Logbook
This part of the webside is my more 'private' piano logbook. It is just here to capture my progress over time. The pieces listed below are "in work". You will find under the - REPERTOIRE - menu item the piano pieces that are considered completed but to be revisited for further improvement.
Why is it in english, I don't know, perhabs because it was my language for more than 30 years at work and I just like it. Sometimes it is even easier for me to express myself in english than in german.
You will find here some videos capturing me playing the pieces I have learned over time with the correponding timestamp. Please note, I am a complete beginner never really palyed piano befor my retirement. I have started playing piano on Feb. 2019, first with a electrical piano (Kawai CA98) and move to an acoustic piano (August Förster Model 125G) about one year later.
My aim is to learn the piano up to Level 4 or 5 (of 8 resp. 10 depending on the choosen schema). My favorite pieces are classical or movie piano soundtracks. I like Franz Gordon, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer etc. but also Beethoven, Grieg and Bach.
May 2024
Gymnopedie No. 1, by E.Satie. A first version half played through. The other half is identical except the last line. Without proper dynamics, not a consistent tempo and a few hickups.
Jan 2024
Präludium No. 1 by J.S. Bach. A first version without dynamics and a few hickups. The next version will show up in the Repertoire. The January was quite a step forward after I have been struggeling with the two pieces I was working on.
Dec 2023
Greensleeves an english traditional. The first version played without pedaling.
March 2023
Last autum I have damage the wrist of my left hand and could not play piano for about 6 month.
June 2022
I have completed the Grade 2 pieces. "Intercitiy Stomp" a jazzy very rhythmic piece, "Le chant du patre" and "O Waly Waly" as included below. In addition there is the final version of "Melodie" (still from Grade 1). I will now start with Grade 3, the first piece being "Moon River" from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" a very famous piece. With the start of Grade 3 I have moved from "beginner" level (grade initial, 1, 2), to "intermediate" level (grade 3, 4, 5). If I will ever reach the "advanced player" level (grade 6, 7, 8) we will see because that is a really long journey.
"Intercitiy Stomp"
"Le chant du patre"
"O Waly Waly"
"Melodie"
February 2022
I have started on the ABRSM Grade 2, the first piece will be available end of this month. However here is the final version of "The Detective" with a metronom on the keyboard for checking the rhythm and pace of 100 bpm. Furthermore a very first version of "Melodie" by R.Schumann, a very difficult one normally part of Grade 2 but listed as a challenging piece in the Grade 1 curriculum. The speed is currently at 60 bpm (Metronom) and I need to raise it to 88 bpm, furthermore I am still struggeling at the difficult parts and of course the rhythm is not really a rhythm yet.
"The Detective"
"Melodie (first draft)"
December 2021
Another one of the ABRSM Grade 1 - "The Swing" by Chee-Hwa-Tan
The sound quality is quite poor because I am using now a webcam with an additional usb microphon. For the other videos I have used my photocamera that has a much better mic. However the setup with the webcam is much easier to handle, no struggle getting the tripod in the right position and then the legs are always in the way etc..
May 2021
The 1st (re-done) and 2nd of the three exam pieces of the ABRSM Grade 1 - "Down by the Salley Gardens" an Irish Traditional and "Minuet in C" by W.A.Mozart.
I think there is a noticable difference in "Down by the Salley Gardens" between the first version and now 2 month later.
In addition my first interpretation of "Für Elise" (the Intro only) by L. van Beethoven.
March 2021
The first of three exam pieces of the ABRSM Grade 1 - Down by the Salley Gardens; an Irish Traditional
December 2020
X-mas time. My two first pieces that I have captured per video. "Leise rieselt der Schnee (in F-dur)" and "The first Noel (in D-dur)". There is not a lot to say, the first one was more difficult than the other because of the many different chords. Learning both took about 4 weeks.
Other pieces I have studied during 2020 are "In the Hall of the Mountain King, by Edward Grieg", "Für Elise, by L.v. Beethoven" the intro theme only and a few smaller pieces. But those are not good enough yet to be captured by video.