Week Two – Day Two

Very long day today and much of my practice today was slow work so I found it all rather exhausting once I returned home. There is something rather fascinating about working in ‘slow motion’ and I found myself chasing precision in the three against four passage in the Fauré Nocturne. Kenneth talked about the rhythmic work he was subjected to at the Paris Conservatoire and I have subsequently been working on some passages in a similar way. The most striking task I undertook during my lesson today was rather than thinking of the triplet-quavers against an underlying pulse of semiquavers, I was to play the semiquavers against a triplet pulse set on the metronome. Reversing the role – normally I relate the triplets to the semiquaver – was initially a bit of a challenge but something to add to the practice list for tomorrow. He also noted that the triplets were not precise enough – though close. Ultimately I hope to get this rhythmic phenomenon in my brain – and fingers – and ideally with the feel that they are truly independent rather than a coordinated effect. We can dream…