40 Piece Challenge – The Journey
WHY THE 40 PIECE CHALLENGE?
- we expose ourselves to different styles
- we discover the endless possibilities of music making
- we improve our sight reading
- we engage our curiosity in discovering new repertoire
- we learn about ourselves and about our instrument
Having a set challenge of learning X number of pieces by such-and-such a date fosters a thirst for more piano repertoire and gives us a real sense of accomplishment (among other things).
40 PIECE CHALLENGE – THE JOURNEY
The 40 Piece Challenge was issued to our Art of Piano Pedagogy Facebook group. This group has over 10,000 members–all piano teachers interested in furthering our own musical education. I knew I had to join the challenge! I have never had a problem with playing repertoire. I have always read my piano books from cover to cover — looking out for new pieces to play and enjoy.
Like most things, if I had stopped to think it through clearly, the ‘lazy-in-me’ might never have jumped into the challenge. For one thing, it sure is a lot of work. Hello? Learning a bit more than one new piece every week (I started a little late) and polishing it enough that you wouldn’t be completely embarrassed to put it on YouTube is a lot more exhausting than I thought.
But here’s the thing, I think every pianist has a stack of music that they’ve been wanting to get to, but just never made the time to learn. Plus there’s always that twinge you feel when you hear a song that speaks to you and demands to be learned and performed. Well, I told myself, here’s your chance! So out comes the stack of music and then the overwhelming decision of what to play?! Or what can I play that I haven’t looked at yet. (That was more my problem, since these 40 Pieces are supposed to be NEW).
Here are a few things I’ve learned since starting my personal 40 Piece Challenge…
It’s so hard to choose!! There is a lot of great music out there. And it’s interesting what ends up making the list. I haven’t planned my 40 pieces in advance, and there isn’t any rhyme or reason to my choices. I play whatever strikes my fancy that particular week and have ended up playing quite a few different genres of music. My objective in doing this challenge however, is playing music that moves me but also improves me as a player and provides me with some opportunity to learn something new.
If you’re wondering why there isn’t a lot of classical in my list–it makes more sense if you realize that I spent most of my musical life studying classical music. I’ve played a lot of the standard works–I think when I finished piano lessons at University and privately, I compiled a list of works that I had studied and it was about 5 pages, single spaced!!
It is a tiny bit intimidating to make a video of yourself, playing a song that you took a week to learn, and posting it out there for people to see and hear (and judge). And I won’t lie, it is extremely intimidating to post it onto a site where 10,000 of your colleagues can hear how you play!! (Even though they are thankfully extremely gracious!)
We are our own worst critic. If it were up to me, I would never post ANY video. We hear all our own faults MAGNIFIED! My solution – do a few takes, pick the best one, and JUST UPLOAD IT! Everybody has been wonderfully supportive. Probably because they are in the same boat!
I made it through the RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) certifications but unfortunately never recorded any of it!! All I have are the certificates and awards collecting dust on my parents’ shelves. I wish I had recordings, especially when I look through old copies of music and see the songs I used to play. MAKE RECORDINGS OF YOUR MUSIC — even if you are the only one to hear them — and reread the previous comment. Several times.
I’ve also learned that there will never be a perfect take. At home, we have a dog. Three kids. A husband who works from home (and sets his cell phone on super loud so he can hear it wherever he is in the house). Did I mention the three kids? Short of recording in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn, I am never going to get radio silence. At my work studio, I have neighbouring brass, electric guitar AND percussion teachers and students. The alarm system beeps every time the front door opens. Phones ring–it is a business after all!. Air conditioning units were breaking down and getting serviced. Etc. Etc. If I obsessed about these things, I’d never record.
I’ve been refining the recording process as I go along. I’ve experimented with how to set up my tablet (which I use as a recording device) and how to get the frame set up properly through a lot of trial and error. My Android device works well when it’s been freshly restarted, all the extra programmes and wi-fi turned off, the volume button all the way down, and when the power cable is plugged in. My “tripod” is a kitchen stool that is the perfect height! I use my son’s Lego blocks to prop the tablet up so that the power cord doesn’t get in the way, and then cans of soup to wedge the tablet upright at that perfect angle!!
I’ve experimented with different video editing software–nothing fancy, just something that will trim and crop the video. (I’ve used Windows Movie Maker and iSkysoft Video Editor. And I started running the raw audio through Audacity in order to minimize any extra noise. (See above paragraph about dogs, kids, etc.)
I’ve noticed that my Technics piano makes alot of extra ‘key’ noise that didn’t bother me before I started recording! (Players of digital pianos will know what I mean!). But playing on acoustic pianos has it’s own set of problems. (Tuning! Squeaky pedals!). I miss my baby grand that I grew up on. (Needs tuning!). My Technics piano is a nice compromise and is a very high-end digital piano. You cannot beat an acoustic piano for learning and practising on, but recording is a whole different story!
These are just a few things I’ve learned so far. And the journey is continuing! Stay tuned for more!
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