Things Coming Together
I used to watch a lot of TV Series when I was in college. The ones I liked the best were the ones where seemingly unimportant things would happen in the episode, but towards the end everything would be put in perspective and one would realise how those small things lead to the big climax. I was always in awe of writers who could write that way.
While learning piano, in the beginning, all your lessons are about learning one new, small skill. At a later stage it becomes apparent how important all those small skills are to play something that is truly awe-inspiring. I, obviously, am not at that stage. But today I recorded a piece from John Thompson’s book called Long, Long Ago, which seemed like a difficult piece, and I know it would have given me a lot of trouble one month back, but it really came easy when I actually learnt it now.
The main components of the piece were:
- Maintaining a steady rhythm on the LH which alternates between two chords. Something very similar I had learnt in Jingle Bells piece from Michael Aaron book.
- Quarter notes all along, with no rests, which meant it was important to either know the RH melody well or read a little ahead while playing.
- Two different positions for the RH. The position change was simple because I have done similar change in many pieces by now. The trick was to do it on time, which is something I always have trouble with, but it came easy with this piece.
It’s nice to see the efforts I have put in during the last four months reap benefit. Here is the recording.
I also had my piano class today and I played Inside Out for my teacher who was satisfied with my playing. So instead of practicing the same piece in class, I moved on to the next piece in the book. The initial impression is that while the piece is not so easy, it is definitely not as difficult as Inside Out. I am hoping to learn this one much faster. Will be starting on it tomorrow onwards.
