I have now become obsessed with J.S. Bach’s Serabande in Suite 6. I have found it twice on Instagram and tiktok so I think it’s a sign that I should be playing it. It is such a beautiful piece, but it is so incredibly difficult with the key signature and the chords on every other note. Because of this though, I’m getting far better at following along with the key signatures and maintaining them throughout the piece. Figuring out fingerings and shifts/stretches throughout the piece is getting easier, and it’s transferring to some of the other pieces I play, where I find that I am going through the notes and wondering why I played them before in such an awkward way. I’m glad I found this piece, because up until now I have been working on my audition pieces mostly which are in C major and A minor (They’re parallel keys meaning they share the same key signatures, both of which have no flats or sharps). This piece is really testing me in the key signature and the chords, but I like the challenge, mostly because of how much it works on my weaknesses. It’s a slow piece so I have to work on sustaining my sound, while also focusing on my intonation (how accurate the notes are) so the chords sound pretty when playing multiple notes together. Ultimately I appreciate the piece for how chalenging it is on a personal level, but also how I get to take a break from other school work to focus on this and almost do like active rest. I get to shift my mindset from academic to musical and I really appreciate how my brain is working hard just in another facet. Below I’ve put an audio clip of me playing it that I sent to a classmate. it’s not nearly perfect and I’m only playing the top notes of the chords (for most of it) and at the end you can see me try to figure out the chords.