October 2015 Lesson – Gaining Confidence

My cat Kilala standing on the keys while I was practicing.
My cat Kilala standing on the keys while I was practicing.

On Halloween I met with Michael for another lesson. I left the lesson feeling more confident than ever before as 4 of my 6 assigned pieces received a passing mark!

The Lesson

I began the lesson by playing the Walcha prelude. At my previous lesson I was not able to play it in a convincing manner. I had not practiced it enough. After that lesson, I decided to play it each time I practiced until my next lesson. This strategy worked! I only had to play it one time through for Michael. He approved it!

Next up was the Bach prelude. I played it, but not perfectly. Micheal remarked that it was improved since last lesson. Then he had me play it again a little faster and without thinking about the tempo so much. It was the best I have ever played it at a lesson!!! Michael said it was good! Finally, after 2 years and 2 months he did not need to hear it at another lesson!

I also received approval on my playing of two of the three assigned hymns: “God Be With You Until We Meet Again” and “Christ, Mighty Savior”.

A mistake in practice…

The Boellmann piece (Prière à Notre-Dame) didn’t go all that well. When practicing at home I focused on learning the parts for the hands without pedal. The pedal line is not difficult so I thought it would be easy enough to add in later. This was a mistake. Adding it in the week of my lesson didn’t work! I was not able to build the muscle memory and coordination to accurately play the pedal and hands together. I have learned from this and will be including the pedal line during practice even when it looks easy!

Gaining Confidence

Since this lesson I  have felt more confident tackling the newly assigned pieces. This was the first time to have 4 pieces approved at the same lesson. And I was assigned 4 new pieces! I have realized that Michael would not have assigned me these pieces if he didn’t think I could do them.

I also feel confident that I can correct my syncopation issues in “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending” before my next lesson.

Will this lesson become a major turning point? Only time will tell!

A Festival of Hymns at Pease Auditorium
Kicking off the Christmas 2015 season

6 thoughts on “October 2015 Lesson – Gaining Confidence”

  1. Very good Heidi. I like to hear that you are becoming confident ! Your a beautiful sister and friend. Good to know what you need more practice at. Congratulations !

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