Practice Challenge Week 1

I kept thinking that I'd get back to this and make it look more organized and polished, but it didn't happen.  So here is the quickly typed version of my practicing based on Ellen Hahn's practice journal for the week.

Yay! A few students are actually turning in practice journals.

As promised, here is the report for week 1 of me using the winner's goals, practice strategies and times.

I'm also adding 3-5 minutes of warm-ups (which most of them are recording, but I hope they're including.

Session #1
Winner's Goals, time, and strategies
G: work on words, learn melody
T:15
S: speak, then sing.  Work melody on loo.

My tools:
IPA and word-by-word translation of Beim Schlafengehn

1.  speak the words
2.  speak the words while playing the notes (to check rhythm and pitch).
3.  sing

I did 20 minutes and got through to letter B in a song I haven't worked before.  I was surprised at how fast it came together.  I know I shouldn't be, but I was.

Session #2
G: B section of Song 2 and review Song
T:20
S: chunks to learn melody


Review Im Abendrot
read translation and IPA (a chunk at a time then sing)--working memorized (study then sing without looking) running out of time so I only worked up to letter E that way, just say through the rest once.

Beim Schlafengehn
focused just on the notes and rhythms B to C, played the melody, played accompaniment, sang with no piano

25 minutes total
It's hard to stop once you get started.  Im Abendrot is closer to memorized than I thought, and it's definitely at the stage where I need to be working memorized.  The long phrases are much easier when I'm not looking at the music.
Beim Sclafengehn has some weird intervals when you just look at the melody, (they are gorgeous and make sense with the accompaniment), but I seem to be picking them up faster than I did with the other songs.  It might also be easier because I have done a lot more listening before learning this song.  Excited for the next practice session when I should be able to get to my favorite part of the song.

Session #3
G: difficult sections
T:20
S:  sang through several times, worked sections, worked on sustaining dynamics

Doing this is in small chunks today between lessons, etc.
I'm having drainage and breathing problems again, and the songs I'm working are beastly difficult, so I won't be singing through several times on the new rep.
Buzzing through "Repetition"--which I think is perfect for repetitive practice.  Quick warm-up and 3 times of this song 2 buzzing and one singing) during my 10 minute break.
What Would I Give?  Read a little more about Rossetti and explored more about what the poem might mean in terms of both the depression she dealt with and her religious life.  Digging into the meaning definitely helps with dynamics and phrase shaping.  I still don't have any definitive answers, but I love the song more each time I sing it.  Today I buzzed twice and sang twice.  Including the reading, I spent about 15 minutes on this song.

I'm learning that my ADD definitely figures into my practice.  I have a hard time getting going sometimes, but then I don't want to stop.  All my times this week have exceeded those that the student did because I just wanted to do more.

Worked letter D to E in September since this is one of the most difficult places for me for the breath.  Plus, I'm still not 100% on the notes for sterbenden.  5 minutes.

Total practice time today:30 minutes.

Oops.  Thought I was done practicing, but then I read through the notes from the session before and remembered that I wanted to do the fun part of Beim Sclafengehn, so I'm back again.
Started out playing my notes, then the accompaniment, one phrase at a time.  Worked up to the last page.  Just sang the last page for fun a few times because I like it.  10 more minutes for a total of 40 minutes today when I didn't think I had much time.

More…I just listened to 17 minutes of professional recordings of the Strauss songs while I reconciled lessons and emailed lesson notes.  That tells me two things.  Number 1, I can make contact with my music while doing other things, and two, it takes too long to reconcile.