Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Practicing Bach on Piano
After decades away from pianos, I bought an old baby grand two years ago. I discovered the poor piano had gone through a flood and needed the legs and pedal box repaired. It was a bonding experience for me and this Vos and Sons 1925 beauty. Likewise, age has graced me with creaks and cramps that didn’t exist when I was 18. This past year, my brain and my fingers have undergone many hours of retraining. In particular, my left hand, being non-dominant, tries to slip over notes or prefers to just follow the leader: the right hand. Practice is slow and uneven. Two years into playing this fine instrument, I am nowhere near as facile as I was decades ago. I order my left third finger to move NOW for a quick 16th note I see on the score, but the dang finger insolently refuses. So frustrating!
And that’s when I know I need a break. Repetition has its benefits, but so does taking a break. Walk away, do something completely different. Let all of it go, even take a nap!
Which reminds me about learning: Cramming and “all-nighters” never work. The brain needs rest, downtime to integrate, and REM sleep to build and strengthen the neural pathways laid down in the practice. In my case, it’s a re-learning process. I remember in graduate school learning that simply visualizing the body mechanics and action of a golf swing was as effective as actual physical practice.
I understand these things, but I demand a lot of myself as a perfectionist. I still have to remind myself of the importance quitting even before frustration sets in. Go daydream or take a day off! Even a vacation would be a good idea. Note to self: schedule a trip soon!
Music is always playing in my mind. Tuning into the playlist of the moment, I hear “Take a Break” from the musical Hamilton. Alexander is frazzled he is so busy trying to build the country that gave him a home, an education and chance to shape a young country. His favorite sister-in-law Angelica travels all the way from England for a visit. She and Eliza plead:
“Take a break”
“There’s a lake I know
In a nearby park…
(I’d love to go)
You and I can go when the night gets dark…”
And Angelica pleads
“Alexander, I came all this way
(She came all this way)
All this way
Take a break”
But all Alexander can do is think about work:
“You know I have to get my plan through Congress”
Alexander refused to take a break which threw his thinking and judgement offline. Instead his needs took over, costing him dearly. Jefferson and Burr celebrated this, singing gleefully: “Never gonna be President now!”
Sitting at the piano too long causes me a sore back and an inability to focus on squiggly notes scattered all over clefs but I haven’t yet lost my judgment over Bach’s “Bourrée.”
Besides, I never want to be President!