Checking in

I realized it's been a while since I posted here. I'm not sure what I've been up to is all that interesting, from a musical standpoint, but I'll share a few things.

I'm still pondering on whether enrolling in the music program at the community college is a good idea. It seems to be a fairly casual sort of program. I called the music office a couple of days after I went in there to find out what I needed to do next, and the person I talked to said I just had to register for my classes (which I can do online) by August 25, and they would assign me to a teacher. I got the names and phone numbers of all the piano teachers anyway, thinking it might be a good idea to contact them to see if anyone is particularly simpatico, but I haven't done it yet.

I'm torn between two desires.

One: to keep the piano a pleasant hobby that I can pursue on my own terms. To keep my life simple and not stress myself out too much. To practice for five minutes one day and three hours the next, if that's what I feel like doing.

Two: to push myself to a higher level before I get too old to do it -- really, purely to see what it will be like, and to see if I even can improve that much.

My thinking at the moment is that maybe I'll try it for a semester, and if it proves too difficult or unpleasant, I'm not committed to continue. If it turns out to be worthwhile -- if I'm learning a lot and feel engaged in the process -- then I can press on, though I know I'd need to make some major adjustments to the terms of my day job.

In the meantime, I've been struggling along slowly with my practicing. For some reason, I've been having trouble finding large blocks of time for this, which does not bode well for the school idea -- or maybe it does, in the sense that if I had something riding on it, I would make the time.

The Bach prelude and fugue I chose this time, WTC I/19 in A major, are possibly the most difficult I've tried to learn, and it's been frustrating. The fugue is loaded with stretto (when the fugue theme overlaps in subsequent voices), and the accompanying voice lines are not pointedly melodic, so it's hard to memorize them.

I'm making some progress with Brahms Op. 118 No. 3. The form is a simple ABA, and I have a good chunk of it memorized.

The Beethoven sonata (Op. 2 No. 3 in C major) is making a lot more sense and is getting more under my fingers, at least the first movement.

The cello is sitting lonely in a corner.

And that's where things are with me this week.