WEEKLY GOALS 📆

noellah-jeannica

RuthPower I'm sorry read this post late, but my piano goals for this week are:

Practice through the key of B major (scales, chord inversions, and chord progressions) as part of the Songs by Ear course;
Finally finish learning Gnossiene no. 4, have a Gnossiene 1-4 general rehearsal, & finally jump into Gnossiene no. 5; and
Catch up with Piano Picnic (broadcast and forum).

So far, I can fairly say that I've achieved all of them... but I still feel like I've spent less time on the piano as usual this week (mainly because of schoolwork 😭). But I'll try to make for it next week. 😊

RuthPower

noellah-jeannica wow nice work! Glad you are getting through the Songs By Ear course! And excited for the coaching this week! I'm amazed you are learning all the Gnossiene's!
Let us know how you go with it all!
It's been a while since I've done proper piano practice for myself (always for teaching stuff!)but this week I've given myself the goal of learning the theme tune to the new Star Wars' 'Mandalorian' series, by ear.
I've liked the song for ages and of course it's for orchestra (no piano), so a lot of fun! I gave it a go last night and pieced out the main melody/harmony - hopefully today I'll add some of the supportive tunes and figure out the structure.

RuthPower

My goal this week is to learn the song 'Africa' by Toto. A friend has challenged me to do a cover of it with him (he loves to sing 80s songs!) and I've been STRUGGLING with the keyboard solo, practising over and over. I'll keep you posted - and probably do a Hack That Riff of it at some stage.
I'm also working on my own arrangement of the theme tune from 'Mandalorian' the new Star Wars series on Disney+. I just love it so much - arranging from orchestra to piano solo is a challenge!
What are your goals this week, pianists?
@noellah-jeannica @Bev @alexx88 @Diane

alexx88

RuthPower I plan on going through my repertoire list & dusting them off, as well as adding some new songs. I've also started the 30 Day Songs By Ear Challenge 12/1/20. A couple of days behind, but I'll get back on track ASAP!

noellah-jeannica

RuthPower My piano plans this week:

Re-practice "Nocturne no. 20 in C#m" (I've forgotten most of it);
Complete the "Ear Expansion: Intervals" module as well as a bunch of planning preliminaries on Musical U; and
Learn the two bonus SBE pieces by ear: "Homeslice" & "Feisty Ice Maiden".

RuthPower

alexx88 oooh yes Alexx! How is the SBE 30 day challenge going? I loved putting that together.
@noellah-jeannica that sounds so great! Oh my gosh how are you loving the Musical U content?? I saw you in the livestream the other day and wanted to say HI! 😀

alexx88

RuthPower I am all caught up with the SBE 30 Day Challenge! Tomorrow I will start Song 4 of 5. (1 Day early...I'm not a fan of Song #3, so I'm skipping the last days exercise of playing all the previous days together )
I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking with that one. Replaying that over & over was a challenge 😆

Every song is completely different, & my skills are definitely getting better. Picking out the melody has always been the easiest for me, so that's where I always started, next I'd try to figure what key it was, & then the chords.

This course is getting me to start with the bass note first, then chords, then melody. I'm definitely getting quicker with the whole process, & with fine tuning my ears to pick up the bass notes. Yay!

RuthPower

alexx88 YES! This is so great to hear! I'm glad it's working for you, that consistency of doing it the same way each time really starts to make progress. Awesome work!

Bev

No goals.... I'm, currently, beyond frustrated with all things computer and piano, and to top off am waiting to hear if my best friend has Covid, as her daughter's family has. Expect to return to the piano and Piano Picnic in January. Actually, I'll make it a goal: January 19. Merry Christmas to all. "See you" next year.

alexx88

Bev A break every now & then to re-group is good. Hope all is well with you & your friend, & a full speedy recovery to her family. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

RuthPower

Bev Bev I'm so sorry to hear about your friends family, I hope they all recover quickly and that your friend is given the all clear! It's a super stressful time of year and this year even more so, so I completely understand. However, if there's anything you want to get on a zoom call to go through in terms of piano/computer/Piano Picnic, just let me know - I would be happy to carve out 10 minutes to get on a quick call with you. Have a lovely Christmas and we'll see you again in the new year!

noellah-jeannica

Bev I'm praying for your and your friend's families' health. It's a good thing to take time to restore, as T. Ruth has mentioned in the Museletter. I, too, have chosen to tone down my piano goals to basically playing for leisure this holiday just to warm myself up for brand new goals in 2021.

Bev

RuthPower Thank you so much Ruth. Three in my friend's family now infected & 2 are quite ill; my friend still ok. I'm currently just playing for the fun of it; wanting to play American Patrol & Algiers Strut better, and starting on Irish Washerwoman & Mobile Stomp. All with simple chords only, so it's a stress-free thing. Just playing for fun, I consider similar to my laying the groundwork of information I need to do computer repairs & upgrades after my mid-January goal date. (Actually, plan on getting back to Piano Picnic a couple of weeks before the computer stuff.) "See" you January 19. 😃

alexx88

So I’m really bad at putting goals to paper. I think I’m too broad in my wants( ex. get serious about ear training, expand voice training), & goals are supposed to be SMART ((specific, measurable, achieveable, realistic & timed.)

Those of you that are good at it, do you make "the big" list & then break down each item into daily baby steps for another list that is actually the goal statement? TIA

noellah-jeannica

alexx88 Yes! I first take note of my main, long-term goal (e.g. improvising better) and then incorporate related small trainings with my daily practice routine -- that is, before practicing any piece, I play around a certain key (which I change every week), going through the whole scale first, then chord inversions, and chord progressions. I also experiment with riffs and making random melodies as I go.

Following this routine as a habit helps me relieve myself from pressure of having to do something necessarily, like a school project. Instead, I just flow naturally with my set routine like brushing my teeth or taking a shower. Eventually, I see and listen to myself getting better with improvisation. 😁

RuthPower

Bev Yes Bev -you gotta take time out. It sounds like things are stressful at the moment with your friends & families health and computer problems exacerbating it – in those times it's actually good to use piano more as a stress relief than a cause of anxiety! Good luck to you and have a wonderful, restful break. See you in '21!

@alexx88 Yes that's it! SMART! For me, it usually depends whether I really am ready to go for a goal. I have lots of other things I want to do, that just hang around in my head, that I never actually set to goals/dates/measuring because I don't really want to put in the work... yet. Other goals which are really important to me and that I'm so tired of NOT having done, I'll set to the SMART scheme. I reckon just choosing ONE thing to try with the SMART process and leave the rest as per your usual practise, might be a good experiment and see if it's worth it!

vkisamore

I'm just now reading and replying. My goal is to think about my goals and the mini goals that will move me in the right direction. This week I am going to pick out 2 different 3 chord Christmas carols by ear and get them down smoothly enough to add some simple riffs. I think I will do Silent Night and Away in a Manger because they are so familiar. I also want to work on 1 lead sheet: Carol of the bells and my goal is to experiment with voice leading.

vkisamore

Actually, I have benefited the most from the Active listening mini-course and I need to keep working on it while I do the other modules.

vkisamore

alexx88

noellah-jeannica This is helpful Noellah. I really like this concept. I'm going to use this. When something want feels like work, it takes the fun out of it.

noellah-jeannica

This holiday season I vowed to be as laidback as possible with my piano goals, and so I've decided to learn and play simple renditions of common Christmas songs for my family and friends. Maybe I'll add the more complex riffs in the future, as soon as I get comfortable with them. For now, I kept things straightforward to avoid stress.

You can watch/listen to them if you want:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1J_cjhYXtnkn1YoLslZZjhhimFD82aley?usp=sharing

Let me take this chance to wish the Piano Picnic family Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! You are one of the highlights of my 2020. Thanks for being there!

alexx88

noellah-jeannica This is FABULOUS!!! Love it!! So soothing & peaceful. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

alexx88

noellah-jeannica Love the lighting effects, too!

Bev

A Merry Christmas, indeed. Thank you all for praying for my friend & her family. The boys, son-in-law & grandson are feeling much better, and now after 2 full weeks, her daughter's fever has broken. She, also, is now on the road to recovery. My friend has not gotten it. Noella, I am so impressed with your playing (You're at the level that is my main goal!). I'm certain that with your dedication to a very well thought out practice plan, you will achieve just about anything you set your heart & mind to. Merry Christmas Everyone.

alexx88

Bev Merry Christmas!! So glad your friend is well & her family is doing much better!

noellah-jeannica

I'm so glad to hear that Bev. Thank you and alexx88 for appreciating my cover! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays 🎄💕