Weeding Stage

You may play through the piece using 3D wrist motion and elbow motion, gently releasing the fingers on the circled notes.

Later, once you feel confident with these skills, this step will no longer be necessary.

Instead, on the following day, you'll move straight to playing with correct hand motion — after first imagining every note in its sound texture.

Imagine each note in sound texture, combining it with sound movement & glissando between notes.

Play the piece with 3D hand motion and posture, sound imagination, intonation & weight, and articulations.

Play the piece with 3D hand motion and posture, sound imagination, intonation & weight, and articulations.

Imagine the notes in both staves in sound texture with sound movement and glissando, infusing each note with the energy of your needs / dreams.

Play the piece with 3D hand motion and posture, sound imagination, intonation & weight, and articulations, infusing each note and intonation with the energy of your needs / dreams.

Imagine the notes in both staves in sound texture & harmony, with sound movement and glissando.

Listen to the harmony and feel its emotional colour.

Imagine the notes in sound texture and harmony with sound movement and glissando.

Play the piece with 3D motion, sound imagination, intonation & weight, and articulations.

Trust that hand motions, intonation, arm weight, articulations, and posture are in your muscle memory. So you can now focus more attentively on the sound imagination of harmony.

Mark the dynamics in the score.

1. Highlight the existing written dynamics to keep them visually and mentally prominent.

2. Cross out vague instructions such as dim. or cresc., and replace them with the specific dynamics you intend for each bar or section.

3. Remove hairpins except for those that begin and end with explicit written dynamics. Treat these as true dynamic transitions and write the exact dynamic markings, just as you would in other crescendo or diminuendo passages.

Then imagine the notes in sound texture, harmony, and dynamics, adding sound movement and glissando.

Play the piece with 3D motion, guided by sound imagination. Intonate each interval with arm weight and articulations.

Trust that the hand motions, intonation, arm weight, articulations, and posture are already anchored in your muscle memory. This allows you to focus more fully on the sound imagination of harmony and dynamics.

When playing forte at a slow tempo, increase the amplitude of the 3D wrist motion so that it reflects the energy of the imagined loud sound, helping the hands and tone remain free of harshness.

When playing piano, remember that you still need the full amount of arm weight to maintain control of touch and tone.

Throughout, keep the hands light, empty, weak, and loose, and allow sound imagination—rather than physical force—to guide the movement.

Decide which voice to project the most.

Avoid voicing embellishments and ornamentation.

Imagine the notes in sound texture, harmony, dynamics & voicing, with sound movement and glissando.

Remember to imagine longer notes with their full duration.

Play the piece with 3D motion, guided by sound imagination, intonation & arm weight, and articulations.

The amplitude in hand motion will be reduced, adjusting to more subtle nuances of sound you intend to produce.

Imagine the notes in both staves in sound texture, harmony, dynamics & voicing, with sound movement and glissando, infusing each note with the energy of your needs / dreams.

Play the piece with 3D motion, sound imagination, intonation & arm weight, and articulations, infusing each note and intonation with the energy of your dreams.

Play the piece with 3D motion, guided by sound imagination. Intonate each interval with arm weight, articulations, and musical speech.

Trust that sound imagination, hand motions, intonation & arm weight, and articulations are in your muscle memory.

It may feel complex and overwhelming to intonate musical speech in both hands at the same time. For this reason, focus on one hand only—typically the one carrying the more active melodic line.

Direct your attention to intonating musical speech within the melody, rather than trying to apply it equally to both hands.

Analyze the phrasing in the score by marking motifs, phrases, and sentences.

Listen to the piece with attention to your phrasing choices, using this to confirm and refine your interpretation.

Give yourself the freedom to refine your phrasing structure over the coming days.

Motifs

Play the piece by motifs, allowing a natural slowing as you approach the main interval in a motif. Sense musical speech in both hands within main intervals. A natural change in dynamics may also occur. After each motif, pause briefly without lifting your hands, allowing a full release of energy. Begin the next motif from a neutral, empty state.

Direct your attention to intonating musical speech within the melody, rather than trying to apply it equally to both hands.

Phrases

Play the piece by phrases. Play the main motif in the phrase with slightly more volume. After each phrase, pause briefly without lifting your hands, allowing a full release of energy. Begin the next phrase from a neutral, empty state.

When playing at the level of phrases, you may naturally find yourself moving at a slightly faster tempo, helping you perceive the unity of the motifs within the phrase.

Sentence

Play the piece by sentences. Play the main phrase in the sentence with slightly more volume. After each sentence, pause briefly without lifting your hands, allowing a full release of energy. Begin the next sentence from a neutral, empty state.

When playing by sentences, you may naturally find yourself moving at a slightly faster tempo, helping you perceive the unity of the phrases within the sentence.

Play the piece focusing on the musical image (energy of your dream).

Play at a slow tempo.

Trust that musical speech and phrasing are already present in your muscle memory.

Choose sections in the piece ranging from half a page to two pages.

Identify how many sentences each section contains, and select a suitable form template.

Mentally play through the piece, sensing the musical image and form within each sentence. Focus less on individual notes and more on moving through the elements of form, sensing the energy behind them.

Play the piece, allowing the musical image and form to guide your intonation.

Play at a moderate tempo (around 2–3 notes per second). The focus is on sensing how the energy of the musical image and form is expressed through the intonation between the notes.

Let go of previous steps and shift your focus entirely to expressing musical phrasing and form through your body—using arm motions, dynamics, and flexible timing to convey every nuance and contrast.

Look at the time signature and tempo markings to identify the pulsation and tempo.

It may help to experience the timing physically rather than only imagining it mentally through breathing aligned with the inner pulse: exhale on the stronger beats and inhale on the lighter beats of the chosen timing.

Mentally play through the first two bars of each element of form in the piece, focusing on how these blocks are felt within musical image, form, and timing.

Be very clear in your inner sensations about the feeling of each form element and every tempo change.

Play the piece while focusing on musical image, form, and timing.

Begin with a slower timing, regardless of the original tempo in the score, knowing that the piece will gradually be brought to its intended tempo during the Learning Stage.

While playing, return to the question: “Where is my Dream to Rest?”

Shoulder and upper arm motions may look and feel exaggerated at this stage. This is completely normal.

While playing, return to the question: “What is my Dream to Manifest?”

Repeat each section until it becomes memorized. Memorization becomes especially important at this stage, since constantly returning to the score can interrupt the continuity of focus needed for Step 3.

Remain in a comfortable Timing 2 pace and without yet bringing the sections to their original fast tempo.

At this stage, the elbow motions may appear and feel exaggerated. This is completely normal, as in Step 3 these movements will gradually settle more deeply into the inner muscular sensations.

Choose an appropriate tempo. Take three mindful breaths aligned with the pulse of the timing — exhaling on the downbeats and inhaling on the upbeats. This breathing helps align the body and heartbeat with the chosen timing, establishing a stable and natural inner pulse before playing.

Then zoom into the opening block (B) and briefly move through the three stages: Step 1, Uploading, and Listening.

Repeat 10× with brief pauses between sections

Keep the focus on the word “Listen.”

When shifting between different elements of form, timing, or energy fields, allow brief pauses between the segments. Gradually reduce these pauses throughout the ten play-throughs.

Repeat 10× without brief pauses between sections

Play without pausing between shifts of form, timing, and energy field.

Identify which intervals became unclear or went blank while playing.

Focus on improving the musical speech within those intervals to strengthen memorization.

Add a sentence before and after the error measure.

When playing through the piece next time, keep in mind any corrected measures and pay attention to new challenging sections to practice afterward.

Analyze which intervals didn’t feel stable.

Focus on improving musical speech and speed and amplitude of the elbow motion.

Practice only at a slow tempo.

Only move to the next tempo when you feel comfortable.

Add a sentence before and after the error measure.

Move to the next tempo only when feeling comfortable.

When playing through the piece next time, keep in mind any corrected measures and pay attention to new challenging sections to practice afterward.