[senza sordino]

I neglected this thread, sorry.

The teacher I started working with February of last year couldn't seem to fit me into her schedule and so I got ditched. Disappointing really. She's good. So I haven't had lessons for about 16 months. That's usually not a problem, but I like to have lessons once in a while to help me with something new and keep my playing fresh and improving.

I've started with another new teacher. Two lessons already. This teacher lives upstairs and over two apartments. She's a local professional playing with the opera orchestra. She also occasionally plays with the symphony orchestra. She comes downstairs to my place. This is brilliant because I can spend time prior warming up, and spend time immediately after practicing what we've just done. She's giving me a $5 discount because we're neighbours.

I'm working on The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. I started this once before about 5 years ago, but it went no where. This new teacher has performed it, she knows it well. She's got some good fingering and bowing. I will possibly perform this at a masterclass in July. It's a masterclass full of adult amateurs like me. Not too much pressure. I've performed in previous years too.

Last week we had a lesson in the afternoon and then I saw my new teacher (and previous teacher) perform Also Sprach Zarathustra with the local professional orchestra.

Two more lessons are scheduled. I'm going to ask her if she wants to continue giving lessons. But at $75 per hour the price does add up quickly.

I did play The Lark Ascending at the masterclass in the summer. It's a low pressure masterclass full of adult amateurs like myself. I played though 2/3 of the piece, it's quite long. I played for nearly 10 minutes in front of ten people. It's wasn't a particularly good performance but considering I had only really been working on it six weeks I was pleased. And my audience was appreciative. I go year after year, and I'm usually the only one brave enough to stand up and play in front of the others.

I'm still working with my neighbour / teacher. I'm now working on the Franck A Major Sonata, and the Andante from the second Solo Violin Sonata of Bach. The Andante is really difficult. My intonation is not good, and the pulsing bass line difficult to maintain. But that is what practice is for. The Franck is lovely. I downloaded an MP3 file of the piano accompaniment. There is a professional accompanist who sells online piano accompaniments. I have not played along yet to this but I will soon. I have no experience playing with a piano accompaniment.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

Autumn break for me and finally time to practice a lot. I'm getting ready for a piano/guitar recital on November 22. We are playing the Villa-Lobos concerto, "the Albeniz concerto" by Stephen Goss and hopefully Desafio by Marlos Nobre and a solo each. We've played them before some years ago, except Nobre. Right now I feel it's too much but had some good practice sessions today. Getting psyched up.

 

[Bwv 1080]

Sor’s Variations on a Theme from Magic Flute and an arrangement I made of the Burt Bacharach song Walk on By

 

[Bwv 1080]

Recorded Sir Andrew Aguecheek this afternoon. Videoed it with the score as the recording blended a few takes and it felt lame to try to video myself playing along. A few gliches still, but here it is:

 

[mikeh375]

Recorded Sir Andrew Aguecheek this afternoon. Videoed it with the score as the recording blended a few takes and it felt lame to try to video myself playing along. A few gliches still, but here it is:

A piece I didn't know, nicely done Bwv, it looked tricky in places.

 

[tdc]

The Henze piece is nice, sounds like it is in the far outer boundaries of tonality. I like that zone.

 

[Bwv 1080]

An arrangement I made of the Steely Dan tune Aja

 

[consuono]

Bach's first cello suite.

 

[Owen David]

I am working on a composition for string quartet. Unusually for me it travels backwards and forwards through several keys: F#mi, C#mi, Bmi, and A maj and ends up with a melody essentially in the E major key over a chord sequence of D, C#min, Bmin, A, G, F, Eb. It's good to work outside your comfort zone.

 

[dbassed]

Greetings to the TC folk, this is my first post.
Currently working on the Koussevitzky concerto for double bass and Annibale Mengoli's Study no 16 for double bass from the Petracchi Simplified Higher Technique book. So I basically came here to cry.
It's been a few months since I started working on these, have already developed my thumb callus and my hands feel strong but there are still so many things to fix.

 

[Guest]

I just bought a guitar arrangement of Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in D major, Op.3, No.9, RV 230 first arranged by Bach for keyboard. It's quite challenging, so I'll see how it goes. It will never sound this good, though!!

 

[Guest]

I'm also working Manuel Ponce's La Folia Variations and Fugue.

This is what I hope it sound like someday...

 

[Guest]

I'm working on a transcription of the Sinfonia from Bach's keyboard Partita No.2. It's a beast, especially the fugue, which begins at 3:35.

 

[Guest]

Recorded Sir Andrew Aguecheek this afternoon. Videoed it with the score as the recording blended a few takes and it felt lame to try to video myself playing along. A few gliches still, but here it is:

I love that entire Sonata (and the 2nd one, too.) Have you seen this video of Bream and Henze discussing "Oberon"? (The discussion begins at 1:27, but it's amusing to watch them playing tennis, and Henze explains the title beginning at :53)

 

[Bwv 1080]

Arranged the WC Handy song St Louis Blues - tried for a more pianistic, fast harmonic rhythm

 

[Guest]

I'm working on a transcription of the Sinfonia from Bach's keyboard Partita No.2. It's a beast, especially the fugue, which begins at 3:35.

Since I also play piano, I think I'll learn it on that instrument instead--it's actually easier in some respects. The guitar is not really equipped to handle keyboard works, at least not without a lot of modifications/simplifications.

 

[Ingélou]

Trying to get the hang of Tullochgorum - based on arpeggio techniques but with Scottish snap coming out of its ears.
Not the Scott Skinner variations featured here - just the basic tune, in C.

 

[Ingélou]

Some Irish tunes - they're so beautiful. I can't play them to speed, but I can luxuriate in the melodies.

 

[Musicaterina]

At the moment I'm learning the choral "O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte" (O That I Had a Thousand Voices) written by Johann Mentzer (German text) and Johann Balthasar König (melody) on the tenor viol.

 

[6Strings]

I'm currently working on Fernando Sor's Guitar Sonata Op.14 and Leo Brouwer's La Gran Sarabanda.