Eileen surprised me last night when at the end of my piano practice she told me that whatever I was working on was growing on her.

It was Etude 11 from Philip Glass’s “20 Etudes.” My original goal with these etudes was to read through them so that I would know which ones might interest me musically enough to learn and use at church.

Then I hit #11. These etudes are divided into two volumes of 10. The second volume seems to be much harder than the first. The technical problems intrigued me enough to want to work them out in some detail. That’s where it stands. There are some cross rhythms I am attempting to learn “by feel” instead of painstaking slow work. I think it will work. My piano teacher of years ago, Dr. Strasburg (Mr?), told me that ultimately one plays difficult cross rhythms by feel.

But after that, I learned to carefully outline cross rhythms in little diagrams, explicitly showing how they work. These diagrams can be rather involved. One can practice slowly with them. Very slowly. But eventually one has to speed them up and feel does in come in to play.

Earlier in the day, Dawn the cellist and I rehearsed the Brahms cello sonata movement I performed Saturday. It sounded so good that I said we should schedule it sometime in June as a prelude. I was surprised how much my intense prep for Saturday improved my ability to play challenging sections.

Then we rehearsed the first movement of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata, opus 5, #1. It inspired me to put this movement on my practice list as well.

Beethoven has some one hand accompaniment patterns on the piano that I find challenging.

Since I am working on my technique maybe now is the time to improve my ability to play these tricky little things.

I am relearning how piano prep differs from organ prep. I found myself practicing slowly but with a little muscular bump on each note on the piano. This seems to help my piano playing and is the opposite of my organ technique which is based on still hand and releasing notes (tracker technique).

Jes sayin’

MAX Transit tax renewal passes with wide approval – News – Holland Sentinel – Holland, MI

Eileen, Sarah, and I all voted yesterday. Sarah had her absentee ballot with her and dropped it off at city hall. Eileen and I were number 45 and 46 at our usual precinct.

A Nickname for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? There’s No Short Answer – The New York Times

I love names.