Yesterday’s mini-revelation was that I have to get over my reliance on the score. I have to make a conscious effort to commit the notes and fingering to memory. So in today’s practice session some time was spent writing out the repeated fingerings.
It was a good decision. The score is now filling up with this kind of thing:
(From study number 5)
I shall try to be neater in future.
Now it’s easier to ‘set’ the fingering, and commit it to memory. I’m not looking at the page so much. I know writing out all the fingering is overkill for some pianists. Lucky them.
It’s studies 4-6 day today. The first tricky bar in number 4 is:
There’s nothing especially difficult in itself, just a few things going on at the same time. Stretches (for me, anyway) in both hands, and the spreads in the left hand of a kind I’ve always hated. I tend to bounce off the final note with a misplaced sense of achievement, and my hand moving in exactly the wrong direction for what comes next. Slow, hands together, until it’s committed to memory, then repeat, speeding up gradually until it starts to feel uncomfortable, and stop. Akin to weight training in the gym: some discomfort is what extends ones ability; persisting with discomfort is silly and disheartening.
Let’s see if that approach works.