1,000 Days of Piano - Day 183: Small Efforts

On the wall of a classroom where I sometime teach is a quote, “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” After doing a little digging, I found that the quote is by Robert Collier, an American author. Collier wrote the book, The Secret of the Ages, which I will have to read after Nurtured by Love. I’m beginning to realize that extraordinary accomplishments are often the result of ordinary humdrum actions. I wonder if my dull little efforts day after day will amount to anything. Maybe they will, and maybe they won’t. Either way, they will still feel like dull little efforts that are only glorified by the send of joy I take in doing them.

Note: The sonata is nowhere near performance ready. I’m just so pleased that I got to the end of the section.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 181: Inconsistency

If I haven’t been consistent about posting to this blog, I have been consistent about practicing...sort of. The truth is that there is precious little consistency in December. The frantic holiday rush overshadows everything else. I’m clinging to my piano practice like a lifeboat in a sea of overwhelm. Whether or not I’ll get results remains to be seen.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 175: Consistency

Right now, I crave consistency. After attempting (and failing) to write a novel last month, I need to get back on track. I stalled out at about 16,000 words, promptly came down with bronchitis, and everything came to a crashing halt. It’s time to continue, with daily practice and small steps. That’s my only compass for steering through the choppy waters of the holiday season.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 169: Complexity

How soon can I teach simple yet entertaining pieces to my students after they learn Mary Had a Little Lamb and Go Tell Aunt Rhody? I’m currently using those two pieces to teach basic music theory to student who are ready for it. It isn’t the Suzuki way, I know, but I’m still teaching traditional piano, and I have students who read music. So many pieces go beyond the basic tonic, subdominant, and dominate harmonies, but if I go slowly I should be able to introduce a relative minor. Is it too much of a stretch to go from Mary Had a Little Lamb to Yellow Submarine? Not if I limit the piece to just the chorus. Yellow Submarine is brilliant in its simplicity, and the lyrics are imaginative enough to capture anyone’s imagination. No one ever achieved anything worth while by playing it safe, so I might as well take the risk.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 160: Standing Still

I realized something the other day. If you work diligently at developing talent by learning new skills and practicing them daily, you will improve. (That’s not the realization.) If you think you don’t have the time to devote to attaining mastery and you just want to maintain your skills, simply practice what you’ve already learned. You won’t go forward, but you won’t go backward, either. If you stop practicing altogether, you will lose your skills.
For some bizarre reason, I thought that most skills were like riding a bike. Once you learn how to ride a s a child, that skill stays with you. You might be a little wobbly the first time you get on after many years, but once you kick off, you’re riding without falling down. For piano, depending on how far you progressed, it isn’t quite the same. If you practice what you already know, you can maintain your skills. You can stand still. If you fail to practice, day by day your skills with wither up, and you’ll no longer be able to play.
Advanced students who haven’t played in a long time, may retain the fundamentals—chords and scales, and simple tunes. Intermediate students who haven’t touched the instrument for years may be able to pick out the simplest tune. The beginner who stops playing will lose everything.

Sometimes it’s good to stand still and maintain skills, to pause and take a break. It’s just important to remember to practice the skills you want to keep.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 146 and Day 13

I’m goofing off here, holiday tune (or lack thereof), crazy hair, and all. I’ve pushed through discouragement and doubt, hit the 15,000 word mark, and it’s time to play. I just wanted to see if I could really make a song recognizable with chords only. It’s all about holding the vision. Even if a mirror was clearly not involved.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 146 and Day 11

I managed to get through 48 measures of the Mozart. It’s barely hanging together, but it’s progress. I’ve gotten through 11,500 words of my story since November 1. I’m getting through without being discouraged, which is the true miracle. I’m actively and deliberately staying positive. I have to catch myself a lot. “Nope, not gonna go there,” I keep telling myself. It’s the only way I can stay in the game.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 144 and Day 9

I chose the first sixteen measures of George Winston’s Prelude because it’s a seasonal piece that doesn’t scream tinsel and it’s quiet enough to play around tired folks on a Saturday night. George Winston is not in the Suzuki repertoire, of course, but neither is Johnny Marks, whose music does scream tinsel (think Rudolph). I like to mix things up near the holidays.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 143 and Day 8

Today I am pushing myself. I’m not forcing myself to stretching my limits out of any sense of obligation to meet some arbitrary goal of satisfy a sense of insecurity. I simply felt like it. On a Friday evening, I’m tempted to put my feet up and relax, but I feel such a fond attachment to the people in my life, the projects I’m committed to, and even my own sense of maintaining myself, that I want to express that with my actions. So I’m pushing myself...at least until I don’t feel like it anymore. Or I decide I don’t feel like facing negative consequences. Either way, it’s a new feeling I’m getting accustomed to. 

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 142 and Day 7

I’ve missed three days of posting to my blog, and I have only 6,400 words written so far. I should have cracked over 10,000 words by now. My music fell off the piano during my recording. I should be asleep right now, instead of playing with my phone. Nothing matters right now except that I am choosing to be overjoyed instead of overwhelmed.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 138 and Day 3

I’ve decided that acceptance is going to be my new superpower. When I can accept individuals and circumstances as they are while feeling unrestrained enthusiasm for what they can become, then I have mastered acceptance.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 137 and Day 2

I wish I knew all the answers. I wish I knew at least some of the answers. I wish I didn’t feel so vulnerable. It is so satisfying to solve problems and bring clarity to confusion. Sometimes, though, it’s best for me to sit with my bewilderment and let the answers I seek come to me. When I embrace the unknowing, I allow the learning to unfold in its own time. For me, confidence is not just being comfortable with all the knowledge and skill and wisdom that I have, but being comfortable with all of the knowledge, skill, and wisdom I have yet to acquire.

1,000 Days of Piano and 30 Days of Noveling - Day 136 and Day 1

It’s Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month and Day 136 of my piano blog. I started my novel, which is important, even if I didn’t reach my word goal. I practiced some pieces, even if I didn’t put in enough work to record anything more on the Mozart Sonata. Most importantly, I practiced unrestrained joy and excitement about all of it. I let myself enjoy the glorious autumn day, the tang and promise of a Friday before a long weekend, even though I didn’t start my day in a fury of creativity. This is one of those days when it just feels good to be in the game.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 134: Wanted: Lost Marbles

Tomorrow is Halloween, which means that National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. (Followed immediately by Christmas, but why dwell on that!) Yes, I am planning to write a novel next month, while keeping up with my blog and everything else. Crazy, no? I just can’t bear the thought of giving up NaNoWriMo for four years in a row. That’s the logic behind the madness. Four measures and 1,800 words a day. Including Thanksgiving. I’d like to think it’s either genius or insanity, but it’s likely the latter.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 132: Nothing Special

I get the feeling that a lot of people think that playing the piano is some special, magical, unattainable ability. Maybe they suffered through torturous lessons as a child. Maybe they never learned. Maybe they felt (correctly) that they had no natural talent.

Natural talent is helpful. Certain skills just come easily. Yet, natural talent is not required. Learning to play the piano doesn’t take some unusual, mystical power that you either have or don’t have. It doesn’t even require hours of daily practice. It does require minutes of daily practice, though, along with diligence, discipline, and resilience. It requires a willingness to make mistakes and not take yourself quite so seriously. That’s it. There’s nothing special about it. It demands the same qualities as learning to make pancakes. Practice, mess up, try again, repeat. That’s all.

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.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 130: Taking a Break Does Not Equal Broken

I had a lost week. Maybe I’m still having it. Was I any busier, any more overwhelmed, more discouraged than usual? Maybe. Maybe not. I did a lot of teaching. I did a lot of housecleaning. I recorded a performance (see above). I watched a lot of Netflix. I practiced the Sonata. I checked the scores of the Nationals World Series Games, and squinted at the news headlines. And I took a break from the blog. Maybe it was yin for yang in the balancing act that is my life. Maybe it is whatever I say it is. For now, it is well.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 125: Questions with No Answers

The tasks on my overflowing to do list are piling up until the windows of my mind might explode. How on earth am I going to get it all done? The practicing, the teaching, the dishes, the laundry, the writing, and the recording...I could go on but the list is too exhaustive. Or is it exhausting? Whatever the case, my questions will have to go unanswered for another day. And that has to be okay. A solution exists for every problem, but I’ll never think of it if I’m drowning in overwhelming. I will figure it out. In the meantime, I can learn to do without answers one measure at a time

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 124: Still Pretending

I’m still pretending. I’m still pretending it’s okay that I missed two days in a row posting to this blog. I’m still pretending I didn’t mess up when I played part of my piece for someone. I’m pretending that all of my students practice diligently every day. I’m pretending that I practice diligently every day. I’m pretending it’s not after 11:00 at night. I’m pretending that I’m a grownup. I’m pretending I don’t feel as though I’m falling hopelessly behind on all the many thing I have to do. I’m pretending that everything is always working out for me. Why? The alternative is so much more unpleasant.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 121: Pretending

I’m pretending. I’m pretending that I already know this music, that my mistakes were insignificant, that I’m not laying the tracks just ahead of the train. I’m okay with being a work in progress. It’s just so much fun to imagine how wonderful it will be to play the entire Sonata. So I’m pretending one measure at a time.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 120: Elusive Confidence

I am tired of chasing confidence. I am tired of feeling uneasy when I catch it. I am tired of letting it slip through my fingers. Some people have egos so large you wonder how they can fit through the door. That’s not me. I cling to a false humility, a life raft of self-depreciation. I may not have much, but I can still own it. What would be so wrong with that? Pride may goeth before a fall, but I can savor each small success like a small bite of a rich dessert. Just because I want to.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 119: Muzio Clementi vs. Alan Menken

I’ve proved that I can practice and concentrate with the full chorus of Beauty and the Beast (plus my daughter) singing “Be Our Guest” in the background. My daughter asked me not to post the first take,  in which it was a little unclear as to who drowned out whom. I went with the third take, with a quieter song in the background. I’m tired of warning my family that I’m recording. They have a life, and who am I to interfere? Besides, I get to practice my superior mind powers in the bargain.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 118: Treading Water

I’ve come to a standstill in my progress. I’m treading water. I’m not sinking, but I’m not moving forward. One thousand days is a long time to sustain inspiration. Other projects compete for my attention, projects that I can begin and complete in one-tenth of the time it will take me to cross the finish line here. Still, a commitment is a commitment. Inspiration will return. I will learn new music...if for no other reason than I will be too bored not to.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 117: Mutiny and Manners

I skipped a day yesterday. I was at home. I had WiFi. My piano was waiting for me. But it was a busy Saturday, and I was doing busy Saturday things. It happens. I realized at 11:00 p.m. that the day had slipped through my fingers, and I hadn’t recorded anything. My family rose up in protest. They wanted silence, and not even the promise of a cradle song would do. So I did the polite thing and went straight to bed. This morning I seized my opportunity and squeaked out a recording before anyone could complain. When you live with a musician, you learn to endure practice.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 115: In the Center of Chaos

I have a lively, busy family. Sometimes I’m trying to be thoughtful and not disturb them with tedious practice and repeated takes when recording. Sometimes I’m trying to be thoughtful and not disturb their routine with demands for quiet while I’m recording. Ideally, I can do my practicing and recording when they aren’t at home, but sometimes it can’t be helped. Spirited conversations, outbursts of song, and ordinary household sounds of groceries being put away may punctuate my performances. That’s life. Music is often my adventure, but it’s also my oasis of calm in the center of chaos.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 114: Faking It

It’s Thursday. I’m tired. So I’m faking it. I recorded a snippet of the Sonatina in F, hitching the beginning to the end with duct tape and string. I simply played measures 1-13 and went right into measures 56-71. Honestly, I just didn’t feel like dealing with the middle today. 

Some days it’s like that. Some days I just do whatever I can get away with to get the job done. All I need to do is get some rest, regroup, and come at again another day with fresh energy. We all do this. It’s sort of like ordering pizza on Friday night when you don’t feel like cooking. It isn’t really fake. It’s more like taking a break.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 113: Matter of Fact

I sat down without giving it much thought and recorded the last five pieces in Book 2. No big deal. Matter of fact. It still feels like a stretch, but today I did it without much consideration. I did it yesterday, and I might do to tomorrow. It wasn’t perfect, but I stayed in the present moment and focused on enjoying the music. It isn’t exciting, this daily, step-by-step march toward my goal, but it is the backbone of achievement.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 112: I Am Not My Mistakes

I still give the “evil red eye” that is the recording button on my phone way too much power. I play better without it—the consummate bathtub pianist. Everything is better when no one is listening. When the music flows, it’s no big deal. But I wear my mistakes like a scarlet letter. Sometimes they are like old friends playing the same practical joke on me. Others are new, waiting to ambush me when I least expect it. (Where did that come from? I’ve never done that before!)
Mistakes happen. I can treat them the same way as I do my achievements—no big deal. I don’t have to wear them on my sleeve. I am not my mistakes. Instead, I can embody my successes.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 111: Light-Hearted

Music is serious business, I know. It takes discipline, diligence, practice, skill, and knowledge. We musicians are Artists. We express joy, pathos, passion, and tragedy through our art. We pour ourselves into our work, and, if the muse is kind, it might begin to approach something like mastery. At the very least it is something that does not bring shame down upon our heads.

That does not mean that we can’t be light-hearted about it. I can wander into my studio, seat myself dreamily at my instrument and play...a Bach invention, the opening theme song from “Gilligan’s Island,” or Baby Shark. I sat down several months ago and idly played the four opening bass notes of “Aaron Burr” from Hamilton, and my daughter impishly called out right on cue, “1776.” I’ve had piano students break out into the ominous strains of the music from Jaws when learning about half steps. (Or maybe I just used that goofing off moment as inspiration for teaching.) In any case, those moments of whimsy are sometimes the best and moment imaginative moments for the Artist. They remind me that I can be more light-hearted in my creativity.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 110: Still Challenging

It is still challenging to record the last four pieces of Book 2 in a row. They aren’t challenging for me to play...they are just challenging for me to record. So I’m going to keep recording them until the dailiness takes the sting out. Every now and then I’ll mix it up a bit when it gets too repetitive. I’m pushing the limits of my comfort zone. If I push my way out and circle the perimeter long enough, I’ll have an enlarged comfort zone. Then I’ll need to push myself out even farther. I’m prowling the edges of the wilderness. Up ahead lies danger and adventure, but the comfort of home is not too far behind.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 109: Still Scattered

I am still scattered. I practice a certain schedule of pieces each day and make progress on all of them. And then one day, I just go rogue and practice something completely different. I’m thinking that I just can’t stick to the program. The truth is that I’m simply choosing to practice something different today. It’s Saturday, and I’m taking a break from Book 2. I’m in a Mozart mood. After weeks of polishing Book 2, I need more of a challenge.

It turns out that I’m practicing something more than piano. I’m practicing seeing the best in myself and in those around me. My world is populated by kind, if occasionally mischievous, souls. I’m practicing being a little less tightly wound. I’m practicing serenity. I’m still scattered, and that’s okay.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 108: The Power of Fun

Today’s performance is far from flawless, but I had a good time. I’m getting such a kick out of playing and practicing these pieces that I always wanted to play as a child but never did. When it comes to music, ever underestimate the power of fun.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 107: Eat That Frog!

Eat That Frog! is a book by Canadian self-help expert, Brian Tracy. He takes the title and premise for his book from a famous quote by Mark Twain, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” The idea is that if you complete your most onerous task of the day first, the rest of your day will be a breeze.
My twist in this is that if you accomplish first thing in the morning a task that will give you the most satisfaction, you will more easily endure it if the rest of your day collapses into a black hole of frustration and disillusionment.
I began my day by recording Suzuki Book 2 in its entirety. It was much more pleasant than eating a live frog, but it was not without a certain indefinable tension. I knew I had only one shot at getting a good take because I only had time to record it once. I must have had a slight premonition that any sense of productivity would be in shreds by evening. In any case, whatever else may have happened today, I can console myself with the thought that I did something worthwhile.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 106: Book 1 Rehearsal

One of my rules of leadership is not asking anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I wouldn’t ask a student to perform an entire book of pieces unless I would do it myself. So I recorded most of the Suzuki Book 1, just for the experience of it.
It was interesting, kind of like chewing one of those disclosing tablets we used to get as kids to encourage us to brush our teeth. Anyone who feels up in the seventies knows what I’m talking about. They were bright red pills that we’d chew up and spit out. The red dye would stick to the plaque so that when we looked in the mirror we’d know where we needed to brush and floss.

Sitting down and going straight through most of Book 1 felt like that. It highlighted the sticky places I need to practice. An exercise doesn’t get more valuable than that.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 105: Talent v. Genius or Passion v. Fear

Today I was saddened to learn of the death of soprano Jessye Norman. Many of us may have talent, but Norman had true genius. She had an amazing voice, and she wasn’t afraid to use it. As a musician, I cannot even begin to compare, nor do I want to. I may have a modest amount of talent, but I lack brilliance, at least when it comes to music. What I lack in genius and brilliance, however, I wish to make up for with enthusiasm and passion.

Reading about Norman, I saw that she had a passion for opera since childhood. Of course. Those who are overflowing with a zest for creativity have no room for timidity.  Perhaps it’s unimportant whether or not I have talent as opposed to genius. Maybe it’s more important whether or not I allow my fear to overshadow my passion.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 104: In Between

I’m in such an awkward place. My pieces are halfway memorized. I can’t play them without the music, but I don’t need the music most of the time. In between, I can look at my hands until the music in my head runs out. Then I look up, and I’ve lost my place. So I keep my eyes on the music until the difficult spot that I must memorize to play properly. I’m floating somewhere between STOP-PREPARE and working the metronome at half tempo. I’m in a mental musical no-man’s-land of notes and keys, almost trapped, but not quite. Patience is my only escape. In my zeal to learn the music quickly, I have not taken the time to learn slowly, measure by measure. I haven’t been wasting my time. I just know that it’s time to take my own learning to the next level.

1,000 Days of Piano: Day 103: Three in a Row

I'm increasing my challenge. Recording three pieces in a row holds a little more drama than just two. The pieces aren’t that long—surely the Beethoven Sonata in G, 1st Movement is longer than all three of these pieces combined. Yet there’s a psychological triumph in playing three pieces in a row, even if they are relatively short.

Right now, I really appreciate the slight increases in difficulty in the pieces of the Suzuki repertoire from book to book and within each book. I can slowly increase my challenge as I progress without feeling overwhelmed. I can “make haste slowly.” This is powerful.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 102: No Excuses

I am so sleepy my eyes are rolling around in my head, but since I haven’t take the time to record and write so far today, now is the time. I have any number of reasons for skipping today, but I made a promise to myself that I intend to keep. I am not off the grid without an Internet connection. Have Wi-Fi, will blog—that’s my motto. I’m tired, it’s late, and I was interrupted, but that’s okay. I’m keeping my word to myself.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 101: Cake

Tonight I baked a cake. I wanted a cake, so I decided to bake one. I felt fairly confident that, although I found no cake in my kitchen, I could put together some ingredients in a specific order in a specific way, put them in a pan in the oven, and the result would be cake. I did not lament my lack of cake. I held firmly to my intention and vision, with faith and confidence, that cake would appear in the pan as I rubbed said pan with shortening. I knew, as I blended the butter and sugar into a light and creamy mixture and added flour milk, eggs, and flavorings, that I would get a thick, airy batter. It was not cake, yet, but I remained convinced that it would be, if I turned it into the pan and baked it. In a delicious miracle of kitchen chemistry, it became cake. I let it cool, and then carefully tuned it onto a cooling rack, feeling like a magician.

That is how I feel about learning all seven books of the Suzuki repertoire. At the moment, I don’t have cake. I don’t even have batter. I have a recipe, and I’ve assembled the ingredients. I may have even begun to cream the butter and the sugar. The air smells rich and sweet. And I, despite the fact that I have no cake yet, still feel like a magician.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 100: 100th Day Reflection

It’s been 100 days since I started learning the entire Suzuki piano repertoire in 1,000 days and writing a blog about it. Almost every day, I’ve practiced, recorded myself, and written a post about it. Almost every day, I’ve reflected on the process of learning, playing, and overcoming fear. Almost every day, I’ve played pieces from multiple books. Almost every day, I’ve faced the red eye of the record button and created music to share.
Sitting at the piano, I’ve encountered my strengths and my weaknesses, my talent and my timidity, my vulnerability and my vanity. I thought it would take me until October to learn Book 2, when I may be near the end of Book 3 by the end of October. I have surprised myself with the speed at which I can learn certain pieces. I struggle with playing by sight, yet many of the pieces are not memorized. I have learned more complex pieces, only to “let them rest” after focusing on different music.

After 100 days, I am a better musician and a better teacher, even if I haven’t figured out how to measure it. I only know that the next step is the one right under my feet.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 99: Preparing to Perform

Most musicians prepare for a performance by practicing. I practice, certainly, but I also prepare by recording myself. I’m not just preparing each piece, but the order in which I’m playing them. Today I started from the back of the book by playing the last two pieces in sequence. I’m preparing to perform those pieces back to back. I’m practicing the mood shift from the gently uplifting Romanze from the Sonatina in G to the more spirited Children at Play. I’m adding the pressure of recording two  pieces at a time. Most of all, I’m practicing fearlessness.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 98: Keeping Up

I used to think challenge goals were exciting and dramatic. Now the exhilaration has worn off, and practice feels just as dull and daily as it did before. I am practicing more...a lot more. I usually practice as much as I dare, stopping only when I get hungry or think someone else is hungry or I think the dishes or laundry need tending. It’s wonderful, but it feels so ordinary.
I read a book once that called this phenomenon hedonistic habituation. You walk into a bakery, and the smell of warm sugar, butter, and flour wraps you in its magic spell. It’s so delicious that you think you could stay there all day, breathing in buttery baked goodness. Only the reality is that if you stay in there long enough, the fragrance of warm cupcakes retreats to the back of your awareness. You get used to it, and the bakery loses its charm. One way to rekindle it is to step outside and come back in.
Another way to keep the enthusiasm alive is to learn something or cultivate a new skill. That keeps things fresh. For me the lure of new music lasted for a while. Now I find that the slow progress that is made necessary by a lack of increase in time to practice is fueling the feeling of tedium. I’ve topped off at about an hour at the instrument.

Maybe, though, the ordinariness is a good thing. It’s comfortable, and that’s a pleasant place to rest before gearing up for another challenge.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 97: Catching Up

Everyone knows that the trick to catching up is to do a little more than usual each day. Before you know it, you’ll be on target again. It’s even better when you don’t fall behind in the first place. Yet what happens when you’re plagued with whatever caused you to fall behind in the first place?

Don’t look. It’s the opposite of my usual strategy of measuring how fall I’ve fallen behind and calculating how long it will take me to catch up. I figure if I don’t look, I won’t get discouraged. So I don’t look. I do my best and trust to providence. I can work and worry or work and wonder. If I’m going to do the work, I might as well have the wonder.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 96: Falling Behind

I don’t know if I’m really falling behind it if it’s only an illusion. Or do illusions become reality if one believes in them long enough? Regardless, it feels as though I’m falling behind. I can take the time to figure it out, or simply keep going in ignorant bliss no matter how I feel. Letting the feeling of falling behind get the better of me is not an option. I’m going to put one foot in front of the other no matter what, so I might as well take a glass half full point of view.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 95: Out of Sorts

I’m not sure how my day unraveled. One moment I was bright and upbeat, and the next I was weary and downcast. Nothing happened. I just had my emotional glasses on upside down so that everything appeared as gloomy as Eeyore. I spent the rest of the day standing on my head in an effort to see the bright side of things. Playing the cheerful Ecossaise helped.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 94: Playing It Safe

Today, I’m playing it safe. I recorded Melody, deceptively tricky for all its musical simplicity. It’s a Book 2 piece, and while it isn’t a stretch for me to play, I’ve had to put in a lot of practice to play it this effortlessly. That’s the way of it. What starts off as difficult becomes easier with increasing mastery. Earlier in the summer, recording Melody was a bit of a challenge. Now it feels safe.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 93: Playful

Suzuki’s Allegro and Bartok’s Children at Play are both lively, lighthearted pieces. Allegro reminds me of a jump rope song, and Children at Play just sounds like recess. They both serve as reminders not to take ourselves too seriously. We grownups can be a dour lot with our worries about interest rates and car repairs. It’s good for us to laugh a little, swing on the playground, and even jump in a mud puddle. Sometimes we just need to be playful.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 92: Uncomfortable Uncertainty

Uncertainty is uncomfortable. I like to know where I’m going, and what it’s going to be like when I get there. It’s comfortable to have an umbrella when it’s raining. It feels good to go places I’ve been before. I don’t get lost. I know where the potholes are. I enjoy playing the familiar game. I know the rules, I know the turf, and I’m acquainted with the players.
Uncertainty is unsettling.  I don’t know how to prepare. I don’t know which way to turn. Do I turn right or left? Do I flee or do I fight? I don’t know what unpleasant surprises await just beyond the bend in the road...but likewise I have no idea if I’m about to stumble upon something wonderful. Uncertainty is unpredictable.

Today I was cautious and chose a piece that is comfortable to me. And why not? I’ll find myself in the uncomfortable middle of uncertainty soon enough.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 91: Bedtime

It’s bedtime, and I’ve only practiced for twenty minutes. I chose to record the Cradle Song, because I didn’t want to fortune my family by playing something energetic. I wanted something soft and soothing to play. My husband practices guitar at night to unwind. He usually plays Blackbird or Landslide or Dust in the Wind. I’m going to try practicing to unwind. I’m going to play something calm and quiet and never mind the mistakes. I’m going to relax and enjoy my music with no agenda and nothing at stake. Tonight, I’m choosing serenity.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 90: Kinderszenen

Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood is a reflection of youth through the eyes of a grown up. Everything is smaller than we remembered. The edges are blurred by time and memory. Reminiscences are a bittersweet mixture of pain and nostalgia. We know now why some of the grownups in our lives behaved mysteriously, why promises and friendships were broken, and how we created some of our own disappointments. We know now that we can’t live the past over. We can, if we choose, reflect upon it with compassion and forgiveness.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 89: Forehead to Keyboard

I started off thinking I was going to end up with QWERTY imprinted on my forehead, such was my frustration with technology. I was so tired of clicking on drop menus that led to nowhere that I figured I would just try again tomorrow morning. Playing the piano would be easier. The piano is my friend. Not. The chromatic run up the hill followed by dominant seventh tap dance down the hill, which I have mastered before, proved elusive to my tired brain and fingers. Fine. I’ll let it go and try again tomorrow.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 88: Keep Going

Sometimes I don’t want to practice. Sometimes I don’t want to perform. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing. Yet, I want the satisfaction of completing my work for the day. So I sit down and do the thing I don’t want to do. I keep going. I learn a few more measures. I record a few more takes. I want to be true to my daily commitment. I will revel in the inspiration and energy I often feel on another day. Today I simply keep going.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 87: In Translation

The beauty of the Suzuki Piano Book 1 is that it presents simple melodies with (mostly Alberti bass) chord accompaniments. However weary they may be of nursery tunes, students must learn London Bridge, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, and others. They are learning more than children’s songs. They are learning play chords and use techniques of theory that are essential to making music of all kinds. They don’t learn the actual theory any more than toddlers learn how to diagram sentences when learning to talk. However, with a chords and variations, they can learn to build a bridge from preschool melodies to popular movie themes.

In this example, I take several chords—E, A minor, F, D, G, and A (major)—play all three notes of the chord at once, arrange them into a variation of Alberti bass, and pair them with the theme from the latest Marvel film. I have translated techniques introduced in Mary Had a Little Lamb and Aunt Rhody, with some additional chords, into a movie theme. That’s when learning gets really good.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 86: Sanctuary

Piano is becoming my sanctuary while living with an emotional teenager, especially as I have Dr. Suzuki as my guide. Anyone who has ever read Nurtured by Love knows that it is like making a kind and encouraging friend. Shinichi Suzuki, who developed the “Mother-Tongue” Method of teaching music, writes in a warm, conversational style, as if he has invited you out for coffee to tell you stories.
In one memorable story, he writes about one of his protégés, whom he took care of as a youth. His young friend had picked up some unpleasant habits that he wanted to help correct for the sake of everyone living in the household. Yet he didn’t want to criticize or nag the boy. He gathered the other members of the household, and they all agreed to adopt a higher standard of behavior without saying a word to anyone. Everyone benefitted from this system, and the ill-mannered boy unconsciously adopted the example set by the others.
For me it is a humbling story, when I think of the harsh words I’ve uttered under the burden of the extreme frustration I’ve felt when my children were unhelpful or unkind. All of the times I’ve said, “How many times to do I have to tell you?” or “That’s unacceptable,” rise up like goblins to torment me. Dr. Suzuki sets the ever compassionate example, gently leading the way to teaching children not only to develop a beautiful tone but to develop a beautiful heart. Not just music, but kindness has become my sanctuary.

As for this recording, I don’t know what possessed me to begin learning a 150-measure Mozart Sonata. I do know that it is difficult to play the damper pedal with gum on the bottom of my shoe.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 85: Gossip

Boredom leads to gossip. Perhaps it is Internet gossip that scholars speculate that Beethoven may not have written the two Sonatinas in G Major and in F Major...or perhaps not. That is a thing that scholars do. They also doubt whether Shakespeare wrote all those famous plays. (Different scholars, of course.)

It is also likely not gossip that Beethoven originally dedicated his Kreutzer violin Sonata to George Bridgetower, a virtuoso violinist of African and European ancestry. The ‘mulaticco lunattico’ as Beethoven described him on the original manuscript from which he performed, so impressed Beethoven that he leapt up to embrace Bridgetower in the middle of the performance. The two were friends until they had a falling out, possibly over a woman. (That is the gossipy part.) Beethoven withdrew both the dedication of his A Major violin Sonata and his friendship from Bridgetower, and the two never met again. Genius is evidently not immune to drama.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 84: Fickle

Today I am fickle. I want to focus on something besides piano practice. The dailiness has finally set in, and I’m ready to move to another project. I’m tired of practicing the Beethoven Sonatina. I want to learn another piece. I want to learn another instrument or another language or take up Chinese brush painting.

Yet, I don’t give in to the impulse. I put it off until the last moment, but I finally sat down to practice and record. Somehow, I ended up playing a Beethoven piece. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I practice and record. Inspiration comes and inspiration goes. The most important thing I can do is show up.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 83: Ordinary

No day is ordinary, despite the way it may feel. Some days may seem ordinary, but that only happens when we take our daily miracles for granted. I managed to make it through eight measures of Schumann’s About Foreign Lands and People, from his Scenes from Childhood in only two days. (This is yet another staple of the typical piano student’s repertoire that I never learned as a child.) I usually learn pieces slowly, so for me, it appears to be miraculous. But is it? It’s Day 83, and I have been developing the habit of learning more music quickly for a couple of months. Perhaps it’s simply the natural increase of ability that comes from an increase of practice. It may be ordinary, but that doesn’t make it any less miraculous.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 82: Every Day Is an Adventure

Having a challenge goal means that every day is an adventure. Every day I face uncertainty and unpredictability. Every day I face a challenge, a test of skill. Every day I must be flexible, adaptable, and open-minded. Every day I have the chance to embrace discomfort as a learning opportunity.
Once I’ve mastered the challenge of the day, I can relax. I allow myself to feel relief, knowing that’s over for the day. Then I go to bed and wake up and face the whole thing all over again.

The best thing is that it’s the best thing. The daily challenge is good for me. I don’t want to get too comfortable or I won’t grow. I can welcome the adventure, knowing that it’s making me stronger.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 81: Miracle in Five Hours

This is a miracle because on Tuesday morning, I didn’t know this piece, and now I can get through it. The end is a little shaky, but I not only learned but mostly memorized it. Still, I couldn’t help but give a little head shake and eye roll at the end. It’s a miracle of patience, focus, and nerve.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 80: By Heart

I am ironic, a contradiction, but the more difficult a piece is, the easier it is for me to memorize it. No, the more difficult a piece is, the more necessary it is for me to memorize it. I don’t know if this is because I’m particularly gifted at memorizing music or because my reading needs strengthening—it’s probably a combination of both. I feel like an anomaly, listening to other pianists talk about their struggles with memorization when my guilty little secret is that I struggle with sight reading. 

Melody is a deceptively tricky piece in Book 2. The left hand is almost entirely an accompaniment of eighth notes with unexpected intervals to trip up the unsuspecting piano student. I have refrained from memorizing it, so far, because memorizing seems like the easy way out for me. I like the challenge of relying on the music, especially in the difficult measures. It is a distinct contrast to the relentless memorization I’m doing with the Beethoven Sonatina in Book 5. For me, relying on the music to play Melody is an accomplishment because it has so many notes and surprising harmonies. Still I’m sure I will end up memorizing it some day.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 79: Commitment

I’ve learned on forty-two measures of the Beethoven Sonatina from Book 5, and already I want to move onto something else. I want to abandon the Sonatina just I’ve abandoned the countless scarves I’ve started knitting. The Haydn Sonata looks like wonderful fun. It sounds like the background for a silent film romantic comedy. But I’ve already made a commitment to learn the Beethoven. Now I’m in the murky middle, longing to start something new.

Sometimes that’s the way it is. The grass is always green and all that. The good news is that I will learn the Haydn eventually. I also have other pieces to practice. I already have the unfortunate habit to dropping creative projects in the middle, so I might as well cultivate a habit of commitment. Imagine the send of accomplishment I’ll have when I finish all seventy-one measures!

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 78: E-Flat Escape

The difficulty of a daily challenge goal is, well, the dailiness of it. No matter how daunting the task or how great the sense of accomplishment one feels in achieving it, tomorrow is a new day with a new mountain to climb. There’s no time to get stuck in a frustrating loop of failure. If a problem can’t be solved one way, do something different and solve it in another.

Today, I pushed through the E-flat escape in measure twenty-one. I also pushed through the problem of setting up an online nonprofit fundraiser. Instead of approaching the problem one way, I tried something different. E-flat escape. Sometimes persistence is trying something new.

Note: To help those affected by Hurricane Dorian click here.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 77: Endless Loop

So far I’ve learned twenty measures of the Beethoven Sonatina in F Major, which means it’s like The Song That Never Ends. The chromatic run in measure 18 leads back to the beginning, so I could play the same three and a half lines endlessly. It feels sort of like a hamster running on its wheel.
That was how I felt earlier this morning when I was trying to set up an online fundraiser on Facebook. Facebook, in all its digital wisdom, still thinks I’m in Ecuador, where Facebook fundraisers for nonprofits are not permitted. I tried turning on my location settings and recreating the fundraiser, but nonprofit fundraisers on Facebook are not permitted in Ecuador. So I checked my locations settings and tried again. And again. And again.

I finally had to let it go temporarily and do something else...like playing measure 21, which introduces the E-flat escape to something different. Sometimes that all we need—an E-flat escape to something new and different to shake things up.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 76: Lightbulb

I love nothing more than a good idea. I find few things more terrifying than sharing a good idea (save the stuff of nightmares and phobias). Lying in bed this morning, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, an idea came to me. I could, if I dared, hold a fundraiser for those affected by Hurricane Dorian. I could do a Practice-a-Thon, and ask sponsors to pledge any amount, for example, a nickel, for every minute I practice piano for the next two weeks. A sponsor could also contribute a flat fee. If I had many sponsors, I could raise a lot of money.

I was so inspired by this idea that, ironically, I spent the day not practicing but setting up my fundraiser. I’m not ready yet, but I’ve chosen a new piece to learn. I have a new challenge and, with luck, I can help Direct Relief provide medical supplies to those areas affected by Hurricane Dorian.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 75: Upheaval

Today I am really proud of myself. I put together a playlist on Spotify with the entire Suzuki repertoire, and I endured mild seasickness on a whale watch boat tour. I only had to put my head over the side of the boat twice. The playlist was easy once I discovered that the Piano Favourites for Young People series of three volumes consists of all the Suzuki piano pieces with the levels all mixed up. It doesn’t seem like it’s as much of an accomplishment as it did when I was searching all of Spotify for just the right interpretation of the pieces. Still, no one had put together all seven books in one playlist in order.

I even left my playlist public, which is something I rarely do. I’m a private person with 20th century sensibilities. I don’t feel the need to live my life on the public Internet...until I started writing this blog. Now, my carefully cultivated, reclusive online existence has been disintegrated in a mash up with daily writing deadlines reminiscent of National Novel Writing Month. Now, it’s quantity over quality, which runs contrary to my mindset.

My values, my social image, and my art are all in as much upheaval as my body was on that boat being tossed and turned with each swell. I kept my eyes on the horizon, and I (mostly) kept my lunch. Writing this blog, I can keep my focus on practicing, recording, and honest, insightful sharing with courage and compassion.

Note: The roll up piano is a toy and not intended for real practice. I am on vacation, after all. Still, I want to keep up with the pieces I’ve learned, and I figure the roll up instrument is better than air piano. It’s an experiment.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 74: Ego

I had the opportunity to play for a group, which for me is a giant exercise in humility. I walk a tightrope of perfectionism, chasing the flawless performance. I love to play, and I love playing well,   but it when it comes to performing, I’m just hoping I don’t mess up too badly. Worst of all it shows...in the concentration etched on my brow and the determined set of my jaw. And it doesn’t help that I’m still learning the music.
When I’m alone and practicing, I sometimes manage a decent performance. When I have an audience, I am seeking their praise. It is vainglory, I am ashamed to say, that drives my perfectionism.

Making music is supposed joyous and creative. I don’t know about other musicians, but for me, I can only find inspiration in the letting go of my quest for the impeccable performance. Mistakes are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is my focus, my inspiration, and my joy. It is the ability to release my vanity and ego rather than my ability to play that counts.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 73: Working Ahead

I am working ahead. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been creating two blog posts a day (mostly). I’m gearing up for my annual end of summer cleaning bender, I’ll be traveling to places that will not likely have pianos available to practice on, and I have a super woman complex that prohibits practically any relaxation ever. So, I’m working ahead.
I was inspired to record the first four pieces of Book 2, just to get in the habit of playing them consecutively. I went on to record the fifth piece, which had a number of mistakes in it. In the spirit of accepting the first take, I know I should use it. In life you can’t undo all the conversations you had before some kind soul told you that you had spinach stuck between your teeth. All you can do is rush to the bathroom, fix yourself, and move forward. But this is my creation, and I get to decide whether to reveal myself in all my imperfection or to put my best foot forward. In any case, I am still working ahead.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 72: Ignoring Mistakes

Playing through and ignoring mistakes is a good way to prepare for a performance. When the music has been thoroughly learned and any stumbles are random, the pianist needs to be comfortable letting go of mistakes instead of correcting them. Even when correcting mistakes during practice, the student can go back four to eight measures and try again to get it right. This helps train the brain and fingers in muscle memory. It’s also a good way to practice staying focused.

When I’m teaching, I like to describe playing music as being like riding a train. When the train pulls out of the station and builds up speed, the engineer doesn’t pull the breaks and stop the train for a small mistakes. The train just keeps chugging along down the track and never mind any mistakes.
In this clip, I have a few “lost” measures, but taking the repeat gives me a second chance to get it right. I love this minuet, but I’ll be happy when I get a new focus piece on the next page.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 71: Metronome

Any piano teacher will encourage practice with the dreaded metronome. The infernal tick-tick-tick inspires countless pianists to quoth, “Nevermore,” even if they have never read any Poe. Yet the metronome is an invaluable tool for practice. The big black box I’ve had since the last quarter of the last century has been my faithful companion through preparations for recitals and competitions, and it stands by me even now through innumerable lessons and practice sessions. Even as a complementary technique to STOP-PREPARE, it is effective, whether set to a slow tempo or concert tempo.
My latest idea for the metronome is to use the app on my phone. It has the ability to give a different tone for the first beat of the measure. I can use this to practice playing through pieces—staying with the beat without stopping to correct mistakes. Practicing this way helps smooth out the wrinkles in a piece. I can’t wait to use this practice technique on other pieces I’m polishing!

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 70: First Take

I’ve started a trend of posting my first take for my mini performances. First and foremost, I’m practicing giving my best performance right out of the gate. This takes great concentration and superior mind powers. I’m asking myself to calm my jitters and focus on the music, staying joyfully in the moment knowing that this is my only chance to get it right. I’m raising the stakes. It is also a practice. I am adjusting to a higher stakes practice. This is good for me. Some days I’ll play better than others, just as some days I’ll have a good hair day.
The other reason I’m posting my first take is a practical one. I’m on a summer cleaning bender, and I’m simply choosing not to take the time to make several recordings until I get it right. Life goes on, even though I have my challenge goal. It’s a delicate balancing act to give my work the attention it deserves. And so, welcome to a higher stakes, sharper focus, more tedious game. It’s just where I am on the journey.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 69: A Little Practice

One way to practice certain pieces is to play the chords as blocked or harmonic chords instead of broken or melodic chords. I’m doing it with the Bach Gigue, and I’m doing it with the Schumann Melody. It doesn’t usually affect the quality of the accompaniment, but in the Melody you can hear some unusual harmonies in the blocked chords. Not only does it help me learn the music, but it gives me insight into the structure of the piece. A little practice can go a long way.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 68: The Slow Road to Mastery

The only way I’m going to attain any mastery with these pieces is to slow down and learn them properly. I don’t want to do it, but I’m probably going to end up recording the same pieces over and over again. In order to learn thoroughly enough pieces to offer any kind of variety, I’d have to spend hours a day at the piano. I have a real time goal, and I’m keeping a journal of my progress. There’s no movie montage to show the boring passage of time. There’s only Minuet after Minuet. That’s the slow road to mastery.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 67: Impatient

My pieces are still half baked because I’m impatient. I can play through all of Book 2, but I lack the confidence I need because I’m not taking the time to let the pieces soak in. I’m getting the minuets mixed up. Melody is a tangle of fingers. The left hand of the Beethoven Sonatina feels like a clash of checks and stripes. It’s time to slow down and focus on the first few pieces before charging ahead. I can pave my path with patience.

1,000 Days of Music - Day 64: Still Half Baked

The Beethoven Sonatina in Book 2 is considered one piece with two parts. I wanted to put them together, though they are still half baked. For me, it is an exercise in reading, performance, and nerve. The worst feeling while playing is the endless background loop in my head pleading with me not to mess up. The best feeling is simply enjoying the music and staying in the moment. I had a little of both in this performance. I can keep practicing until the joy overpowers the fear. That is success.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 63: European Style

The Suzuki piano repertoire consists almost entirely of European classical music and folk songs. Some people have the idea that European classical music is the gold standard by which all other music is measured, implying that it is somehow superior. Other believe it to be stuffy and boring, the province of snobs who join the country club and send their children to private school. Neither are correct. European classical music happens to be one tool to teach musical ability, literacy, theory, and appreciation. Mastery opens the door to learning the complexities of jazz, as well as blues, rock, country, and any other genre of music imaginable.

The Suzuki piano repertoire is one of the finest teaching tools available. Each piece is carefully chosen to introduce specific abilities. The learning concepts are cumulative, and the student’s repertoire increases, so does mastery. The pianist who learns these pieces—from the German folk tunes in Book 1 to Bartok’s Romanian Dance in Book 7 can learn to play anything, from Scott Joplin’s ragtime music, the soundtracks to Hamilton and Godspell, and Bohemian Rhapsody to anything by Fats Waller, George Gershwin, and Ray Charles. A true appreciation for variety music is one of the finest gifts a teacher can give.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 62: Gooey in the Middle

Here is the entire Beethoven Sonatina, First Movement (without the repeats). Yes, I’m serving it up, even though it’s still a little gooey in the middle. Most of Book 2 should to go back in the oven, and those pieces that are “done” needs to stay in the warmer. None of it is fully baked. Still just as food begins to make the house smell good when it’s almost done, I hope I’m making music that sounds good.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 61: Coordination

Pianists must develop coordination in order to play. It takes a great deal of ability to play with two or more voices between both hands. Piano students develop this skill slowly, as with any other skill. This Beethoven Sonatina from Book 2 requires coordination to play two different patterns in the left hand. Some day soon I will develop the ability to play the entire first movement of this Sonatina, but that day is not today.
Note: I am posting these from vacation. I have gotten through the entire Sonatina since I recorded this, but it still needs lots of practice.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 60: Mechanical

Today I made seven recordings of the two Schumann pieces, The Happy Farmer and The Wild Rider (Books 2 and 3 respectively), before I was satisfied. Even now, my playing is mechanical. Still, that’s okay. It’s a learning process. If I look as though I’m hyper focused on the notes, rhythm, phrasing, and dynamics, well, that’s because I am. It takes time and repetition to learn the music thoroughly enough to focus on artistry. If I’m still in the mechanical stages of learning, I might as well enjoy it.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 55: Satisfaction

I am so pleased to have gotten through all of the Suzuki Book 2. I am not yet ready to record one continuous performance, but I can play the entire book. It is not difficult music for me, but it is fourteen pieces. (I count the Beethoven Sonatina as two pieces, since it is two movements—the Moderato and the Allegretto Romance. Moderato and Allegretto refer to the tempo or speed of the piece—moderato meaning moderately and allegretto meaning sort of but not quite fast.)

I have truly never learned (or reviewed)  so much music at one time in my life. If I’m to ask it if my students, I must be willing to do it myself. Tomorrow I may be discount, but today I am satisfied with my work so far.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 53: Under Pressure

This is an experiment in performing under pressure. I had thought about polishing the first part of the Mozart Minuet from Book 4, to bring some variety from the first three Suzuki books. However, we’re under a severe thunderstorm warning. Since I’ve been practicing daily from books two and three, I decided to try playing two pieces in a row in one take.

I managed to stay calm under pressure, and behold the result. It was a welcome change from the fall, when I was unable to get through my audition pieces without breaking down. The pieces are not difficult for me, it is true, but fear and anxiety are insidious, laying traps in the easiest pieces. I’ve been practicing and posting for over fifty days. That takes some of the sting out of the process. Such is the beauty of daily review and performance...even if no one is watching.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 52: Basics

I love it that Go Tell Aunt Rhody immediately follows Mary Had a Little Lamb in the first Suzuki book. Once students gain the ability to play a simple right hand melody with two basic left hand chords, they learn a third chord. Enter the subdominant. With the tonic and dominant chords, students can play many simple tunes, like Alouette. Adding the subdominant gives students many more tunes to play. On Top of Spaghetti and Jingle Bells both come to mind. I love introducing the subdominant so much I decided to speak on the recording instead of just playing. Learning and teaching the basics really is so much fun.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 51: Planner vs. Pantser

Are you a planner or a pantser? Do you like plan your experiences or fly by the seat of your pants? I am a planner to my very core. I love making detailed planned and imagining them unfolding exactly as I envision them.  Now, however, I’m learning to fly by the seat of my pants. I don’t plan my blog posts. Instead, I simply practice and see what comes up. I’ve discovered the power of combining strategies. I make plans, put them in my pocket, and then see what happens. Usually, it’s something magical.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 50: Milestones

I never appreciated Mary Had a Little Lamb until I started folding the Suzuki arrangement into my traditional teaching. It is such a milestone piece for students. Once they can play a simple right hand  melody with basic left hand chords, they can play many other simple tunes with similar accompaniments. It is so exciting to watch a student’s enthusiasm light up after playing unaccompanied melodies and solo left hand accompaniments.

So much of learning anything involves a gradual, daily increase in ability. Slowly trudging uphill, we focus on one foot in front of the other...until we realize we’ve reached a plateau overlooking a beautiful valley. Tomorrow begins the next climb, but today we can enjoy the view.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 49: Belief

I never would have believed I could learn and memorize so much music so quickly one month ago. I was actually a little doubtful that I could learn and memorize the first sixteen measures of this Minuet in G Minor by Christian Petzold in a half an hour. I suppose it helps that I just learned the companion minuet yesterday. Still, I sat down and just focused...after forty-eight days of sitting down and focusing. Maybe learning music quickly becomes a habit over time. Maybe the music is easy enough for me to learn quickly. Maybe I’m overthinking the whole thing. Or maybe...I learned it because I believed I could.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 48: Progress

I practiced my way all the way to the eleventh piece of Book 2. I only have the Beethoven Sonatina to polish and the Bartok Children at Play to learn. With focus, diligence, and detachment, I can finish learning the book by the end of the month.
I was going to title this post Flawed, because my timer went off on the middle of my performance. I also experienced a moment of visible confusion at the end of the first section. However, I’m choosing to focus on the positive.

It is such a challenge to get a performance worth posting. It doesn’t have to be flawless, but the music needs to flow. I choose the most confident performance, rather than the one that most approaches perfection. It works best when I relax into the dance of making music. Capturing my most confident playing requires a magic combination of mental presence and release of extraneous thought. The only notes that matter are the ones under my fingers.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 47: Learning Not to Play by Ear

As I focus on learning much of the beginning Suzuki piano repertoire, I’m realizing how much of it I never learned as a child and how many pieces I always wanted to learn but never got assigned. Many of these pieces are classic piano student repertoire, whether the lessons are traditional or Suzuki.
I had an excellent teacher growing up, traditional of course. She was impressed by my ability to learn music by ear, so much so that she wouldn’t assign me pieces I’d heard in group lessons. She assigned me pieces I’d never heard so I’d be forced to read the music. It was a deft strategy, and as I got older and more advanced it became less of an issue.

I learned to read music, and I learned to play well. I can’t help thinking, however, that I would have learned much more naturally and organically if I’d had Suzuki piano lessons instead of traditional. This is not necessarily a productive train of thought. Few piano teachers were trained in and using the Suzuki philosophy when I was a child. I would have been among the first Suzuki piano students in my area had my parents found me such a teacher. It is also not part of my philosophy to look back on my life with regret. I am convinced that my journey as a musician and teacher is unfolding beautifully...even if I’m the one doing the convincing. That said, here is a piece I wish I’d learned as a child—or at least a piece I’m glad to be learning now.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 46: Risk

In the Suzuki Book 2 the Bach minuets (BWV 822) contain notes that they can be played as one piece in A B A form—G minor-G major-G minor. Since I’m focusing on Book 2, I thought I’d try it. It works, as I knew it would. It gave me the opportunity to spend more time in front of the camera. For me, that’s frightening.

I’ve always suffered from nerves when performing. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t major in music. I thought I didn’t want it badly enough to endure the anxiety. In my naïveté, I imagined I could achieve my version of success without making that kind of emotional sacrifice. I was wrong.
Anything worth doing requires you to put yourself out there and take an emotional risk. Responsibility, accountability, criticism and critique, fear of failure, fear of harm—these are the monsters we face when we undertake any worthy endeavor. Our ability to face these demons is at the heart of the adventure of life.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 45: Sweet and Simple

I appreciate the sweet simplicity of the folk tunes in Book 1. The first book of the Suzuki repertoire is for the beginning pianist. It is designed to increase keyboard skills gradually, but each piece is a milestone. Long, Long Ago gives the budding musician a chance to play both dominant and dominant seventh chords. The plain dominant chord rings with the beauty of stacked thirds while the added seventh gives a richer and spicier flavor to the harmonies. The melody also gives the beginning pianist a chance to try spanning a larger interval (a fifth) between the first and second fingers (thumb and forefinger). It is so gratifying to teach the Book 1 repertoire, even if my current methods are traditional rather than Suzuki. The students have such a sense of accomplishment when they get to the hands together pieces. They are confident and full of the joy of music. My work doesn’t get much better than that.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 44: Little Waltz

I like to think Little Waltz by Cornelius Gurlitt is about a daydream. A young girl at her first party is waltzing with a boy she’s known since childhood. She’s wearing her best dress, and the boy is looking unusually fine, but she views the whole affair in the harsh light of reality tinged with adolescent angst. In the first section of the piece (in B minor), she and her partner are awkward and nervous. She spills lemonade on her gown, and he steps on her toes. She gives herself up a a lovely daydream as the music modulates to F-sharp major. She is older, more confident, and her dress is covered with a filmy lace. Her partner is likewise transformed, and together they glide trough the dance with magically perfect steps...until, with the return of the first theme, she comes waltzing back to earth. They make it to the end of the dance, after which they exchange nervous smiles.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 43: Accepting Imperfection

I used to think that if I planned my endeavors every step of the way down to the last detail I would be successful. I would spend hours making plans. Then I would get overwhelmed by their enormity and the inevitable deviations and detours, and then bail. I know better now. I have discovered that all I need is positive energy and enthusiasm. Positive energy and enthusiasm generate inspiration and vision, which, in turn, creates ideas and plans that are flexible enough to survive obstacles and setbacks. Attitude is everything.

I used to think that I had to execute my plans perfectly in order to be successful. If I missed one day, my plans would disintegrate. I’m learning to accept a little imperfection once in a while. With enthusiasm and inspiration mixed with a generous helping of flexibility, faith, and self-compassion, I can do anything. I know it sounds pie in the sky, but all that really means is I need to get pumped up with my game face on before I do anything. A little self pep talk goes a long way.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 42: Faith

I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t know how I’m going to lighten my load while honoring the commitments I’ve made to myself and others. I only know that it is possible, and that I’m wise enough to figure it out. The only thing I know how to do is take the next steps with complete faith that the path will be revealed to me under my feet. This must be what is called “stepping out in faith.” Now where are my shoes?

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 41: Just Play

My life may be full to overflowing, and I may be feeling overwhelmed and scattered, but I can just play. Rather than dwell on my angst and frustration, I can simply tell myself that when I figure this out, it’s going to be so good. I can be grateful for the warning and appreciate the lesson.

I really enjoy Little Playmates. It’s bursting with fun, and it has the added challenge of playing with the melodies and the harmonies switching from hand to hand. I was feeling playful, so I chose this piece to perform today.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 40: Merry-Go-Round

Carl Czerny’s Allegretto 1 reminds me of a merry-go-round. I can smell the popcorn and funnel cakes, hear the tune played by a carousel organ, and see the painted horses going up and down in an endless race to nowhere. The important details of my life are slipping through my fingers as I clutch the pole anchoring my steed. Or worse, I am trapped on the inside of the machine, churning out the garish, giddy tunes that won’t stop as the wheel spins on its axis. I’ve lost my balance, my perspective, and my pipeline of inspiration has run dry.
On the other hand, my car has been serviced, my daughter has been caffeinated far beyond my better judgment, and I have just plowed dizzily through the first eight pieces of the Suzuki Book 2. My balance is as uncertain as if I’d just stepped off the a merry-go-round, but of course, I haven’t. The only reason I didn’t record myself is that I’m not sure how to link a post from YouTube to this blog, and I’m not willing to spend any time today figuring it out. I know I will sort it all out one day soon—the busyness, the technological ignorance, the general ineptitude I’m displaying with this project. But I fear that day is not today.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 39: Unsustainable

I would be embarrassed that I’m meeting myself coming and going and getting appointments mixed up, if I didn’t think it was a sign that I’m trying to do too much. But I do. While I feel a little shamefaced over my mistakes and truly apologetic for any inconveniences I’ve caused, I’m mostly just grateful for the lesson. The question is: How do I lighten my load without compromising core commitments I’ve made to myself and others? I don’t know. I only know that an answer exists, and I am confident that I will find it.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 38: Sustainable

Is chasing a challenge goal sustainable? I keep asking variations on the same theme because I keep wondering if I’m driving myself into the ground over this. The answer is emphatically no. Whenever I try, something sane and rational that looks an awful lot like laziness kicks in, and I don’t let myself overdo. The real jewel in all of this is a sense of perspective. Once I let go of unrealistic expectations,  I find that I can do more than I thought I could. Then I realize that sometimes a little bit is enough.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 37: Sight Reading

I have the unfortunate tendency to take my work too seriously. Once I start a project or a task, I want to go at it with an obsessive vengeance. I usually don’t, but I want to. I attempt to gobble up so many pieces using a new technique and end up frustrating myself into taking a more balanced approach. Now I am simply taking a break from it and sight reading. Well, okay, I’m not exactly sight reading, but I am not nearly as familiar with the second movement of this Clementi sonatina as the first. I never learned it as a child, and I don’t teach it often. Playing it glasses off and nose on the score sort of feels like sight reading. It’s a chance for me to add that to the long list of skills I’m improving.

1,000 Days of Piano - Day 36: Guilty

I just did a Google search for, “Why am I so hard on myself?” and every article I read was like looking in a mirror. I wanted to ask, “Why can’t I get myself together?” but Google doesn’t have an answer for that. I won’t last 1,000 days if I’m carrying around a barrel of guilt on my back. The perfectionism, self-criticism, procrastination on critical self-care won’t pave the path to success, either. Add to that, an unwillingness to accept compliments to a complete willingness to accept blame for anything that goes wrong, and I have a brick wall of negativity blocking my path.

The first thing I want to do is be hard on myself for being hard in myself. That’s a downward spiral too wide and deep to be considered. Why do I do this to myself? I’m guessing that I do it to push myself forward. If I’m hard on myself, maybe I’ll try harder to do better. Maybe a swift kick in the pants is what I need to get myself going. Like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy hold for him, I keep thinking, “This time will be different,” but it never is. 

The best I can to right now is try a little self-compassion and see if that works.