Jeremy Freer Self-Evaluation

Jeremy's Self-Evaluation

Moderato by Cornelius Gurlitt, Op. 117, No. 12

Page 173 in our book

My process for learning a new work has changed.  I used to try to learn new pieces by a "hands-separate" approach.  Although this technique does have its place, at my current level, I feel like it does not reinforce my weakness, or "hands-together" playing.  As I play the new piece slowly with both hands, I look for patterns rather than notes.  I chose Moderato because it stretched my comfort zone beyond the five-finger pattern.  Although there is a simple five finger pattern going almost all the time, underneath is a sparse, light chordal accompaniment that moves out of root position; another challenge.  The melody switches from right hand to left, as well, which was an interesting "gear-switching" mental exercise.

Playing this piece with dynamics was the other challenge.  I found that when I relaxed and tried to make music of this piece, it took my mind off the performance anxiety of getting all the right notes.  The dynamics were sectional and counterintuitive at parts, but I found that paying closer attention to them freed my subconscious and muscle memory to worry about the notes.  My conception of this piece definitely evolved, from notes, to phrases, to sections, to a piece of music, much like a language…from letters, to words, to sentences, to paragraphs, to a story.