1,000 Days of Piano - Day 131: Three Against Four Will Not Be the Hill Upon Which I Die

Three against four, for the uninitiated, is playing triplets with one hand and sixteen notes with the other. In the case of this Sonata, it’s playing triplet sixteenth notes with the left hand and thirty-second notes with the right. It’s rubbing your stomach while patting your head at the same time on steroids. It’s the reason (confession time here) I never learned to play my father’s beloved Chopin Fantasie Impromptu. I can play two against three scales easily. With diligence I can master three against four scales. Putting together a melody with accompaniment? I set my teeth and make a run for it, and Lucy yanks the football away at the last minute. If I were very clever, I would edit my attempts into a montage similar to the ones in movies where the hero get knocked down repeatedly. Face in the dirt. Face in the dirt. Face in the dirt. I even tripped over the trill in measure seven, which I can nail with focus. Oh, well. Despite appearances, three against four will not be the hill upon which I die.