TC3 I don't get too nervous in the class because we mostly play all at the same time. I'm pretty dedicated to practicing what the teacher has assigned and am relatively well prepared to play on the rare occasions that the teacher asks for a volunteer to play something. If no one else comes forward, I'll volunteer.
I'm also in a Meetup group of Portland (Oregon) Piano Players. I'm one of the least accomplished players there and I try to play first or at least early on in the meetings.
I'm working on the first piece in this video, called Music Box. I'm a sucker for pieces that use the far upper register of the piano.
I'm also working on a couple of other late-beginner/early-intermediate pieces that I can't find good recordings of: "Toccata-Rocket" by Jason Sifford and "A Lincoln Tribute" by Carol Matz. The latter is part of a suite of Washington, DC-themed piano pieces published by Alfred, and it turns out they have an intermediate-difficulty piano suite for every single U.S. state plus a number of other locations inside and outside the U.S.
Finally, I'm working on Kabalevesky's Etude in A minor, op. 27, no. 3. The version in ABRSM indicates the tempo at 100 to the quarter note, which is a bit ridiculously fast for me right now, but I'm working towards getting it to a satisfying level.
My teacher also wants me to work on Debussy soon. I'm a bit skeptical because the easiest Debussy piece I know, Page d'album, is still like way above anything I've ever worked on. Guess we'll see.
I have been rather distracted away from piano practice since the weekend but seem to have got some mojo back today. This morning rehearsed a piano duet with a friend who was seeking more experience with duets. We hope to perform it at our piano group on Saturday. It is by Ernest Markham-Lee and called the Lost Lagoon depicting what he calls a sheet of water in Stanley Park Vancouver. Does anyone know Stanley Park?
lilypad I'd probably learn faster with private instruction
You played jurassic park in one of the 'pw' recitals, right? I had never heard the jurassic park music before that, and the way it sounds ... progresses ... the 'chord' sounds/sequence combined with the piano timbre is very very powerful indeed. As in totally captivating. Every once in a while, I run through those sequences. It is amazing.
Update : just checked in google (lilypad jurassic park abf recitals. Thanking goodness my memory hasn't failed me hehe. Yes indeed ... that was you!
For the past few weeks, I've been working on:
My Funny Valentine, Autumn Leaves, Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, Beautiful Love, and The Shadow of Your Smile.
I have been working on Beethoven Sonata F minor Op. 2 No. 1, and my first two Schubert pieces, Scherzo No. 1 in B flat, and Impromptu Op. 142 No. 2. All challenging for me, but I'm loving every minute and so grateful for my wonderful teacher who pushes me just enough! 
SouthPark Yes. That was quite the stretch piece for me. Thanks to someone on PW asking for fingering advice on a piece, I discovered another arrangement from that movie that is even stretchier. It's called "Welcome to Jurassic Park". Almost twice as long as what I played before and has more of the themes in it. I found the sheet music for it on musicnotes.com.
Here is the first part of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin:
Enjoy...
Beethoven's op.14 Nr.1. And it is very hard for me, especially the speed factor - I 'm not sure I will be able to play it as fast as it's mostly played.
Pallas > So I am considering adding an Ab scale to my Molly program. Surely I can treat a new scale like any other method book piece!.
Great idea! I haven't been sufficiently motivated to practice scales, chords and arpeggios except whatever new key I'm learning. The Molly Gebrian experiment might do nicely for learning new keys while also imposing a schedule to keep the old one in my fingers.
Now that my community college class is over, I'm working on the following motley collection of 3 new pieces:
Nancy Faber's "Great Barrier Reef" 2-page piece from Piano Adventures Level 4 Lesson book.
Jacob Metelka's "Mouse Dance" 1-page piece from RCM Level 3 Celebration Series Piano Etudes
Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" 3-page grade 3 arrangement from My First Jazz Standards Songbook.
3 Romances for Oboe and piano by Robert Schumann (my wife is the oboist).
A selection or two of Rossini's "Quelques Riens" (a few nothings) from "Sins of my old age". Right now #11 (Andantino).
Schumann certainly loves his octaves in the bass, and it's full of big chords and jumps. There's also the kind of situation where you have a melody in the right hand, a bass line in the left, and traded between both hands, a rolling accompaniment figure, often in triplets. It's challenging for me, anyway, especially at the tempos indicated.
It's the first time I've ever played any Schumann, with the exception of a couple of the "Scenes of Childhood" when I was a child myself.
I'm in a weird post-competition spot where I'm trying to figure out my next milestone. If I decide to go to WIPAC, will probably try to resurrect one of the bigger pieces I've played before and whatever pieces I need to round out the program. If I'm done competing for the year, I'm definitely going to start chipping away at the Scriabin Fantasy!
In the meantime, have just been noodling on some smaller pieces that have caught my ear:
"You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."
lilypad Metelka is fantastic. If you're inclined, I recommend looking into Metelka's full collections - "Modern Piano Studies" (which Mouse Dance and the RCM 6 Little Nocturne are from), "Little Virtuoso", "The Secret Garden", and "Illusions".
Earlier I posted that my piano teacher wanted me to work on a Debussy piece. She changed her mind and said it might be best to leave that for later, and gave me Cecile Chaminade's "Idylle", op. 126, no. 1, to work on instead.
She also wanted me to find something from the Classical era, but I'm not a huge fan of the easier material from the stalwarts of that era (Mozart, Beethoven). Haydn is a possibility. I found a Sonatina in A minor by the Czech composer Jiří Antonín Benda's (1722-1795), one of 34 sonatinas he wrote and somewhat of a fixture on syllabi, so I might tackle that too. Piano lessons are going on summer break for two months.
Schubert Sonata #18 in G Major D.894 - just the first movement so far
plop_symphony Thank you for the tip on Metelka. I listened to the first 2 studies from "Modern Piano Studies" and liked them a lot.
I don't take exams, but I use exam board repertoire books to find graded music for my level. I've really enjoyed discovering modern composers that I find in their books.
I'm glad I did it but not sure I could work up the courage again!
