Post Number Two !

I've been practicing my piece almost every day in music class up to this point, and its coming along much better than at first. I have the tune, the timing, and most of the positions memorized by now; i can work through the piece without sheet music if i have to. I even find myself humming the tune while performing other activities. I have also began practicing the piece along with the piano accompanyment at home. The tempo is slower than i would have expected, so i should not have any problems in this area. However, in bar 29, the is a rit. (ritenuto) on the first note of that bar (which is a dotted quarter note). When i was practicing before i added the accompanyment, playing this was easier because i got to decide how long the rit. was. When playing with the accompanyment though, i find it difficult to make sure that i hold this note for the proper amount of time and continue playing the piece at the right time. It is only held for three seconds or so longer than it should be, but i am still having difficulty with this.

Another thing to note about the piece is the tempo and time signature change at bar 17. I have to make sure i listen carefully to my accompanyment so that i am in time. The key signature change mainly just has an effect on the flow of that portion of the piece; it sounds less grand, and more bouncy.

I have begun working on the dynamics and articulation for this piece recently. For the first portion of the piece (bars 5 - 13) where the timing is 4/4, there is not much specified articulation. There are only a couple staccatos, found in the trend where there are four descending notes (a dotted eighth note, a sixteenth note, an eighth note, an eighth note), such as in bar 8 and bar 10. There are no slurs or ties in this portion of the piece. In the next portion of the piece (bars 16 - 47) where there is 2/4 timing, there are still no slurs or ties, but staccatos are more frequent, giving the music a different feel. There is a recurring trend found frequently in this portion, consisting of 2 sixteenth notes followed by a staccato eighth note. Staccatos are also used in the recurring sound of four eighth notes descending (bar 19, bar 23, bar 27), and are put on all of these eighth notes. Staccatos are also found on the only notes in the third last and second last bars of the piece, as these notes are isolated and short.
In terms of dynamics for this piece, there is a general trend of there being a crescendo to forte while playing higher notes, and a decrescendo to mezzo piano when playing lower notes.

I have been having some difficulty playing the notes in this piece above high C, in particular high E flat. There are a few sections with consecutive high notes, such as in bar 11 or bars 28- 29. Being allowed to play these notes forte makes things easier, however i still have difficulty with it. Apparently i need to get better at squeezing my butt :S

Also, i do not find "Turquoise" to be an appropriate name for this piece. The piece sounds too bouncy.

That is all for today.

Rachel :)