Had the last lesson for the year on Sunday. I played the Chopin ballade, the Brahms and one of the Rachmaninov preludes. We spoke about what I should be doing between now and late January. Next year I'll try to learn the Bergamasque suite, Debussy.

This was a better lesson. We got to and started working on the coda of the Chopin. How anyone could fit so many notes into such a short space of time is beyond me. The Brahm's is ok but it is very chordal and so for me at least not so easy to read.

Third last lesson of the year today. Arthur and I spoke at length about practice procrastination (mine). The Brahm's went poorly. The other pieces were ok and there are just three more pages of the Ballade No. 4 to learn. Arthur says when he was in London for an international competition as a young man, he practiced 10 hours a day for two weeks. I think my problem is that I subconsciously fear that whatever I am about to learn will prove impossible. I know all the practice tricks. I just need to put them into action.

I've had a few weeks without lessons for a variety of reasons but back into it now. The Rachmaninov preludes are ok note wise but need polishing. The Chopin Ballade is coming along - just (ha ha) the coda now. I've started two Moskowski studies - more melodic in general than the Czerny ones I think.

It's a very small world. I sat next to a guy I didn't know at a recent Stephen Hough concert. He was with another young man and I thought, how sweet, they're out on their first date. Well, that's how it seemed from their conversation which I couldn't help but over hear with sitting right there and all.

Anyway, I spent last Saturday afternoon examining second year medical students and who should be there, as a fellow examiner but this guy! He plays too but that's as much as I found out because the bell rang again.

Gosh, a whole month has passed. Arthur in Rockhampton to examine and then me in Adelaide for a medical conference then two lessons, one of which was so badly attempted on my part that it doesn't deserve mentioning. (Work induced sleep deprivation and pianism don't mix well).

The ballade no4 is a largish work so we've decided to break it into sections so that I won't be tempted to always practice it from the beginning. Noone is more guilty of trying to polish shiny objects.

I made a start on the Brahms (at last). It has a lot of chords so for me is difficult to sight read. Arthur suggested reading from the left hand to the right hand.

I listened to Rach 2 played by Scherbatov and the Russian State Symphony. The Graffman still has more colour and the Lang Lang is more lyrical.

Stephen Hough returned to Brisbane - fabulous.

No lesson today. Arthur is examining in Rockhampton.

Overall a good lesson.

Chopin Etude: Improving. Need to make the beginning as calm and controlled as the end - listen to the sound first.

Chopin Ballade: I tend to avoid practicing this because I am afraid it is too hard and won't work. Should start at where it gets hard and just do it. Should try to analyse the harmonies more as they are probably not so complex when you understand them.

Rachmaninov: both preludes are better. The middle section of the Op 23 No 5 middle section needs to be more lyrical and not too slow.

Scarlatti: practice louder for clarity and then tone it down.

Onwards!

Scarlatti: Although the fingers must be light, more weight can be put through the wrist so the fingers don't need to be raised so high.

Chopin Ballade: Chopin is always so difficult. So much depends on state of mind. I'm more afraid of playing Chopin than of any other composer. The key constantly drifts and there are lines within layers within levels of sound.

Rachmaninov: Much easier - he says what he means and means what he says. The two preludes are now both fun to play. I like it once the notes are "in my fingers" as they say.

Arthur has a 16 year old student who has just come second in the Brisbane Eisteddfod. She beat adults and university students alike. I've heard her play and it is lovely. She likes to go very fast and seemingly has no fear. I suggested Arthur enter her in the national Concerto competition.

5th August already. This was a good lesson. I played well. I'm back to yoga classes and the neck and back are better.

Arthur and I discussed the role of breathing in performance. It would seem an obvious thing to breath in and then out and then in again and keep doing that but apparently not for me.

When I forget to breath through a passage, I panic and then it falls apart. I may need to mark breathing points on the score. It might also help to listen to non-pianist musicians and singers.

Arthur gave me a bio on John Ogden to read. The first chapters are very interesting for someone who never went to a music college per se.

Let's see. Sunday was the 28th. The neck/upper back/ left arm are getting better and I did go to my lesson. It's a subtle thing but sometimes both Arthur and I are in a strange mood and the lesson doesn't go too well. Not much else to say really.

I'm disappointed because I cancelled my lesson with Arthur this afternoon. On Wednesday, I woke with a sore neck and pain going into my left shoulder and my left arm. It's taken the rest of the week to finally get better and was too sore to sit and practice for any length of time. As well as that, the ibuprofen I was taking to get myself to work was making me drowsy. I wouldn't normally take any medication at all but on this occasion, the discomfort got the better of me. If I had been more organised, I would have gone to an osteopath or physio but as it was the work week was very busy and I didn't get a chance to down tools. Next week.

A much better lesson last Sunday. Low GI food all through the day and twenty minutes of meditation before leaving home did the trick.

Chopin Ballade No.4. : Another page learnt so this week it will be the second part of the fugal section (around page 8 or so for memory). The melody needs more cantabile still but was better. Memorizing some of the tricky passages helps.

Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 2. : Played this at the end of the lesson and despite significant practice it fell apart. I have an actor friend who said that amateurs practice till the performance will probably be alright, professionals rehearse till they are certain it will be alright - good advice.

Rachmaninov Op 32 No 10.: The L'istesso tempo section needs more work in the right hand. Experiment with the sound in the chordal section - more depth, quality of forte sound.

Rachmaninov Op 23 No. 5: In the fingers now (yay!) accuracy getting there. The Un poco meno mosso section needs to be even quieter still.

Got to get started on the Brahm's Rhapsody.

Learnt that the mother of a fellow student and professional colleague (CM) had died in a car accident. Sad ++.

My ticket for Stephen Hough's concert on 26th September arrived. Seat Q3. Should be ok - it's at the Conservatorium theatre and the acoustics there are great.

Found the David Bar Ilan CD at Audiofon in Miami, Florida - Arthur is on the case.

Well, it's been quite a break from lessons, with Arthur away for three weeks and me having a dose of the 'flu. Some practice got done but not a hell of a lot.

A little too late, today, I remembered my new policy of not having any dietary stimulants on a Sunday before my lesson. Oops! Lunch at Rosalie with friends involved a vegetarian pizza, 375 ml lemon, lime and bitters, a very large helping (yes, alright, a slab) of white chocolate cheesecake with ice cream and cream and chocolate sauce and a flat white with two teaspoons of sugar. A good two hours later, I was still buzzing and consequently played like a chimpanzee. Not good.

Arthur and I talked about his meeting Ashkenazy back stage, in the 1970's, in Melbourne. He said most pianists like to be greeted after their performance and be given good feedback. He said that after the applause, it could be quite deflating to find yourself in a hotel room, alone and exhausted from the performance.

I really hadn't thought of it that way. I simply assumed that artists, of any sort, wouldn't want to be bothered with the P.D.F ('pathetic and dreaded fans') or worse still, the triple heifers (F.F.F. or 'fat female fans'). In fact, I have heard two sad tales of fans (neither members of the PDF or the FFF, mind you) coming to grief at the stage door.

One, whilst waiting for a different member of the cast of a West End play, was told by an actor who will be nameless (Dennis Waterman), "Oh, go home you poor cow!"

At a Melbourne stage door, after waiting alone in the dark for about an hour and a half, another lass was brusquely told by her, then, favourite artist, "If you wanted an autograph, you should have left your program at the stage door, I'm not doing it now." I wonder how she was supposed to know that.

In general, I don't agree with autographs. I think it is a bit demeaning for those who ask for it and for those who give it. This is especially so since the advent of Evil Bay. However, (God, I can feel a fully fledged rant coming on - oh well, I'll blame it on the cheesecake, even if it was so delicious that it was worth every blasted calorie) a friendly smile, a five word comment like "glad you enjoyed the show" and a moment of time costs virtually nothing, whereas, to the fan, it can provide an invaluable and cherished memory.

There should be, in my presently less than humble opinion, a return to the stage door etiquette of the official receiving of fans, a la the 1920s and 30s. Theatres could even provide the artists with faux fur coats, fedoras and a short trip (sorry, 'journey') back to their car in a limousine for the purpose thereof.

Okay, back to the lesson. (I'm procrastinating because the playing really was abysmally crappy).

1. Two baroque pieces of old, revamped (Domenico Scarlatti and somebody else - blimey, I really have had too much sugar today): fine but, as usual, too much pedal (why can't everything sound romantic?).

2. Chopin Ballade no. 4 : Stuck in the same two/three bars for the last two weeks. We spoke about techniques of practice (i.e. about pulling the finger out and getting the thing learnt - sorry, shouldn't say that about piano practice - that was also the cheesecake talking - I wonder if there was anything else in it?)

3. Rachmaninov (both pieces) coming along okay: notes are in the fingers now but both pieces need to be played through and through for fluency.

I want to find an old CD by a guy called David Baril-Ellan (sp?). Last time the internet trail was very cold. Hmmm.

The lovely Stephen Hough is returning to Brisvegas in September for Musica Viva Australia - need to book a seat for that.

No lesson today but that is just as well. Although I've had two weeks of annual leave, I've also had a derrible cold in deh head. Misberble virwuz. Between eucalypt oil inhalations and emotional exorcisms at the Church of Oprah (daytime television was all I was up to), no practice has been done.

Quite different playing at 9 in the morning instead of 5.30 in the afternoon (and I was running slightly late). I think all the pieces were a little better but the ballade fell apart. Chopin is always such a struggle.

But enough of the lesson. Piers Lane will be playing tomorrow afternoon. He is always a treat to hear. We're so lucky he comes back to Bris regularly. I think he is playing an all Chopin program. Maybe I'll be inspired.

Arthur is away in Melbourne for two weeks.

I think making a distinction between learning new pieces and practicing or playing repertoire is starting to help. The two processes are quite different. Also, with my astigmatism and myopia, I sometimes get lost on the page so using little post-it notes as markers for reading short sections helps. Of course, with this problem the obvious course is to memorize which I have done with the Chopin Etude Op10. No1.

Chopin Etude Op 10 No1: Even but need to place more weight through the R wrist to generate more sound and make it easier for the fingers.

Chopin Etude Op 25 No 2 : Still struggling, some bits a bit better. I think I will try to memorise this as well. Some of the little finger notes in the R hand are not sounding.

Chopin Ballade No 4. : Half way! Shouldn't celebrate to soon though. I think this piece just gets harder and harder as it goes along to the apparently near impossible coda. I need to listen to the CD again.

Rachmaninov Op 32 no 10: Still need to move faster. The middle section is better especially the left hand. The bar before the first cadenza is still breaking down.

Rach. op. 23 No 5: Just the coda to learn. Should have it finished by next week. Almost memorised first two pages. Good.

Brahms Op. 119 No 4. : Going to listen to Radu Lupu's performance of this on CD.

Next week will be Saturday at 9am because Piers Lane is playing on Sunday afternoon.

A good lesson overall. Didn't have any coffee today - that helps! I think going to yoga class helps too.

1. Chopin Etude Op. 10 No 1. Better today. Needs more quality and sound in the L hand. Use the L hand to make the drama.

2. Chopin Etude Op. 25 No 2. Still struggling with the balance (and memory!). To me the top parts in the R hand need more security. Use them here and there to rest the thumb. Not to much rit at ends of sections. Upper part of R hand can come out in the higher register.

3. Chopin Ballade No. 4. Another three bars - woo hoo! Balance still difficult esp at ends of phrases. Insecure. Why can't he just stay in one key, even for a single bar.... bar humbug. I think I would have hated to have had Chopin as a teacher.

4. Rachmaninov Op 32 no 10. Was more confident. Need to move faster between bass and upper parts in the chordal section. Needs more security in the next part. Coda is ok. Can go louder earlier in the chordal section. Hard to keep the forward momentum without hurrying.

5. Rach. op. 23 No 5. Just played the middle section.

New piece - Brahms Op 119 the Rhapsody - more moving around the keyboard with large chords. Need to get a recording.

Overall a reasonable lesson. It's been a tough week but I found some energy to play.

Chopin: Etude Op.10 No. 1: Putting the metronome to this last week helped the evenness. I have a tendency to accent the second and fourth beat. Tempo is OK.

Chopin: Etude Op. 25 No 2: I like this one better but it isn't as good. The balance, getting the L hand soft enough is tricky. I can emphasise some off beats to make the crescendos more impressive. The last few bars need to be in tempo but soft.

Chopin Ballade No 4. : Six pages down, ten to go! There are lots of different stylistic elements. The Etudes will help eg. with sixth's. I need to be careful to register the ends of phrases with dim. The first section should be lighter and cleaner with the pedal, as should the development of the main theme - pedal six to a bar at the moment rather than the two that are marked.

Rach: Op 32 No. 10 : Nearly there - should be more confident next week. The soft start is coming with the correct balance. Need to tidy the cadenza.

Rach: op 23 No 5: Again getting there - just the coda to learn. Already it's tidier. The middle section needs to be softer - it's not a concerto!!

Sunday afternoons

For about three years now, I have been taking a weekly, hour-long piano lesson with my teacher, Arthur. I wanted to start noting down the pieces I was learning and some comments etc. Here seemed as good a place any to do that.

I started learning at age five or so and after a string of teachers, Arthur has been by far and away the best teacher.

Finding time to practice is always difficult and at time progress seems very slow. Writing this blog might turn out to be an incentive of sorts.

I wouldn't expect anything earth shattering here. It's more a record for myself but feel free to browse as the weeks go by.