I had a good week of practice this week. And there was some great stuff on the radio too. There was a concert with Richard Tognetti and the ACO2, and another concert with Janine Jansen. Richard Tognetti is also on Sunday lunch-time. This week ABC Classic FM were featuring Jascha Heifetz in the breakfast show. Apparently his son lives in Australia (Perth) and is a photographer. It was fascinating to hear from him. Apparently Jascha was very disciplined with his practice. As gifted as the man was, he would still practice his scales every day. And his son remembers that Jascha would also play "for the fun of it". I don't want my violin playing to ever become a chore. If the day comes where I can't play for the fun of it, that will be the day to give up.
It was strange. The last piece they played for Heifetz was part of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor. I searched for it on YouTube at work today and found Janine Jansen's recording from BBC Night at the Prom (full concerto with BBC subtitle commentary). And when I turned on Accuradio Solo Violinists, one of the pieces they played was Janine Jansen and the same concerto.
To my lesson... it started with Laura telling me about the camp she took some of her school students. They went out west to Warwick to play for nursing homes and small schools. From all accounts they had a great time and so did the people who came to see them. This is yet another example of music bringing joy to people.
I mentioned "Dance Of The Goblins" to Laura. She laughed and said "Don't tell me you want me to teach you that" then proceeded to play some of it. She told me one of the girls she studied with would play the song. Some people have said it is a virtuoso piece and doesn't sound like a dance. I disagree. It is certainly a virtuoso piece, and technically demanding, but I also like the way it sounds. I was impressed with what Laura played, and yes, it is on my wishlist. For my benefit, and for Laura's I will post the list in the near future. As Laura says, it is good to have solid goals. Will I ever be able to play it? I don't know. I really don't, but it is on the list regardless.
I played "Suo Gan", and this time Laura said it was good enough to pass. I still have to work on my confidence and my awareness (my body posture, breathing, hands and so on) but I learned everything I needed to learn from such a pretty song.
Next was "Home Sweet Home". This is coming along nicely, and now I can play the whole song through. What I need to practice here is retake (taking the bow off the strings and re positioning it before putting it back on the strings and playing again). My sound for this is good. My rhythm needs a little work. I get a far better sound when I play slowly. I should not be afraid to play slowly. The time to play quickly will come.
I had a few minutes at the end to play "Happy Birthday". I worked on it during the week and it showed. After hearing that my third finger was too high so much last week, it was actually low this week =) It is getting there and I know I will be able to do a great job for my mother's birthday next month.
I felt I had a better lesson this week. Letting go of my mistakes when I make them is helping. It is something that is hard for me to do, but like everything else it is improving slowly.
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