39

27

Working on memory here. Pavan no 3 by Milan. I have all the notes in my head, but I sometimes skip a section or do a wonky repeat at times. Memory has been a challenge this past year. I suspect it has to do with the extremely slow recovery post hurricane Michael.

65. Minuetto by Tarrega

This is my first time recording this minuetto in its entirety. It feels similar to playing the piece in front of someone for the first time.

I think my phrasing of the first theme sounded better in the opening than it did in the recapitulation.

Practice Interruption from Hurricane Michael

In my old blog I had began this “post some of your practice everyday” challenge. I got a couple of weeks into it and we were finally able to get a work crew (227days after Hurricane Michael) to begin the demo on the house. This disrupted things because I had to move completely out of my home and help around the house moving boxes, making sure pets are safe, etc. Well, it’s day 306 and I am still displaced by Hurricane Michael, and decent available practice-time comes and goes. But, I’m still trying.

Day 14

Quite under tempo, this is an excerpt from the ending of Innocent Meandering by Harold Blanchard.

Day 7

Feeling better about my tone and volume control here. I need to be more aware random noises before I play the first note.

Variation 2 from Seis variaciones sobre un tema de Luis Milan by Nin-Culmell.

62

Strings are old. Nails also need to be changed. I have no thumb nail.

This is the hardest variation. I put quite a bit of time into it before recording it this evening. It’s hard.

36

Doing some metronome work with Rodrigo’s Fandango. It is easy to speed up the quarterly chords if you’re not careful. Likewise, it can be hard not to slow everything else down.

I am recording and using the metronome all on my phone here. My house is much improved since Hurricane Michael, but most things are still boxed up. One day I’ll find my metronome.

28, part 2

I did three takes and I’m sharing the better of the two today. Milan Pavan 3.

Just trying pay through the piece without stopping, without fixing buzz notes and other things. As long as it sounds halfway decent. Only focusing on the order and sections of the piece. If it’s all pretty much in order, that is the goal.

13

Finally feeling better. That’s cold I had kept me capped out for a couple of days.

I’m playing along with a recording my former teacher (Dr Stephen Robinson) playing Innocent Meandering by Harold Blanchard. I’m doing this to get a better understanding of phrasing and using rubato in the piece. Also, the tempo is quite different in the recording from that that is suggested in the score.

16

I haven’t had a lot of time to post videos, so I missed a day or two this weekend. We’ve been having a great time at the Florida Guitar Festival here at FSU.

I’m a recent I mentioned that I was having problems with my p,i,m triplets. After going over with this with my teacher, and talking to another teacher about it today, I am finally beginning to be more pleased with this right hand movement.

What I learned today was that I often play this triplet as if it’s a roll. It was pointed out that I often “roll” my hand to make this triplet as if I were arpeggiating a chord. I was told bring the left side of my nails closer to the string and let the middle and index finger snap away from the strings instead of using my hand to pull them away, then reach for the strings again.

What I need to do is keep my wrist in a single location and allow the fingers to snap away and land them back on the strings without making a large wrist movement. As I have also started earlier, I tend to play towards the middle side of the nail instead of the left side. Playing on the left side of the nail seems to allow for small right hand movements.

In this video I demonstrate ways that I believe is a better way to perform these triplets. When I do not play them properly, I shake my finger to point out that the movements were improper.

I have faith that if I keep practicing the triplets this way, my technique will improve tremendously.