So I have to learn this by tomorrow

"VonBelmont" (jvonbelmont) 05/27/2015 at 22:34 • Filed to: Musicianprobs

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So my band teacher told me he wants me to play this piece at tomorrow’s orchestra concert. As in “in the ensuing 24 hours”. I have to learn this. And play it. At full tempo. In front of well...a good chunk of the school. Fuck. Me. Sideways.

FWIW, I’ve got the prelude down solid enough by now, but that fugue can go take a long walk off a short pier. Also, everyone in my family wants to kill me because I’ve been practicing it nonstop since I got home. And of course we have the absolute loudest piano money can buy, so yeah.

Also, since everything must be car-related, on the way home, I saw a murdered-out Bentley with black paint over the headlights. It was cringeworthy.

TheHondaBro > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 22:41

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At least it’s consistent. Man I sure miss marching band.

MLGCarGuy > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 22:42

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Psshhhhh I will impress your teacher with my epic “Hot Cross Buns” piano rendition.

Perfecting a piano song in a short amount of time is virtually impossible, at least for me. It takes a few weeks, maybe even a few months, for it to be absolutely perfect. Good luck to you.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 22:45

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Sounds like my choir director. “You should learn this piece by yesterday if not sooner” Best of luck to you.

Alfalfa Romeo > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 22:47

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You got this! I believe in you!

Also, I feel you on the loud piano thing. We had a fairly loud antique upright growing up. Combined with a hardwood floor and my tendency to pound the keys, I got plenty of complaints from family members.

Berang > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 23:04

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When you get past the prelude, kick into Calico Rag instead of the fugue. Everybody will be impressed and nobody will notice.

VonBelmont > Alfalfa Romeo 05/27/2015 at 23:44

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We had a ‘20s Steinway player piano in the red room old house that my great grandfather bought in the late ‘10s. And a pretty neat classical-type organ in the basement in the that nobody played. Thanks to that, I have what my band teacher calls “carillon hands”, since I have a tendency to pound without realizing it. The Steinway was classy as all hell, but since it didn’t fit my mom’s décor, we had to give it to my cousins.

Now with the new house, I have a brand new Kawai upright, but we also have it in an open 3000sq ft hardwood space. Reverb for dayyyyyyys.

boxrocket > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 23:45

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I’ve been playing piano for about 25 years and organ (cathedral-class, 3 keyboards and about as many stops as keys, haha) for about 15. I don’t think I could learn that in 24 hours unless I had absolutely zero interruptions and a good full sleep afterwards, or the 24 hours were spread over a couple weeks. My sympathies.

At least it’s short and sort of repetitive. When I lived in my first few apartments I used my wife’s Yamaha keyboard and a stereo headset to keep in practice, as I had loaned my piano to my aunt and uncle for my cousins’ use knowing I had the more-easily-storable keyboard available. Kept from annoying the neighbors, bit my wife felt I was too hard on the keys from being used to heavier keys with greater travel. Good times.

Now we have a house with a Lowery organ (came with the house!), the same Yamaha keyboard, and my wife’s Wurlitzer upright.

VonBelmont > TheHondaBro 05/27/2015 at 23:49

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Don't. Remind. Me.

Alfalfa Romeo > VonBelmont 05/27/2015 at 23:54

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I just pounded because I almost exclusively played ragtime. We eventually moved the piano into a spare bedroom. It was carpeted and I could close the door. You could still hear it throughout the house, but could also hear yourself think.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > VonBelmont 05/28/2015 at 00:12

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Block the measures into chords then write the progressions above. Usually helps me learn quick pieces in a short period of time.

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > VonBelmont 05/28/2015 at 02:35

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Yeah, we band directors have a penchant for demanding the unreasonable. Something about maintaining a reputation as a slave driver employed by the public schools helps me sleep better at night.

Just kidding. We don’t sleep. We don’t even really eat; all our nutrition is derived from the tears and brow sweat of our students.

VonBelmont > Alfalfa Romeo 05/28/2015 at 07:11

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I’ve got a massive hardon for all things Joplin.

VonBelmont > boxrocket 05/28/2015 at 07:20

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I got tasked with playing the (digital) organ for my school’s Sweeney Todd production. I had some knowledge of how organ playing worked, since we had a Hammond in our old house as a decorative piece (not sure of model, but it had a full keyboard), and my grandparents house has an Ćolian pipe organ from the ‘20s that (sorta) works. Unfortunately, the organ at our school had a bizarre layout that took some getting used to-everything was wrapped around the key-area in an arc instead of on the side panels. It was pretty intuitive once you got a hang on it, though!

boxrocket > VonBelmont 05/28/2015 at 09:50

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I love wrap-around consoles. They feel like a cockpit, or, perhaps the other way around. The ones on the Wikipedia page make me drool. The church I grew up at had a rather sizeable Roland that was a delight to play. The Lowrey at home is older than I am (and it shows), but is the same model that The Who used to make the intro to “Baba O’Reilly” which was fun learning and replicating.

Sorry for distracting you, get back to learning that piece, haha.