Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with sixteenth notes @ 65 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 85 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
I played the piece and waited for a story about the meaning to come to me. I think I was really affected by a Japanese movie that I watched today called Crying Out Love in the Center of the
World. Simply, it is about a guy whose soulmate died of leukemia while they were in high school. The guy is about to get engaged to another girl, and the memory of his sweetheart comes back and it's too much to bear. I took away the idea of the impermanence of life from this movie and how we shouldn't take things for granted.

So what does this have to do with Pica Pica? Well, Pica Pica is obviously about a relationship between a man and a woman. In the first part, the lovers are getting to find out more about each other and with time, they like each other more and more. It's as if the sentence said by the man in the line of the 1st two measures is completed in measure 3 and 4 by the woman. And so on.

Part B represents a time of extreme thrills - the apex their relationship. I imagine them in a park on a sunny day dancing, or establishing a deep connection through some activity (maybe hiking, maybe travelling). The driving rhythm of this part represents the momentum with which these activities take place and end.

Part C takes place after they part. One of them dies, or they break up. The look back on the time when they were just getting to know each other with fondness and nostalgia.

So to me, Pica Pica stands for the impermanence of relationships, and how we might as well treasure them, but try not to get too attached.

I think an elaborate story like this is bound to stay in my memory, even when I'm nervous up on the stage. :)

Recorded private-through of the whole piece. Sounds pretty good. Position switch between part A and B is hard to do blind. Also, it's hard to image ahead while keeping track of the story that I created.

Estrellita
Practice-run of 1st part sounded good. Did practice-run of part B. Pretty good, should record and analyze again tomorrow.

Reviewed section C up to measure 4.