Violin Lesson #26

I felt better about the lesson this week than the lesson last week. This week has been very busy for the Sage clan. Mrs. Sage has given notice at the child care center where she works that she will be finishing up in the middle of June. With the busy week practice time was precious and I made the most of it (except for Thursday night when the Tokyo String Quartet played the not-Brisbane program live on the radio).

The lesson went well. I started with "Suo Gan " and I was very happy with it. It sounded much better than last week. Laura was happy with it too. Did I get a sticker? No. I'm not done with it yet! Now that I know how to play it and how to get a good sound, I need to learn the correct bow work for it. I noticed the slurs in the music and, although I have been taught what slurs mean, it escaped me as I was learning. The slurs mean the notes that are connected are to be played on the same bow stroke (up-bow or down-bow). Laura said she intentionally did not bring that to my attention. Just quietly I am annoyed I did not notice sooner. But this was all part of Laura's grand design. Had I tried to learn how to play AND how to get the good sound AND worry about bow strokes I would have exploded... and no-one wants to see that. So I tried playing with the slurs. It was difficult because I was used to one bow stroke per note. I will need to practice against the wall because it is important not to move my elbow back (as this affects the straight bow and makes a poor sound). Just before I started writing this, I played through the song, very slowly, with the correct bow strokes. With sufficient practice I am sure I will be able to play it well next week.

Then came "Waltz Of The Lovebirds". This too was a little better than last week, and I still have to work on my timing. I think part of the problem was that I treated the last four bars as two separate sections, when really I should have played all the way through. I still have the tendency to lose my place when I make a mistake. This is something I am working to overcome, since it is hard to play with others if I stop at the first mistake. I need to keep on going and join in as soon as I can. Otherwise it is unfair to the other player (or players). Apart from this last line, I can practice another two bars that are a little less tricky than the last four. Again, I need to take it slow at the start until I get used to doing what I have to do, then get quicker at it.

And that's all we had time for this week. There was no Nathan (the student before me) and no Sarisha (the student after me).As I was packing Laura told me about one of the students she teaches at a school. This young lady has been playing for several years, and Laura has to essentially take her back to basics because she is not getting a good sound. This student had several teachers before Laura and it appears none of them were too concerned about her sound. We were talking about this because I don't want to be like that. Whether I become a professional or play purely for myself, I want to play with a good sound and to play well. I want people to laugh or cry with the music or play and not laugh at how I play or cry because I make their ears hurt. When I eventually go for an exam, I don't want to be worried about whether or not I will pass. I want to know that I will pass. Not only that, I want to be confident enough to go for the highest mark. I am glad that Laura understands this.

I enjoy having music in my life. Sometimes it is hard to express how much I look forward to my practice and my lessons. Music brings me joy. Then there are the intangibles, like helping The Princess with her glockenspiel. Yes, sweetheart, I know where you are up to and whether or not you are playing the right notes, and I more than happy to help you learn and play.

On the way back to work it occurred to me that not only is Laura teaching me to play these pieces, but she is teaching me how to learn new pieces as well. These pieces are challenging, but I know I will get by them, and by doing so will make the pieces that follow (even if it is not Paganini) that little bit easier to learn.

Tokyo String Quartet on the radio

Technically I should be working but I heard something on the radio that I wanted to pass on before I forgot. I am going to see the Tokyo String Quartet next month. By all accounts it is going to be awesome. For those who can't get there but still want to be a part of their farewell tour, you can tune into this broadcast on the radio.

http://www.abc.net.au/classic/content/2013/06/01/3766908.htm

(do people still listen to the radio these days?)

ABC Classic FM are broadcasting a concert from Melbourne this Saturday at 1pm.

It has come to my attention that people outside Australia have accessed this blog. If anyone outside Australia wants to hear this concert, feel free to use the link above as a reference. I am almost certain the internet version of this radio station will broadcast the concert as well.

Happy listening.

Violin Lesson #25

I think this is the first time I have finished a lesson and felt disappointed in myself.

This week I was practicing "Suo Gan" (the whole song) and the last line, also the hardest line, of "Waltz Of The Lovebirds". They are technically the two most difficult pieces I have been given so far. I felt I had a good week of practice so I was reasonably confident before the class.

I played through "Suo Gan" and rated myself a 7 out of 10. Some of the problem areas from last week had improved, but other areas were now not so good. I think the biggest issue this week was that I had played the song too fast in practice. When I first started this piece I played it a lot slower and consequently with more feeling. This is what I was missing this week: the feeling. Poor Laura did what she could to help me slow the pace, or even keep in time but it just wasn't happening. Laura has mentioned to me before that I can get a great sound from the violin, and that was missing this week. What I think I need to do this week is slow down the playing, focus a little less on the technical details and focus more on getting the sound and feeling back into the music.

I only said the other day I don't want to be one of those people who can play a piece technically very well but with no feeling. Far better I think to be someone who can play music to evoke an emotional response even if there are some technical issues. Or as Confucius says "better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without".

After "Suo Gan" I went on to "Waltz Of The Lovebirds". My confidence was low because of the previous piece and because I was not happy with the way my practice for this piece had gone. However I did do a little bit better than with "Suo Gan" and better than I expected. Thinking back on it, I expect this to be rather a pretty piece to play. I am learning it the way Laura wants to teach it, by learning the hard part first and working towards the easier parts later. I think I also read this in Kenny Wener's book "Effortless Mastery" and was looking for proof when I came across this web site:

http://www.davidnevue.com/pianomyths.htm

I think many of these piano myths can apply to violin (or indeed any other instrument).

Ah... I'm rambling again. Almost done. The young gentleman I mentioned last week, Nathan, is apparently going on holidays for a while. I will miss hearing what he is playing. I often turn up early and I enjoy listening to the music that comes not just from Laura's room, but from other rooms at the studio. And also, there was no Sarisha waiting as my lesson ran over time again.

This week, I will strive to do practice better to have a better lesson next week.

Accuradio Violin Soloists

It is almost three years since I wrote a blog article about Accuradio. Tonight I am writing about it again because of a channel I have been listening to recently. It is the Violin Soloists channel. Here is a link:

Violin Soloists

Don't be alarmed. This link launches the player. I have been trying to listen to this when I can since I started learning the violin. I always enjoy the music. Once in a while a piece from there makes it onto my wish list. I think they have a great variety of music and artists. There are options to "ban" certain artists or composers but I really don't see the point of that.

I believe I have a wide taste in music. I will listen to almost anything at least once. I love 80s music. I enjoy classical music (I have my ticket for the Tokyo String Quartet's final tour). I was a heavy metal fan for years and still listen to some of it these days. I know more than a few Johnny Cash tunes too. Variety is the spice of life I believe, and that applies to music as well. Why do I mention this? Because I sometime wonder what sort of music I would like to play when I become proficient with the violin. In the end I think I would like to play a little bit of everything. I want to play pop music and classical musical and gypsy music. I want to play happy pieces and sad pieces. I really don't have a preference. The one requirement I might have is to play music with which I can connect, or feel on some level. Certainly time will tell. I started writing my entries about my lessons mostly as a way to keep track of what I have learned and how I am going. I hope to keep up my entries as I learn to play new pieces.

Happy listening everyone.

Simply For Strings

I actually made it to the shop today. Weekends are a busy time for the Sage and his family and the Sage can't always do what the Sage wants to do when the Sage wants to do it, so the Sage bides his time. And today was they day.

The shop is in this gorgeous building. No, I didn't take photos this time, but I will next time. When I went inside I mentioned Laura had played some violins and put her name on the labels of two she really liked. Unfortunately, for me, Laura was there about four weeks earlier, and they only keep names on labels for a week. Bummer. And even more unfortunate for me was that the staff were already busy with other customers, so they asked if I could wait. I had no time for waiting this visit. Like I said, weekends are a busy time and there were still jobs to be done.

I do plan another visit since I really want to buy one of their violins. If I'm lucky Laura may come with me to help me choose one. Otherwise I am happy to check them out on my own. Either way, I will be back.

Violin Lesson #24

This week's practice was a mixed bag. By that I mean I practiced "Rockin It Bunny Style" and "Suo Gan" a fair bit, but not so much Waltz Of The Lovebirds. And there were times where I was playing songs with the third finger (which is something Laura has not taught me). I couldn't help myself. I was curious and wanted to see if I could do it. I did. I played songs I learned on the accordion and a pretty good version of Kumbaya if I do say so myself.

Laura recorded her part of "Rockin It Bunny Style" on my phone to help me practice my timing. It was a little awkward playing to a tune on a phone. It might have been better if I used headphones but I didn't have any. Even so, I think it helped, because Laura said we played well enough to pass the song. Huzzah! My daughter really liked Laura's part - she was playing it all week and getting into it - so Laura and I recorded the duet. I was happy with how it sounded, but listening back to it there are things I can hear that I don't like.


Click here to download the duet (I can't get it to play from the blog yet)

After this I started with "Suo Gan". To me it sounded okay at home, but Laura pointed out a few things. Firstly the notes were disjointed. It was stop-start rather than letting the notes flow together. There is no technical fix for this. Rather it is something in my head and something I will be working on in the coming week because this really is a beautiful tune. Secondly I play the open string notes louder than the first and second finger notes. If I move the bow exactly the same way across a string when it is open (no finger) it will sound louder than when I use a finger to produce a note. This is simple physics. It is also a reason why open strings are generally not used in music. However, since I can't make those notes any other way at the moment, I have to learn to modify how I play the open strings so they don't stick out like... It's going to take some effort I think. And I still have to watch my bow arm. It won't always play straight. I'll be practicing against the wall this week to try and fix that.

Then there is "Waltz Of The Lovebirds". I did practice some of this song as I said, but I was meant to play the last line of the music. This line involves what I believe are called chops, a glissando and a scoop. I think this song has more technical difficulty than "Suo Gan" but even though the Welsh lullaby is easy to learn, it is going to take a fair amount of practice to be able to play it well too.

As I was leaving Sarisha was waiting. Laura reminded me that at some point I will be able to sit in on her lesson. That will be pretty cool. It's funny ... when I turned up for my lesson I heard the James Bond theme from Laura's room and thought it was Sarisha having an early lesson. It wasn't. It was Nathan. He is a young Asian student. I wondered if he even knew who James Bond was. Apparently he does.

Violin Lesson #23

Laura allowed me to change my lesson to Thursday so I could make dinner with my parents on Friday. Thank-you for that.

The lesson itself went pretty well. Before I get into that, I would like to share a story Laura told me from her days as a student.

When Laura was studying music she lived with her uncle and aunt. After dinner she would practice for an hour playing mostly scales and arpeggios. Laura chose to practice in the bathroom. The acoustics there were great and there was a mirror too but it was very hot so Laura would open the window to get some fresh air. When Laura finished her studies she moved away. A little while later she heard from her uncle and aunt. They had spoken to the neighbours for the first time since they had been there. The neighbours told them they had never used their balcony until one evening when they heard beautiful violin music playing. They would stop watching television to sit out on the balcony with a glass of wine and talk to each other while they listened to the music. They had come to ask why the violin music no longer played. I thought this was so touching and shows one of the many unexpected ways music can reach people.

I was awarded a stamp for Walking My Puppy. My daughter loves that piece so I don't doubt it is the last time I will play it.

We went on to Rockin It Bunny-Style. I say we because it was a duet and a couple of times there it sounded so cool. My timing is getting better, partly because I am looking at Laura's music to help me keep in time, and because I can concentrate on what I am playing while the person next to me is playing something different. Laura recorded her part on my phone so I can practice along with it at home. My daughter now likes this piece too.

Suo Gan wasn't too bad. I need to be careful not to fade the end of each note before I start the next one. The note has to be strong all the way through. And I have to be careful the four times I change strings so it does not sound jarring. It sounded really good when Laura played it again because she playes better than I do (and I think she was using vibrato but I'm not 100% sure).

I am learning so much with Waltz Of The Lovebirds. First of all, there are grace notes, or as they are technically known "Acciaccatura" (short grace notes) and "Appoggiatura" (long grace notes). So from now on we'll call them grace notes. I was getting those really well until I had to play the note before them. That threw me right off. Secondly there is a new type of staccato note. The bow very close to the frog is dropped onto the strings. This is done in a controlled manner and there can be an up-bow or down-bow movement. I was getting the hang of this during the lesson, though it felt very strange. Thirdly the glissando. I can't quite get it the way Laura does though eventually I did find a way to make a passable glissando. No doubt the more I practice the better I will get. Given that I have limited practice time, I will have to make the most of it. And last but not least, the final chord is a "scoop". That is most likely not the technical term for it, and may be a Laura-ism. But the hand with the bow does make a pronounced scooping motion as the notes of the chord are played very quickly from lowest to highest. It does make a pretty cool sound, and I was getting the hang of it at the end. I wonder, with all the different techniques I have to learn, how long it will be until this song gets stamped.

There you have it. There was plenty in this lesson, and much to do during the week. As usual, I'm loving it and look forward to seeing how things go.

Buddha Birthday Festival

There are three things I look forward to every Festival. The first is bathing a Buddha, the second is the vegetarian food court and the third is the opening ceremony. This year I enjoyed all three of these things.

I started off at the food court. It was set up near the Brisbane Wheel. I just looked around to begin with. There are always so many things to try and I want to make sure I don't miss out, especially if there is something new there. I ended up visiting three stalls. I started with a fried bun, which was pretty plain, and a tea egg. The tea egg is a boiled egg that is steeped in a dark liquid after having the shell lightly cracked. What you end up with is a marbled appearance under the shell, and the taste of whatever the egg was soaked in (usually some type of tea). After that I had some vegetarian noodles which were very nice. Then I tried a winter melon drink with aiyu jelly. The guy was right: it was sweet. It had had a funky yet pleasant taste. Having eaten I walked to Suncorp, er, make that Courier Mail Piazza.


On the way there I passed several displays. One of them is the Lumbini Garden which is set up with several large banners telling the story of Buddha from his birth to enlightenment and eventually his death. The story is familiar to me but I really like the artwork that is set up in the garden with the banners. A little further along was a small area set up for young children to play. It had a number of wooden cut-outs set up with holes where children could look through to get their picture taken. On each of the cut-outs was written these words: "Take Good Actions. Say Good Words. Think Good Thoughts." So simple in principle and easy to remember but so hard to do sometimes. It is something we should all keep in mind.

Just after this was the area where you could actually bathe a Buddha. A number of small Buddha statues are set up in a line on a table. They should Buddha standing with one finger pointing to the sky. The statues  are inside a pool of clear fragrant water. People kneel on a cushion then fill ladle & pour water over the left shoulder three times. On the first wash one says "May I eliminate all evil thoughts". On the second wash one says "May I cultivate good deeds" and on the third was "May I help save all living beings".

Moving on from here was one of my favourite displays. Maitreya Buddha (or Buddha of the future, or Laughing Buddha, or The Loving One). He is the Buddha many are familiar with - the fat jolly Buddha with the round belly :) He was the inspiration for my first tattoo so I always like to go by this display on my way to the Piazza.

The Piazza was beautifully set up as usual. In front of a backdrop osf several curtains (each a different solid colour) were three statues of Buddha seated on a lotus. In front of the statues are long tables filled with offerings to the Buddha. Typically there a piles of fruit and flowers. And there were places people could offer candles (or light). Light has a few meanings. Light (Buddha's teachings) dispels the darkness of ignorance. Light represents the awakened or enlightened mind that sees reality as it is (which is NOT how you and I see it... scary).

I won't go into details about the acts for the opening ceremony. If you want to know more I am happy to reply to private messages.

The first act was a lion dance (or rather a pride of lions) by students of the Southern Shaolin school and a display of some of the kung-fu forms.

Next was a Taiwanese acting troupe performing a comic and energetic play about a matchmaker.

After them was the Queensland World Dance Academy performing an elegant umbrella dance in gorgeous green costumes.

Katei performed next. Unfortunately there was a malfunction with his looping pedal. Just as people thought he was going to finish there, he played another song. He was as captivating and energetic as usual.

The Southern Shaolin students returned with weapons and a rock soundtrack. They were fantastic, especially the girls with swords, the drunken master swordsman and the guy with two ball-and-chain weapons.

Then the acting troupe performed another play. This was about the Infernal Generals and was in stark contrast to the first play. It was far more somber and dramatic and the costumes, some featuring very long horns, were amazing.

The ceremony ended with M.H.D. Diabolo Art Taiwan. These guys do amazing tricks with a diabolo "toy" (two sticks connected with a string and a spool). About the only thing they did not do was fire tricks and blind-folded tricks. They were outstanding.

How much do you think you would have to pay to see all this? Probably heaps, right, but tonight it was free. That's right. Nothing. Not even a donation. How can you beat that for a night out? How glad am I that I was not watching TV =)

By this time it was 820 and the Light Offering ceremony was about to start. It was getting late and I had to go so I did not stay around for this. Hopefully I can make time next year. I went back to the food court and scored a bag of spring rolls for $2 and picked up some crumbed king mushrooms and mulberry juice for the walk back to the car.

Next year I plan to take a whole day or half day off so I can go home and bring the rest of the family. And you, dear reader, if you can come along. After all, the more the merrier.

Violin Lesson #22

It was a short week this week because The Szechuan Sage is off to the Buddha Birthday Festival tomorrow. Perhaps this time I will remember to take notes and photos. I have been for the last few years now and I always have a great time.

With short weeks practice time is even more important so I was sorry to miss one day. That was the day we had to take The Prince for his first term interviews. Two things stuck with me. One, when his History teacher mentioned they studied feudal Japan (with their ninja punches and all) it was the first time we had any idea they covered that in class. Two, when my son was told God spoke to the prophet Mohammed he asked "what does God's voice sound like?". That's my boy and I love him as much as he drives me crazy.

I forgot to mention the "budgie hold" last week. No, it's not a wrestling maneuver. It is a way to think of holding the bow. One doesn't grip the bow. One holds it gently, like a budgie. Laugh if you must but that's how it is. It has only happened to me once and it was a while ago but I still remember a moment when I was playing and thinking to myself "the bow weighs almost nothing at all". I think this is the feeling I should be aiming for.

There were no stamps today. I was pretty sure Walking My Dog was going to be good because it sounded pretty sweet in practice. It was good, but not good enough. I think part of the reason is when I know I have made a mistake it takes a little confidence away. Laura already told me to play through mistakes, and I do my best to do that, but I think it still gets to me. My straight bowing still goes askew sometimes. This week I had to imagine my bow hand aiming at Laura's purple stiletto. Then I had a brief mental image of playing at QPAC and asking for a purple shoe on the floor just in front of me before I could play. However, I think it was helping and I'll try to imagine it for my practice. The Princess has been asking for the tune this week so she will be happy to hear it again I'm sure.

Rocking It Bunny Style still needs work too. It's all about timing. I will focus on this piece more than Walking My Dog (as fun as Walking My Dog is to play). Rocking It Bunny Style is a duet, and it takes a little bit more effort to play a duet than a solo piece where one can be a little bit theatrical. I think I enjoy duets as much as solo pieces and for different reasons.

Like I said, no stamps today but there are two new pieces (or parts of new pieces more precisely) to play. The first is "Empire Of The Sun (Theme Song)" and it has nothing to do with Empire Of The Sun (the band). It is also called Suo Gan and is a traditional Welsh song. Laura, who has Welsh heritage, arranged it for me to play and said we would expand on it later on. I have not seen the movie and I am not Welsh so I did not know the music but my-oh-my it was pretty. Part of me was reading the music as Laura played and another part was captivated by it. I found a link to Suo Gan here. I am really going to enjoy this. The piece for me is written in ternary style (or ABA) where the first and last third are the same and different to the middle third. I'm learning all the time.

And the second piece is Laura's composition and is called The Lovebirds. I am not to play much of this but to practice two techniques. The first I don't know what it's called but it involved playing two notes a semi-tone or two apart. The first is very quick and does not count in the time for the bar where the second is almost the full beat.It takes a little manual dexterity but I think I was getting it. The second technique is one I have been looking forward to: glissando - a slide from one note to another. I have already posted a link to Heifetz playing Paganini Caprice #24 so I won't do it again, but there is a masterful example. Laura's was very good too. Mine? Eh, not so good. I couldn't work out how to get the rest of my hand out of the way of the violin as I was sliding my finger along the string (from high note to low). I am sure I will get there in time.

For now I am looking forward to Buddha Birthday Festival, my lesson next week and my Tokyo String Quartet concert next month.