Magic Bear, the Pianist

Magic Bear has been practicing the following pieces for more than four months now: 

• Prelude No. 5 of first twelve short preludes in "J.S Bach's 18 Short Preludes"
• Sonatina No. 2 by Clementi
• No. 10 Tender Flower, No. 17 The Chatterbox of "Burgmuller 25 Progressive Pieces"

He still needs improvement in the most difficult passages. I get the feeling that he is too romantic and soft on the keys; some of the comments I recently heard from the teacher are:

• No. 5: "... the whole section needs to be forte".  
• No. 2: "Do not sing. Try a little bit faster."  "loud! louder!", "do not shy to be strong".  "Practice at 108 tempo. Work super slow on all sixteenth notes".
• No. 10: "emphasizing the talk notes."  "Be bright!  Be loud on the loud notes!"

Although he won't be in the competition this weekend, Magic Bear has improved a lot since beginning lessons one and half year ago. To hear him playing is really enjoyable. I hope he would practice more and make progress everyday.  It is just like swimming. The technique won't come without patience and practice. Sometimes there is a lot of struggle. But once it is learned, it seems so effortless.