A Romantic Waltz

The ivory keys felt strange, seemingly alien to my deskbound digits. They felt heavier than usual, slightly resistant to my touch. My scales were crude and my arpeggios were muddled. What does modulation mean again? Then, my fingers tripped and tumbled as they coarsely tried to pivot over my thumb, swiftly passing through a number of missed notes. The clunkers kept on coming like a battalion swarming over my confidence, mocking my desperate attempt to play a squeakily-clean Mozart. Cringe-worthy, to say the least; and yet, I kept on playing.

That’s it: I need to practice more… SERIOUSLY.

It can’t be helped, however. It's been a while since I've played anything "classical" on the piano. The only music I've been reviewing, playing, and listening to for the past couple of months were religious, choral, anime piano, and Owl City—not actually a healthy music diet for a Rachmaninoff-wannabe. Unluckily, my line of work and my romantic interests have left me with no other choice but to take a short hiatus in playing Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, and Chopin.

They must be rolling in their graves right now.

Yesterday, a Facebook chat with my piano teacher served as an impetus for me to reopen those dusty piano books that have been kept in various hiding places in our house. I have been asked to join this year’s piano festival organized by the Piano Teachers’ Guild of the Philippines (PTGP). It’s a pretty big event, and the mere fact that my teacher asked me to play has filled me with such a great honour. Her faith in my ability just boosted my interest and self-confidence in playing the piano. Just then, a compulsion for me to practice has once again taken me over.

I cannot afford to miss a single note. I cannot afford to hit any clunkers. I cannot afford to misinterpret my piece. I cannot afford to break that confidence that has given me a purpose in pursuing this thing in the first place.

That is why I pledge to be faithful to my practice routine. *Cross my heart and hope to die*

I have chosen to play Debussy’s “Valse Romantique”, a 1905 work from the French impressionist. It’s a fairly difficult piece with a surprising (and romantic) twist at the end the end. There are a lot of pedal works and large chords involved, so I might as well brush up my skills. Hopefully, I will be able to pull it off like this girl did.

Mind = blown.

Currently shifting mind-set to practice mode. *Fingers crossed*