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Rain ... the 1932 film with Joan Crawford.

Rain

@ShiroKuro I'm glad it was helpful. Yay! Hopefully your teacher will be on board with it.

@AndyD Beautiful rose color! I haven't had good luck with poppies--they never come back.

@ShiroKuro I barely notice it if the Db is dropped from the left hand. Think of it as changing the voicing (dropping the LH Db) versus changing the harmony (dropping the Gb).

@ShiroKuro If it were me I'd leave out the Db in the left hand as it will be far less noticeable and a Db appears in the right hand as well so it won't be entirely missing from the chord. The Gb seems pretty important to the harmonic movement and it's the only Gb in the chord so it's elimination would make a big difference.

And no flies! It’s so bona to vada you! Your lovely eek and your riah! Sharda that we don’t palare more often!

I do 5-4-3-2-1, but it didn't work for me at first--it was uneven and unpredictable. The way I figured out what to do was as follows. I don't know if I can explain it in words, but I'll try.

1. I looked at the pattern of notes in the left hand, Eb-Gb-Ab-Db-Eb in the treble. The chord starts on Eb which is on the right side of a 2 black key block (Db and Eb), skips over 2 white keys to the next black key, Gb, then the next black key, Ab, then skips four half steps to the black key, Db, and finally the next black key, Eb.

2. Then I figure out how to mirror that pattern for my right hand. So mirroring Eb-Gb-Ab-Db-Eb going up, I play in descending notes--with my right hand--Db (half step from middle C), Bb, Ab, Eb, Db using 5-4-3-2-1. It's the same pattern the left hand has to play but reversed for the right hand (and on different notes obviously, it's the pattern that counts).

3. If I can play the mirror image of the pattern with my right hand, then it's just a process of figuring out what I'm doing on the right side of my body (hand, arm, shoulder, ...) that I'm not doing on my left. For me, I discovered a good deal of tension in the crook of my left elbow.

4. Then I start making up exercises for my left hand while it's crossed in front of my body, specifically in an effort to open up my left elbow. For instance, holding my pinky on the Eb, trying to play step wise with my thumb and fore finger several notes away. It turns out I also had stiffness on the inside of my upper arm. It's a slow process and sometimes intense, but it works for me.

Of course, we're all individual and none of this may help. I hope it does.

Otherwise, an alternate fingering.

Thrift store finds. Cheap in price but I love them. The first evokes strong feelings for an area just northwest of here. A very strong New England feeling. The second one is a nice composition (if you ask me) and someone along the way must have hung it without a frame by putting a nail through it--it has a small hole top center. I've been meaning to fix that. They are all signed. The fourth one is signed Ethel White, 1893.

@ShiroKuro said:

I think it might have been different with a different instructor (or if it was a in-person class), but it was taught in such a decontextualized way, it was very frustrating.

Our teacher is taking the piece of music which the first student will be playing to center the discussion around. He's starting to teach us to "see" the harmony without having to be at the piano. I would love to be proficient at that rather than the laborious process it is at the moment... hopefully with time.

I've been watching a lot of this man's videos and I think they're great. I found his channel because I've been making liquers lately and he came up in a search. So far I've made an orange one (it's delicious, recipe from an older book) and a praline one which isn't ready yet. I should be able to taste it next week.

I see several experiments coming up.

https://www.youtube.com/@Spectacular-cuoredicioccolato

Ink

Clairvaux

@ShiroKuro said:

Oh so you don't play every week? Does the class meet every week?

Now that there are 3 of us, there isn't time for each of us to play and discuss each week. The class is now about 20 min. theory, and 20 minutes each for two students. The hour goes by quickly. So, we're rotating in order and every week one of us will not play. Next week will be my week "off" so to speak. Yes, class meets weekly.

I've only seen 2. The Office (UK version), and some episodes of The Great British Baking Show. Most of them I don't even recognize the names.

I am thinking I'd like to see Downton Abbey at some point. It gets talked about so much.

I just couldn't get it together at class today. Happens sometimes. The piano in class differs so much from mine at home despite being a Steinway and bigger than mine (and the room at school has high ceilings). The treble doesn't have as much power when compared to the bass, if I do say so myself, and the teacher agreed with me. Rough class. I should have a few weeks before I play again, so hopefully I can square away the parts that are causing me trouble.

For one thing, the piece opens FF and goes FFF in the third measure! Not something I'm very well practiced at. In attempting to play big, I get flustered and lose my place. LOL. I think I'll need to remember that big comes from relaxing into, not trying to go beyond oneself. We'll see. They say we learn the most when things go awry, so that's my positive take on it.

@Mary-Anna That's great, Mary Anna. First soprano! Congrats. Second Soprano is nothing to sneeze at either.

Cobain

@ShiroKuro Jeeze, sorry to hear it, SK.