WTF-Beta

@Axtremus that was such a cool video!! Thank you for posting it!! I am going to share it with one of my friends here who teaches Chinese linguistics, I bet he can use it in with his class.

@Mark that was really gorgeous!! Your playing is lovely!
(I wish I could play this... I just think Chopin is beyond me, probably for the foreseeable future.

@Mark said:

I just noticed how loud this recording is when you turn up the volume. I need to re-mix it at the very least. It's was recording with just the iPhone's built-in microphone.

I listened to it through a bluetooth speaker and I thought it sounded fine in terms of overall volume and all that. Your piano sounds great too!

@Mark thank you!!

I would love to hear your Chopin!!

@wtg I love the mechanical pencil one!!

@Steve-Miller oh wow!! What a saga!!! So glad you got it fixed! Esp because flickering lights are the worst!!!

This sounds like a very promising development, even if it's at the level 0f 20-40% right now.

@mik I'm glad your brother is having such success!

@AndyD I feel like lighting has gone over the top these days. Like, with an interesting light fixture, a little goes a long way. You don't need an unusual shade or statement light fixture in every room!

@jon-nyc said:

As someone who is involved in several of them, let me remind you that online support groups have a built in sample bias. Most people find them because they’re having issues. That can make it seem like everyone has horrible issues with the surgery, when in reality most people who don’t have issues never find or post much in the group.

I know, and I totally get that.

But I do feel like there's a lot the doctors don't focus on, and it's frustrating to feel like you can only find about some of those things from random strangers online.

For example, the stuff I mentioned above about "prehab" (exercises, strength training I could/should be doing in advance of the surgery). And all the logistics. I received a big packet of info, and no where does it talk about renting a wheelchair or knee scooter, that kind of thing.

The doctors are only thinking about the spot they are going to operate on, but that spot is connected to the rest of me....

Wow, very pretty, @andyd !

@Bernard said:

I think that's the germ I need for this piece. An aria! Chopin loved bel canto opera.

Awesome! I suspect that image will be all you need to give is the shape you felt it was lacking.

@Bernard said:
Yeah, you definitely would not want to hold tension in your hand for the duration of the arpeggios.

Exactly. I worked on this (score below) in one lesson with my teacher a bit and it’s better in terms of less tension, but not great. I’ve found spots/ways to release the tension, but it seems to me there shouldn’t be tension in the first place. So I want to take it back to my lesson, but we’ve been busy with my jury piece, so I’ve put it on hold until that’s finished.

But in this one (score below, which is octaves) and the other score I posted (which are the arps), I think my problem, or whatever it is I’m doing, is the same. My hand isn’t that small, I think one problem is that I might be stretching more than I need to. And then another problem is not releasing that stretch, so the tension builds. And then I think I need to use my arm, wrist, move my elbow etc., in ways that I’m not doing ….

Thanks for listening everyone!

@Bernard said:

I'm now on the 3rd and final op post Nocturne by Chopin in class: Nocturne No. 21 in C Minor, KK IVb/8.

Oooh this is such a lovely and compelling piece!

It's a challenge because it's very repetitive, the first half page is almost all I chord alternating with V7. I can't find the climax of the piece--I'm not even sure there is one! It's almost a meditative piece. In this regard, it's just as hard as any of the others, but in a different way.

I can imagine! Chopin is always devilishly hard in any case, but there’s something about this…maybe it’s what you said, the meditativeness, lack of obvious climax…

Have you tried recording yourself and listening to the story you’re telling, or trying to find the story you should be telling, but aren’t?

Ok I watched the video. that was super interesting. But now I need to watch it when I’m in front of my piano

I wish she had talked more about releasing tension during octave playing.

Does she have large hands? Probably? I need to go to the keyboard bride so think more about it…

I have a piano jury coming up in about two weeks. This will be the “final exam” for my piano class this semester. Since my biggest challenge now is perfomance anxiety, I’ve been trying to record myself as a way to add some pressure to my practice.

So here’s my recording from yesterday. I kind of fell apart at the end, but it’s otherwise not too bad.

Miracles, by Alexis Ffrench

Btw here’s that passage.

I play stuff like this all the time, but for some reason, this one is giving me problems….

@Bernard ooh, thanks for this, I’ll listen later today.

I don’t know if she talks about this, but there’s a piece I used to play (like, 20+ years ago) that I recently returned to. It’s mostly easy, but at the end there are several measures of arpeggios where the right hand is stretched out the whole time. I find myself having a lot of tension and feeling like my technique is making it harder for me. I’ve been planning to talk to my teacher about it, but we’re working on prep for my jury so I have put it away until that’s done….

@wtg wow!! That’s great!

@wtg that’s interesting.

Book clubs are not a common activity for most Americans, according to the recent survey

Were they ever common??

@Daniel physical therapy, with a good PTist, can be truly amazing. I highly recommend it.

If your PCP doesnt give you a referral, you contact your insurance to see if you can self-refer to PT, some plans allow that, esp. for knees, which is such a common problem.

Good luck!

When are they coming out with a way to regrow tendons?