First week of Bach Challenge

This is quite a challenge for me. I started out well but I had trouble fitting in time at the end of the week for this. Thursday and Friday I just had absolutely no time for this. I really tried but couldn't fit it in. Saturday I worked in some practice and I was up early this Sunday morning so I worked on it for about 40 minutes. I had been thinking that I should just give this up because it seems too hard to fit in an hour each day plus the 30 minutes of Alexander Technique practice. Then I decided that just because I couldn't do everything I wanted with it doesn't mean I should completely give up. I will stick to my plans and see if I can do better this week.

I have made some good progress. I've worked through the first quarter of the piece working out fingerings, tone, articulation, etc. I'm trying to figure out exactly how I want to play this so I don't waste time practicing it in a way that I don't want to play it. I've been watching videos of other well known performers such as Manuel Barrueco, Christopher Parkening, and Ana Vidovic doing this piece to see what they are doing exactly to help me make better choices.

I think the best thing I can do is plan my week today of when I will work on this and write down the main things I will focus on. I was just planning in the morning of each day and some days I scheduled too many things. So it was too late to make room for guitar practice.

I have also realized that I need to practice very smart. I was feeling like it will take a really long time to master this piece. So I thought I need more time with this. Instead I decided that I should make the most of my time. I've been trying to write down things that stand out to me as the most important things to work on in this piece. Then in my next practice session I can work on those rather than wasting time trying to re-figure out what to work on.

The final thing I need to step up is praying. I get busy with other things and I forget about God. Today I was reminded in church that if I am not “wow'd” by God then I am not studying and understanding. I've become more reliant on my own abilities. It's interesting that another name given to this Bach prelude is We Thank Thee, God. I have learned that music is at it's best when there is a soul or spirit to it. I hope to add this spirit of thankfulness to God to this piece by learning just how thankful I should be to God.

Bach is known to sign his works SDG which translates to soli deo gloria. This means all glory to God

SDG,

David