COGNITIVE AND PHYSICAL CHALLENGES

The last two days have been all about reaching a tempo goal for invention #5, cranking up that metronome setting beat by beat and working out the kinks.  I told myself that I could start learning #6 if I got #5 up to that tempo. Of course, I'll still be working on #5, too. Today, I got to that goal after an hour and 20 minutes of practice.  Tomorrow I start #6.  Yay!

When I first start a piece at a very slow tempo, most of the challenges are cognitive -- remembering what comes next, figuring out the fingering, etc.  At the slow speed, the physical challenges are few and easily dealt with by and large. As I increase the speed, the relative proportion of physical challenges increases.  At medium speeds, most of the early stage cognitive challenges have been worked out, and it's mostly about getting my fingers to do certain passages.  At higher speeds, it becomes a much greater physical challenge, and cognitive challenges creep back in: staying relaxed, keeping focus, being present with what's happening while also being mentally prepared for what's next.

The answer to both the cognitive and the physical problems is the same -- practice, practice, practice.  There are some differences in how I practice to overcome the two types of problems, but that's a topic for another day...

[Before beginning this blog, I was sending emails to a friend.  I'm incorporating those into the blog, and embellishing them here and there. This entry was from 1/14-15/2012.]