Violin Lesson #40

OMG... The big four-oh! I can't believe it has come around to the 40th lesson already. But we all know time flies when you're having fun, and I certainly am having that.

This week I had a different kind of lesson when I saw Laura playing two pieces in Marimba Galaxy. That was fantastic. I won't go on about it again =) I will just wait patiently until another performance happens.

The lesson started off with the G Major scale. Laura pointed out the all scales, arpeggios and other exercises should be played musically. It does make a difference to dry boring repetition. If you are going to play these every day - and I think you must to improve - then you may as well make the most of it. After all, you never know where a scale is going to end up. I don't remember where I saw it now, but on a YouTube video I was watching of Heifetz, the piece he was playing ended with an ascending scale. One of the posters made a point of that saying something like "even a simple scale can be made to sound awesome". I will try and remember to find it the next time I get a chance. The arpeggio is going good but I need to take it slower which will allow more time for my fingers to get into position.

I scored two stickers today. Yay! The first was for Operation Space Station. I was finally able to get all of the bits and pieces sounding good at the same time, and in front of the teacher too =) This is the second piece from Super Studies For Violin.

The next sticker was for an exercise I had been practicing at home but had not yet played in class. Today was the day. This involved playing harmonics. I think I have described these before. It is a way of playing an octave higher by lightly touching the string closer to the bridge than your hand usually is. I really like the sounds of the harmonics. Oh, and I was awarded a tick for the left arm swing exercise. It involves moving the left arm (the one that holds the violin) so I can pluck the strings with my left fingers, specifically the fourth aka the pinky.

I played The Old Fiddler Man. It is getting there too. I think perhaps this needs to be taken a little slower to make sure I am doing everything correctly. I can always speed it up a little later.

And that's about all we had time for. I still have the two sea suite pieces (Shark Attack and Barrier Reef) to practice as well as The Old Fiddler Man as well as the Noisy Minah string crossing exercise. I knew time was up because Ava knocked on the door. She is a young girl, about four or five, and at the moment she is playing Home Sweet Home. I finished that song a little while ago. She is so cute. And almost as cute was her 1/16 size violin and bow. Together they are adorable. And she is so shy that she did not want to play in front of me (the big bald head is so intimidating don't you know =)).

There were two more violin-related issues I'll touch on quickly before I go.

The first is the Brisbane Celtic Fiddle Club. I sent an email to Emma Nixon who said I, and my teacher if she wants to, are welcome to turn up at one of their functions. They meet twice a month at Simply For Strings and learn songs by ear. They would be old Irish, Scottish and English songs and folk tunes. They then get to perform at places like the State Library, the Children's Hospital and the Neurum Creek Music Festival. That all sounds great.

What also sounds great to me, though I am sure is not everyone's cup of tea is Korpiklaani, They are described as Finland’s alcohol fueled folk metal sextet. One of the things I have been searching for lately is the use of violin in heavy metal (I went through a heavy metal phase in my younger years and come back to it now and then). What I found was folk metal and symphonic metal. These guys belong to the former genre. Not only do they feature violin, but they have accordion as well. I learned the accordion when I was much younger - it sowed the seed of my interest in music. Oh, and I mention them specifically because they are playing in Brisbane. And since this is close to my birthday I just may treat myself =)

What I think would be sweet would be to perform a program of Bach and Mozart with an orchestra in the afternoon, then play some folk metal in the evening. Is there a good reason I can't do both?