Practice Journal 3: Final Goalsetting

After a few weeks of practice and experience with these pieces, I played the two excerpts again.

Appalachian Mountain Measures 11-26 :

Appalachian Mountain has some very difficult aspects and I specifically chose this excerpt because there are many things that I need to work on from it. I have improved in many aspects such as accuracy. I stay in the key signature now and do not miss any of the accidentals. The phrasing is getting a lot better than before and I can go longer without having to take a breath. I also know when the right times are to breathe so that the piece does not sound staggered and choppy. My intonation and tone quality is also improving, though I still have to practice to change them. To reach an artist level performance, I have to work on the dynamics because I did not change them at all during the recording. I did try to play softer on the long notes, but not as hard as I should have. I could work on style and musicality to have a more beautiful sound overall. I have been working towards using the correct articulation but I also should improve on that. There were some spots in my excerpt where i was not slurring where I was supposed to, or tonguing where I was supposed to. Finally, I still need to practice finding the correct tempo; the problem is not that I am too slow, I actually rush sometimes so the piece does not sound as pretty and flowing as it should.

Chorale and Shaker Dance Measures 163-177:

Since last time I recorded myself, I have improved a lot with the tempo and accuracy of notes. I do not miss accidentals anymore and I can play much much faster while still staying accurate. My tone quality has greatly improved and my intonation is getting better. My articulation is good; I play the slurs and staccato notes in the right places. I am also very happy about my phrasing and I am better at taking long breaths before the phrase starts. To play an artist level performance, there are still a lot of changes that I must make. I need to work on style, dynamics and tone. If I work on these aspects, I will be exactly on track for my goals for the next few weeks. I have been playing with one volume the whole excerpt, so I should start watching the dynamics to make the piece more musical. By paying closer attention to style, tone and musicality, the excerpt will sound more refined and ready for the concert.

Practice Journal 2: Documenting The Practice Method

I first played measures 163 to 178 of Chorale and Shaker Dance without any practice at all:

Before

After playing the excerpt once, I practiced it for 15 to 20 minutes. I used a few different methods. First I tried playing the whole part over and over again just to get used to it. It worked up until a certain point when I realized that the faster I was getting, the more mistakes I was making and I forgot accidentals. Then I played the whole excerpt at a much slower pace, making sure to play every single note correctly. I then played it a little faster, and faster for many more times. If I ever made a mistake, I would only go back to that problem measure, or the few mistake notes and play it over and over again until it went smoothly with the rest of the measures. Then I would go back and play the whole thing over again at a faster pace. I also played the C scale many times, so that I could get used to the key signature and remember the correct notes. Overall, my method was to target the most difficult parts and try to make them even better and faster than the easy parts, so that they fit in accuracy-wise and tempo-wise with the whole excerpt.
Then I recorded myself playing it again after practicing:

After

My recording after a few minutes of practice was significantly better than the first recording. My tone quality improved a lot because I was more warmed up and had played the excerpt many times. I barely missed any accidentals or played any wrong notes. I also played much faster than the first time. Looking at the times, I realized that I cut off  a whole 12 seconds without even cutting short the excerpt! Playing it over and over again while slowly increasing the tempo definitely payed off. The rhythm was also more accurate and the articulation was much better. The slurs were played at the right times and the staccato notes were shorter. Overall, the short practice session made a big difference in my playing.