Violin Lesson #39

It was a good week this week. It started with the instrumental evening at my daughter's primary school. They all rocked it and it was heartening to see so many children learning music. It restores a little of my faith in the future after hearing about the story of a dwarf set on fire as a prank.

Friday was good too as I took the time to bring Patience to work and actually took her to Musgrave Park (not far from work) and played out in the open. It's not the first time I've done this and I really enjoy it. I hope to be able to make it a regular event but that depends on whether I can accrue enough time at work to be able to get away from my desk.

Then there was Fathers Day. One of my gifts was a music stand. I appreciate my family supporting me learning the violin. I previously stood my music up on a shelf. This music stand is very handy, as it actually folds up into a carry case. I also found out that the primary school is apparently short on music stands. If this is the case then we will buy some for the students. It is a small way of helping them  out in something I think is very important.

My lesson this week was at 3pm and I almost missed out. Chris (the photographer) was called away by his heavily pregnant partner and he had to hand over some work before he left. This was at 245, so I was rushing to get to my lesson. I don't like to rush, but I made it on time. Laura tuned my violin (I usually do it before the lesson but I rushed today) and played a sweet little tune. It's great because I know the violin is capable of more beautiful music than I can play so far, and it is up to me to discover how to do it - I look forward to that.

The lesson started with Operation Space Station. It's still close but not worthy of a sticker. I need to work on moving my hand back to first position, after playing harmonics, and especially getting the thumb right. When the thumb is right the other fingers will be ready to play. And I need to use more bow for the louder dynamics. One of the differences between my violin and Laura's is that mine can will less pressure on the higher string than Laura's so I need to use more bow to compensate. And when I do, it sounds fantastic.

Laura was going to start me on Rockets To The Rescue. The thing was that I have been learning the piece this week :) It was better than Operation Space Station. My issue with this music is tempo. I started off with one speed then accelerated during my crescendo. I need to pick one tempo and stick to it. Part of my preparation should be to count myself in to help me keep to the one tempo.

After this was the G Major scale again. This is where I got a "professional tip". I should not play a few test notes before I start. I should instead tap the strings where my fingers will go to make sure they are in the right place. Doing this allows me to launch into the piece straight away. Handy. Also, I need to practice moving my second finger, so it can easily move from next-to-first to next-to-third. Yes, this will come easier to younger students but it is certainly not impossible for me.

We finished up with The Old Fiddler Man. This wasn't too bad considering I have only been playing this for a week. I was playing some of the song the way I played Rocking It Bunny Style. Now that I have that out of my system I will be much better next week. This is another song where I need more bow. Eventually it will sink in that more bow is almost always a good thing.

Thus endeth the lesson, which leads me to change the way I practice. I think I will do the songs I was playing for this lesson plus one more (as well as scales and arpeggios). That way if I have a blinder like Fui Fui Moi Moi did last night when Parramatta beat St George I will have something else prepared to play. It was a little like that with Rockets To The Rescue, and I already have Shark Attack (again almost complete) and Barrier Reef to prepare.

That also leads on to the quality of practice. Part of me wants to practice what I have been taught, and I do, while another part of me wants to learn new songs. One evening I had great fun with my daughter going through a Disney song book and picking songs to play. My sight reading and transposing skills must be okay since I don't find it too hard to read a song in C Major and play it in D Major (yay for having learned the accordion as a child). I figure I should not feel guilty playing around as long as (a) it is not at the expense of my practice and (b) I play correctly with the good habits I have been taught.