For my 30 day challenge, I will be attempting to learn the 11th variation of Liszt’s Paganini Etude 6

• Cut to clip of variation
• Les Grande Etudes de Paganini are a series of six etudes based upon the 24 violin caprices written by Niccolo Paganini
• I chose this piece and variation in particular because these etudes are considered some of the most technically demanding pieces written for solo piano, and I’d like to improve my finger dexterity and accuracy through my favourite composer
  • Also, I haven’t been spending as much time practicing as I’d like to, due to school, and by forcing myself to carve out a few hours every week to practice, I can further develop my time management skills

Check in #1

• When I first picked this piece, I didn’t realize how hard the arpeggios were until I started playing them
• Cut to struggling
• They were very fast, and required a reach of 10 keys, something I did not notice when I was initially looking at the sheet music
• At this point, I had the main melody down, it was just missing everything else

Check in #2

• From day 10, I felt as if I hadn’t made any new progress— I was still immensely struggling with the fast jumps and broken chords, as well as the polyrhythms, which means that the left and right hand were off beat
• I’m now able to sight read the entire 11th variation hands separately, but not at the speed that it is intended to be played

Final Check in

Although I wasn’t able to fully learn the 11th variation at the same caliber that Liszt probably played it at, it was still a great learning experience, and taught me that you cannot expect instant results in just 30 days

• I didn’t factor in certain things like rest days, as vigorous piano playing isn’t the greatest for my tendonitis
• True success requires way more discipline than we expect,
• It will probably be many more months before I can play the entire piece up to par, but until then, I can carve our a few hours every week to try, and have fun with it