OK, the left hand trill in Bach's Two Part Invention #7 might not be my Mt. Everest. A Rachmaninoff piano concerto would be more like Mt. Everest for me in that I'm pretty certain I'll never master either one. But I'm beginning to wonder if this trill will end up being just as intractable. Well, I'll never know until I give it my best shot.
I think it's time to bring out my ultimate secret weapon: persistence. Patient day in and day out persistence. Up until now, I've been pushing that metronome setting upward at a fairly steady pace. But I'm on a plateau now, and I'm having trouble pushing past the current level. Today, I slowed it down a bit, backed off my edge just a bit. My plan is to practice the trill at this speed until it is super easy, super automatic, super relaxed before I take it up a notch. Patience. Persistence.
I'm currently at about two thirds of my target tempo. I feel confident I can bring Invention #7 as a whole up to that target. On the whole, it isn't that tough for me. It's just that triplet trill that's killing me. Am I up against an insurmountable physical limitation in my abilities? Will I have to capitulate and simplify the trill to get the piece up to my target tempo? Or will I eventually get to the top of the mountain? We'll see. But only if I can maintain my persistence in the face of self doubt.
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| A fragment of the music showing the trill in the left hand. The little inset below the staff shows how the trill is to be played on the whole note B. |
Or, try trilling 3-1 instead of 3-2; or switch out 2 & 1 every now & then.
ReplyDeleteOR, just put the whole thing away for a week or two. You might be astonished what can happen in your mind/body when you don't practice it. Just be sure to pick it up again, if you try this; and of course be playing & learning other pieces in the meantime.
I just can't help myself, I guess!
Thank you, Kathleen. I'll try it.
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