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.