I am writing this final blog post after I have just recorded myself performing my two chosen songs: Back to December by Taylor Swift and Trouble by Coldplay. I wish I could say I was elated with my performance, but I am feeling slightly disappointed in myself. Looking at the Musical Growth Plan I submitted in January, I stated that I would be able to play the songs with accurate rhythm, fingering, and hand position, and I would play with good posture. In my recordings, I did not reach these goals. I made several mistakes with playing the keys and stumbled over key changes several times. I was able to continue the song even when I stumbled, so I did fulfill that aspect of the growth plan. Overall, I am pleased with my progress playing the keyboard, as I have become able to play through full songs with confidence and I have learned a lot about how piano music and music in general is written and composed. I am not entirely pleased with the final recordings, however. I felt some amount of stage fright when the camera turned on and I believe that I did not perform the songs on video as well as I have other times I have played them.
I did follow my growth plan closely and was able to stick to my practice schedule of three or more practices per week. I was definitely successful in learning the vocal parts to my songs as well, and spent much time practicing the lyrics throughout the weeks to drill them into my head. I think that I performed the lyrics to Trouble on video quite well, as the lead vocalist for Coldplay and I have similar vocal ranges and it was simpler for me to make the part sound good. Taylor Swift, on the other hand, has quite a different range than I do, so I had to sing Back to December down an octave and thus had a somewhat one-dimensional vocal performance. This point goes beyond my original growth plan, since I only stated that I would learn the parts to accompany the keyboard rather than learn the vocal part for its own sake.
If I were to choose again, I am not sure that I would choose to learn either the songs I chose or the keyboard for this project. I selected the keyboard with good intentions and a strong desire to learn something new, which I have absolutely done. But because the final product of my practicing and working and learning have resulted in what is, to me, unsatisfactory, I would select a different instrument and songs if I could go back and do it again. The ukulele or guitar would have been my next choice for learning something new, and for something familiar I could have chosen to learn new music on the trumpet that I already have 6 years of experience playing. I don’t believe that I made a completely incorrect choice with the keyboard. On the contrary, I plan to continue playing it until I can perform Back to December and other songs my wife enjoys (and that I enjoy, let’s be honest) with greater skill. For this particular project, however, I believe I could have made other choices that would have resulted in more positive outcomes for me. On the other hand, it is healthy to deal with a certain amount of failure and disappointment in life. Since this project has fairly low stakes, maybe it was actually an ideal place to encounter some level of disappointment.
