The left hand is going to be the trickiest because every measure has a sequence of stretches that go over an octave, and swiftly.

My great piano teacher had taught me a great way to do this: touch the octave note of the note you need to play next, that is closest to the note you last played.  This is because it is easier to gauge the length of an octave than it is to gauge a stretch longer than one.

For example, If you have a low A and need to jump from it to an E that is 1 1/2 octaves higher, you would play the A, then touch the E that is five steps higher, then use that as a guage to play the E that is an octave higher than that.

This song is definitely going to give me a lot of practice with these long stretches, which I normally have a tough time with!

The old joke couldn’t be more true, though.  Since I started taking piano lessons again last Thursday, I’ve realized that as much as I love to play, despite that love I can still fall into the pitfalls that only self-discipline can cure.

I hear all these beautiful songs and I want to play them so badly, then I sit down and work at them for a while, then get frustrated that they don’t sound like I want them to.  It’s so simple when you say it, but so hard to implement – it just takes practice.

So from here on out I’m making a pledge to practice more, to go over those difficult spots however many times it takes, and to play my Hanon every day.  (Actually, Hanon can be quite meditative and enjoyable once I get into it).

Another area I want to implement discipline is with my diet – I want to start eating better and lose a little weight, too.  I think this will tie in with better playing as well.

Here are what the two songs I’ve just started playing should sound like:

I think the commentor who wrote “like on a cloud” put it best for that last performance by Rubinstein.

Victor Merzhanov played the last one – thanks to a commenter I found out I could play that big chord with the thumb on two black keys instead of making it an arpeggio like the player did and which I was doing.

You see, I have a keen interest in the competition because I have a fantasy of entering it.  And that’s why it was unsettling when I realized that this YouTube competition had happened without me even knowing about it!  So, even though I was a little envious of the folks that were on the ball enough to prepare and enter in time for this, I got past that enough to really enjoy a few of the performances – especially my pick – Calvin Lee:

I think he did a lovely job! Plus, he played a song from both of my favorite composers – Chopin and Debussy!  It warmed the cockles of my heart.