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Post your WOOP – September 2023
Now that it’s back-to-school month, what projects or goals are you working towards this month?
If you find yourself needing a bit of motivation this month, try setting a WOOP, whether big or small, and seeing if a little public accountability might help you get the fall off to a good start. 😁
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13 Replies
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Mozart 4-Hand Sonata in F/ Andante: Master the rapid scales and ornaments, analyze the structure, work out awkward overlaps, balance, and interpretation with my duo partner, and have a lesson with her teacher.
Schubert Ländler: Memorize #s 2, 9, 10, and 12 securely at a moderate tempo.
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How’d things go this month, @Inspired ?
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Wish: Memorize the words for Lullaby Of Birdland and use two scat syllables for the bass line of the song while singing it with a YouTube accompaniment.
Outcome: I’ll be taking an action step toward my bigger goal of learning to scat sing on a jazz tune and I’ll have something to present to C. Howes in his next workshop in January.
Obstacle: Run out of time to practice; feel disorganized in my practice space and mentally cluttered. Be tempted to read too much, clean and talk with my family and not get on with practicing soon enough.
Plan: Practice singing and guitar first thing; write out chord changes for transposition from F to B flat; practice memorizing the words by writing and speaking them
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Sounds good, Jaime!
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How’d things go this month @violadoc ?
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My September WOOP went well. I did hit a snag in that the transposing extension I was using to sing with on the Chrome browser. It transposed down by half steps and I thought it was whole steps! When I tried to sing the bass line with scat syllables it really messed my brain up. I revamped my plan by learning some syllable patterns on scales and am trying to adopt them on the YouTube karaoke written in the key I want to sing in. I believe that if I don’t give up and with the help of my great singing and guitar teachers I can learn to do this!! It is going to take more time. The really good news is that I don’t feel discouraged at all, but more encouraged. Also, I wrote another WOOP that I didn’t post but it came off without a hitch. Thank you Noa for a great framework to build upon. Jaime
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@violadoc Oh, whoops! Sounds like a pretty handy extension though – had no idea anything like this existed!d
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Wish: start a daily practice habit again to enable me to prepare for my November 8th presentation to my local MTA. My presentation is on Taubman Hacks for our annual Piano Tournament Repertoire.
Outcome: I will feel empowered to be prepared for my presentation.
Obstacle: not having a set schedule
Plan: I will write out a weekly schedule that includes practice time for Monday-Friday of each week. I will do this on Sundays.
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Sounds like an intriguing presentation! =)
Let me know how the weekly schedule goes. Sometimes that can be exactly what we need – and sometimes that can paradoxically lead to less consistency. In the sense that we feel like we’ve failed when we haven’t followed the schedule, and end up not practicing because we didn’t do it when we were supposed to and end up feeling discouraged. At times like that, it can help to be more flexible with the schedule and just fit a few things in wherever we can, and call it a win, even if it feels less organized.
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@argilmoregms-online-com How’d things go this month?
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Thanks, Noa! I’ll keep that in mind!
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Hi, Noa:
Well, I actually made it to the piano and practiced, although not every day. Unfortunately, I’ve also injured a finger, so I’m freaking out a bit about that. I have scheduled an extra lesson with my teacher this week, so I’m hoping he’ll have good news for me on the injury. (I’m also hoping it will be much better by the time I see him Tuesday afternoon.) I’m very interested in the perfect practice information, and I plan to get to that this week. I can always offload the piece I’m most uncomfortable with, and at this point, I’m thinking I may do that, since it uses the affected finger a lot.
I didn’t actually make a schedule after seeing your response – I just tried to fit in practice where it seemed to make sense. I’m have chronic back pain, and I have frequent migraines, so I really have to listen to my body before sitting down to the piano. I think those issues are my my obstacles, and I feel like I did a pretty good job with what I was able to do.
I’m still trying to cram a lot of the videos, and I’m making recordings, but I haven’t uploaded anything yet. I’m letting Cohort 14 go, and I’m hoping to be ready to be on top of things in Cohort 15.
My time is running short for the performance on October 11, but I’m still in good shape for November 8, or at least I think so😀. I guess I’ll find out as time progresses.
Thanks so much for checking in. I plan to do a new WOOP tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a bit more realistic.
Best,
Mandy
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@argilmoregms-online-com Oof, sorry to hear about the finger injury. Hopefully it’s not too serious and heals up quickly. The unpredictable nature of health issues can be challenging indeed. Sounds like you’re approaching it in the best way by listening to your body.
And yes – maybe try to aim for something that seems easy to do. Still would feel great, but easy. See if that paradoxically makes it more motivating as you manufacture more successes.
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