Future Plans
I was trying to decide last night if I will stress myself out to learn a challenging chamber work in 6 months. I feel like it takes me so long to learn anything new-- I mean getting it so familiar that it's in my finger memory and I don't have to think and it just "plays itself". I did learn the Schumann Piano Quintet to performance level (we didn't perform the third movement, but I learned it) in one semester in college, which seems insane! I must have practiced a lot.
The other thing is that I am sick a lot during the spring with allergies and am tired all the time. I could hardly play for months this spring which is why I felt underprepared with the Brahms.
If I play the "easy" Dvoลรกk piano quartet for next February but sign up for an Arensky trio for next July in California with my friend (we'll have to find a good cellist to make it happen, I know one in Portland but will have to see if she's interested), then I'll only have 6 months until the following February in Europe. And all the quartets and quintets that are high on my list are hard! But if I already know what I want to play, maybe I should just get a head start and start working on both Dvoลรกk quartets. Having 1.5 years of it in my brain is much better than just 6 months!
So when I go home, maybe:
- start on the Dvoลรกk quartet in D major (the easy one) using strict Dr. Molly schedule
- start on the Dvoลรกk quartet in E-flat major (the hard one) by slowly reading through it often
- run through the Beethoven cello sonatas in G minor and A major once a week. They should magically get learned if I read them enough.
I noticed when I was cramming for the Brahms that I started doing good practice techniques like actually paying attention to what I was playing instead of just reading the score and counting on my muscle memory. I would practice separate hands, pay attention to chord sequences, break large phrases into smaller groups to make it mentally easier. And I thought, why didn't I do all this earlier?! ๐ But hopefully I can apply these new learnings going forward!
It is really rewarding to see myself becoming a better pianist! I remember my big weakness as a teenager was that I couldn't play a convincing left hand trill. And then one day in my 20's, I could do an ok one. And now I can play a respectable left hand trill. I'm really hoping that everything will just get easier as I keep signing up for difficult works.
