording that is starting and stopping at random places, nuggets of instruction and information leaking out. i listen and heed the voices or not, then work on, wrapped in the music.

A quiet contentment comes after a day like this.

after months of chaos from the aftermath of surgery and unpacking and organizing after the move, then returning to work from a new location involving a new commute and to a new job; and finally getting the music room sorted out – these last four days back to the keyboard are helping put me on an even keel again.

routines, what is it about them that makes me feel secure? (yes, its rhetorical).

i wasnt sure if i was going to be able to get up at 630 and practice from 730 to 930 – and be 1) awake enough and 2) able to play (physically) at that hour. but you know, its actually really great. of course this is the first week and day four. it has been mighty cold up here in irvington and with the price of oil what it is (yikes, i WOULD be paying my own during the biggest oil price hike in decades!) – i’m experimenting at how low i can keep the temp and not freeze.

see, the music room is at the front of the house – lovely in that it opens to the front porch (two HUGE windows) but not lovely in that it gets the wind off the river up the hill. at least my heavy damask curtains with insulated linings fit beautifully in the room otherwise i would have been sewing up a storm. i may however have to break down and buy a little electric heater – i am trying not to think of how cold it will be in jan and feb if this is dec!

anyway, its been fun getting a routine going for my two hours – and of course, as i suspected, they are flying by way too fast. i am already thinking of asking to go into work one hour later to get another hour i.

i’m amazed at how quickly my fingers and arms and brain are jumping back on track. There are some physical reactions – i am fairly sore especially around the neck and shoulder and across the back – but thats to be expected. Typing at a computer keyboard may have kept my fingers limber during my “hiatus” but it hadnt done anything for the muscles in the arms and shoulders.

And then of course, its been a long time since i was challenged intellectually – each day this week as i ended my practice to then dress and go into work, i realize that as much as my soul wants to keep playing and making music, my brain is still catching up. its interesting to see old habits creep right up… my tendency to push thru and not take any breaks – and then the last half hour or fifteen minutes i lag and tire. but there are some good ones to – and yes, it is like riding a bicycle – and like slipping on a glove – the tried and true methods come flooding back and are standing at the ready to be brought forth to serve the music.

today with the snowstorm in full force, i started at 730 and took more breaks and practiced till 1130 when i got online to work from home – there was close to a foot of snow on our little dead end street (and i am at the end of the street) and the plows didnt even come by until 3ish. i so wanted to practice all day – a snowy day is a great day to stay in and work and take tea breaks and then research and then work some more and then another break and so on all day – but i logged in and did my hours.

as for rep, i decided to wait on picking a Beethoven sonata and read thru some Mozart sonatas – i’m working on one now and will see if i want to stay with it. Also decided to work thru the Chopin Nocturnes. so right now its Bach, Mozart and Chopin. this will keep me busy for a bit, while i get my “sea legs” back.

so.. .i finally got the clothes off the piano into closets and drawers and boxes. then called the “two young bucks with a truck” guys (how could i have not used them!? when i saw their ad in our Pennysaver!) and they came and took the boxes of clothes i cant fit in the little closet or the dressers or that dont fit me anymore or whatever and took them to my sister (sweet girl) who is letting them live in her attic til i decide what to do with them or realize i dont really need them and give them away – whatever, and then…. the music room became a music room FINALLY .

the only boxes left in there are full of pictures to hang (not now, but soon) (there are looooots of them) and hooked rugs (bought on ebay – places to put them yet to be determined). the wicker chair and ottoman are cleared off and have pillows and a beautiful red wool warm afghan and a lamp next to it for reading . the floor was swept. all was in readiness. Lamps and metronome plugged in near the piano. A fresh cup of tea….

And so we begin.

i dont even remember the last time i practiced the piano – sad to say its been years – i took a detour into singing for awhile – and now here i am back at the keyboard – ironic since its the place i feel the most comfortable in music – its where i have been since 3 years old. my relationship with the piano and music is long and complicated – i love it its just had a lot of ups and downs and time outs. however i dont want to go there today – today i want to celebrate the joy of making music.

yes, corny, i know but … well its pretty amazing.

when i was a singer i would get angry when my voice would give out after hours of practice – what i missed was the hours and hours of practicing (pianists traditionally practice the most of any other instrument except probably the violin) – I was so used to a whole routine – scales and technique exercises to warm up and then plunging into meaty work (learning notes, polishing the section that was freshly learned, moving on to new sections, joining them and then later on shaping the work) that i would over sing constantly – i had to learn to hold back and practice less – and it worked but i was always voracious and learned tons of music and sang all kinds of stuff that wasnt assigned by teachers etc. it was so easy – one line after a four part bach fugue? piece of cake!

anyway, back to the keyboard – my cold from last week settled in and became bronchitis this week so i had already taken mon and tue off – the goal was to start yesterday. well, one day behind is not bad.

how great was it? – pretty great – i am aching and sore and my back is yelling at me – muscles i havent used in, yes, years are screaming – but it was grand. bach, chopin, beethoven – even the two keys that keep sticking (e and f above mid c -pretty bad ones to stick too) didnt bother me too much – although they HAVE got to be fixed soon! will have to get a different piano tuner the last guy came twice and still hasnt fixed them.

i worked on scales, and chords and arpeggios and a wonderful little exercise one of my first “major” teachers gave me – and then chopin etude and bach – some sightreading – decided on the 2nd Partita . and then read thru some Beethoven sonatas and finally decided on Les Adieux and then read thru some Chopin Nocturnes. Also want to pick a Schubert sonata but will wait awhile for that.

how 4.5 hours flys by! so the downside is that i have to leave for work at 10 am each day – so that means 7is to 930 is in the morning to practice cause i dont get home til 930 pm . methinks i will be asking to move my work schedule back… if i work 130 – 930 then i could get in a good 3.5 hours in the morning before having to leave for the office – that would mean getting home at 11 pm. but well whats a gal to do. when i was doing my degree at mannes, i worked 5-12 and practiced four about 4 hours a day – more on the weekends – it was grand . dont want to get home at 2 in the morning but 11 wouldnt be too bad if i can get some more practice time in.

and yes this is a 180degree turn around for me – after some years of “wandering in the wilderness” its good to be back. oh and i guess i should find a teacher.