Index

Background

• Avoiding the Amateur pianist “arms race” - Many amateur pianists (myself included!) tend to tackle pieces that are too difficult in relation to the time they have to practise, their ability or both. In this video I explore why this happens, the unintended consequences and provide some suggestions for how to avoid it.
• Quick Study Project Introduction - Quick studies are an often overlooked, but highly beneficial way to broaden your repertoire and develop your skills as a pianist. In this video I introduce my quick study project and share how I intend to use them as a potential way to tackle the problem described above.

Quick Study Project No. 1 – Chopin Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor (Op. Posth.)

• Introduction - In this video I kick off my first quick study project in which I will be learning Chopin’s C-sharp Minor (Op. Posth.) Nocturne. It’s a beautiful piece that I’ve always wanted to play and this is a great chance to finally learn it. I will be following an iterative approach, breaking down the two-week period into milestones that gradually build up towards an online performance.
• Progress Report #1 - A few days in I’ve made some progress learning most of the notes, although there are a few trickier sections that will require a bit more practice. In this video I share what I’ve observed so far during the process and what has worked (and what hasn’t!).
• Milestone #1 (Recording) - Just over a week into the project, I’ve made my first recording of an attempt to play the piece from start to finish. This was a useful exercise in that it  highlighted places that I know need attention and flagged-up some other areas I’d missed that were not quite up to scratch. In this video I assess the results and look at how I might take the piece to the next level of refinement.
• Milestone #2 (Lesson) - Following from the recording for myself, the next milestone was to inflict the piece upon a listener in the form of a lesson! This was incredibly helpful because it highlighted a number of blind-spots (including some incorrect notes and rhythms!), gave me some great musical ideas to enhance my interpretation and also helped me gain confidence for the upcoming performance.
• Milestone #3 (Concert) & Review - Exactly two weeks after I started learning the piece, I had the opportunity to play it in an online concert hosted by an amateur meet-up group. Although there were areas that could certainly have been a bit more refined, I was really pleased with the results and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In this video I look at some of the outcomes of the project and how this might influence future projects.