I have began learning Ode to Joy by Beethoven and found it harder than Twinkle Twinkle, but with the help of this Youtube tutorial and my mom (she knows how to play piano) I feel happy with my progress so far! Some things that I find confusing when looking at music is understanding where on the key board your hands are supposed to be placed. Meaning, if the music says to play “E” I struggle to understand what “E” the music is referring to on the piano. Thankfully with online resources and my mom’s help I was able to start to understand more about this. I also find playing both hands together very difficult. I am a bit of perfectionist, so not being able to play the song with it going smoothly and each note connected to the note before (I believe this term is called legato) is difficult. That being said, I know that as I continue to practice I will improve.

I mentioned time management in my last post and I would still say that finding the proper amount of time to practice can be difficult. I have tired to not stress about this learning process too much because I don’t think the purpose of this assignment is to make anyone feel stressed, so instead I have accepted that some days I won’t have time to practice (or go to the gym or do other things that are important to me) and when I do have time I try and maximize my practicing by removing any distractions or setting a timer, etc. I will continue to work on finalizing the Ode to Joy piece and look forward to starting my new piece!