BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE

I reached a milestone this morning when I got all the technical aspects of Invention #9 working smoothly at my target tempo.

It's not done yet, though. I'm still refining the musical aspects of it. In this piece, phrasing is everything. The left and right hands are singing the same song but starting at different times. It's like "Row Row Row Your Boat", but quite a bit more sophisticated. Each hand has to have its own independent expressive integrity, and also sing in harmony with the other hand. It won't be done until I have that working the way I want it.

Who am I kidding? A piece like this is never done. All I can do is get it to a point where I might think about playing it for someone. My understanding of it and my ability to play it will continue to evolve for as long as I continue to play the piece. It's fun to mark a milestone, though.

Here's to Johann! Here's to art! Clink!