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!!