Violin Lesson #34

It has been a little while since my last lesson. I performed Happy Birthday for my mother and saw the Barefoot Fiddler. I was trying to be very good with my practice this week now that Happy Birthday was off my list. I focused on Waltz Of The Lovebirds and Home Sweet Home mostly and a little on the simpler Piggy's Song.

Okay... I confess, I've been mucking about with learning Waltzing Matilda and a Greek song called Samiotisa. Both of these are by ear though I did use the piano to nail the melody before starting on the violin. I know I am getting somewhere with the Greek song because Mrs Sage later told me she was humming the tune the next day =)

This is my first Tuesday lesson since I could not make it last week. And I am happy to hear that (a) Laura's new teaching job is working out well even though it means long drives, and (b) many of her private students have been able to make their lessons on Tuesdays. Sarisha was back today. She owes me an observation lesson at some point.

To the actual lesson. Do you hear that? Shh. Listen. It's the sound of me finishing Waltz Of The Lovebirds. My practice paid off. I was diligent about practicing in front of my reflection to help with the straight bow, and to get the "claw" fingers going. I knew I was getting those when I could leave my fingers on the D string and still play a clear note on the A string. This will make playing some songs easier I'm sure as I won't have to worry about lifting my fingers unnecessarily. Everything seemed to click today, for which I am grateful since I do try to focus when I practice.

I didn't get a sticker but I have this recording to prove it.

After this I moved on to Home Sweet Home. This is sounding okay, especially the chord at the end with the "claw" fingers. It was about this time Laura realised something about Patience. She does not like a heavy bow hand. That is to say, she prefers a light touch with the bow. The G string still requires a little pressure but the rest of the strings need hardly any at all. Now that I am aware of this I will keep it in mind. Having told me about the lightness in the right (bow) hand, the left hand is different. Not so much the left hand but the fingers, the "claw" fingers, need to be like hammers. I need to have good contact between my finger and the wood to make sure I get a good clean sound from the string. The analogy here is lightly stroking the cat with your right hand and choking the dog with the left =) Feel free to substitute your own. A little bit more speed won't hurt either.

I did not play any of Piggy's Song. I did play it through to the end in practice a few times during the week. As long as I have practiced Home Sweet Home first I will practice this song too.

There is a new piece, oh yes there is and it is called Railway Express. This involved woodpecker notes (a quaver followed by two semi-quavers), slurs and an interesting looking chord at the end.

The next gentleman was very keen. He did not wait for Laura to come to him =) but that was fine because the lesson was over. After today's triumph I am confident for next week.