Your plan to the Stauffer recording (due 08-07-2026)

A focused 6-week run-up to your recording. You start 29-05-2026 and send the recording in by 08-07-2026. The big picture: the audition is the main job, your back always comes first, and solo playing just ticks over in the background for now.

Your back comes first — always. Check in with your back each morning and again after you play, and let that steer the day. If it's sore, the plan bends, not your back: sit down, switch to mental practice, or rest. Never play Don Juan and Schumann up to speed on the same day. No deadline is worth a flare-up.

How the days get scheduled: the day-to-day fit around your real week comes from your Google Calendar (on Claude Desktop). Until a week is mapped out, just pick today's kind of day from the sample week below, working around your fixed commitments and how your back feels that morning.

How to spread your practice (the part that really matters)

A few simple ideas from the research shape this whole plan:

Touch a few pieces each day — don't grind one piece for hours. A short go at a piece today plus another short go tomorrow beats one long cram, because your accuracy quietly settles overnight while you sleep.
Give the two singing excerpts (Scheherazade and Brahms) a little time on back-to-back days. That's how the in-tune, expressive playing locks in — better than one big lyrical day on its own.
New tricky spot? Drill it on its own first. Once it's reliable, fold it back in and play it mixed with the pieces you already know. Practising the familiar ones together (not one-at-a-time) is what makes them stick for the recording.
Always put the chunks back together at tempo. Breaking a passage into pieces is great — but finish by playing it joined up, or you'll hear little gaps where the pieces meet.

Week by week

Wk	Dates	Phase	The goal
1	29-05 → 07-06	Get the map	Work all 4 excerpts slowly. Sort out fingerings, bowings and tuning. Make rough first recordings and a first back check. Physio every day.
2	08-06 → 14-06	Start building	Begin nudging the tempo up. Build Schumann's stamina in short bursts. Make the Don Juan leap reliable. First low-pressure mock recording.
3	15-06 → 21-06	Close to tempo	Almost up to speed. Play longer stretches of Schumann unbroken. Mock-record the two singing pieces. Drill the trouble spots.
4	22-06 → 28-06	Polish	At or just above tempo. Full mock sessions of all 4. Start picking your favourite takes. Give your weakest piece extra time.
5	29-06 → 05-07	Ease off + record	Less playing, keep the sharpness. Mocks turn into real recording sessions. Fresh hands and a rested back.
6	06-07 → 08-07	Final takes + send	Final take(s) → listen back → send by 08-07. Play little, stay fresh.

Tempo goals for each excerpt (start → goal)

Each session, set the metronome to today's goal from this table (you can adjust it live during the metronome step).

Excerpt	Wk1	Wk2	Wk3	Wk4	Wk5	Goal
Don Juan (half-note)	60	66–70	74–78	80–84	84 hold	84
Schumann (♩)	96	108–116	124–134	140–150	150 hold	150
Schumann, bars in one go	4–8 bars	→16	→32	full 54	full take	full
Scheherazade	map it in time	+ rubato	mock	polish	record	free but controlled
Brahms (♩)	slow map	phrase + bow	mock	polish	record	~84, singing

When to speed up: add 4–6 BPM in a session only when it's clean and your back is okay. Write down the BPM you actually reached each time.

The kinds of day (and a sample week)

Lighter load, easy on the back. Every day: morning back check → physio set → warm up. Keep playing stretches to 25 minutes or less, take a quick break between each, and finish with a back check + physio.

Big technical day — your hardest piece, just one of Don Juan / Schumann. If your back's sore, sit down or skip it.
Lyrical day — Scheherazade + Brahms. Singing tone, gentle on the body.
Mock-recording day — a small number of real takes, keep the best (see the mock-recording guide).
Recovery day — little or no playing: score study, mental practice, extra physio + a walk.
Rest day — just physio + a walk.

Day	Kind of day	Main work
1	Big technical	Don Juan, then a Brahms cool-down
2	Lyrical	Scheherazade + Brahms
3	Big technical	Schumann (short stamina bursts), then a Scheherazade cool-down
4	Recovery or Lyrical	recovery/mental, or a light singing day (put it on your heaviest rehearsal day)
5	Mock recording	takes rotate by week
6–7	Rest	physio + a walk; one easy optional block

Your two hard days (1 and 3) sit apart with an easier day in between. Move things the moment your back check tells you to.

Sessions

Below are five ready-to-run days — pick today's from the sample week and how your back feels, then run it in focus mode. Each one opens with your morning back check and physio, and ends with a quick log + a back check. The metronome steps start at a middle-of-the-cycle tempo; set it to today's goal from the table above when you get there.

loading your progress…

your big technical day

~83 min 3 blocks 0/13

your endurance day

~73 min 3 blocks 0/13

Scheherazade & Brahms

~59 min 3 blocks 0/11

Mock-recording day

~37 min 3 blocks 0/12

rest your back, keep your head in the music

~40 min 2 blocks 0/7

Notes for each week

Week 1: no rush on tempo. Get to know each excerpt — fingerings, bowings, where the tuning traps are. Make a rough recording of all 4 to look back on later. Settle into the back-check habit. Confirm Stauffer's rules on recording format and length.
Week 2: start nudging tempos up. Keep Schumann in short bursts to protect your back — don't chase ♩=150 yet. First gentle mock recording (one piece).
Week 3: getting close to tempo. Play longer stretches of Schumann unbroken. Do a full mock of the two singing pieces. If your back's trending sore, slot in a recovery day — don't push.
Week 4: polish, plus full mock sessions. Give your weakest piece the extra block. You'll probably want a lighter two-day stretch mid-week if the work's piling up.
Week 5 (easing off): cut your playing time by about a third, but keep the sharp touches. Mocks become real recordings. Fresh beats drilled — space your takes across days so each recording follows a good night's sleep; a fresh morning take beats a long afternoon grind. Start assembling your best takes.
Week 6: final session(s), listen back, send by 08-07. If your back flares this week, lean on the takes you've already banked — don't over-record.

When to stop or ease off

Back check comes back sore → ease right off: less playing, no standing, switch to sitting / mental practice / rest. The deadline always yields to this.
A passage goes out of tune twice in a row → stop the block and play a slow recovery pass.
It's feeling much harder than usual this week → shorten the rest of your blocks.
Don Juan and Schumann up to speed on the same day → never. Split them across days with an easier day between.