A bitter-sweet lesson this one as it's not only the last one for this year, but the last one for about three or four weeks as we break for the holidays and Laura goes to China.
The sweet part is that I passed two pieces: Wave Machine and the last of my exercises - the double stops. Both of them sounded great. All the practice had paid off.
Not so much for the rest of my work :) That's not to say it has not improved. It has, but not to the point of passing. I'll be doing my heart-beat exercises for the next month or so. At least I'll know that, by the time class resumes, I will have the second-best heart beats in Brisbane. Laura gave me some more pointers about my elbow and wrist that I'll do my best to incorporate.
First Base is going really well. It has the same passage of double-stop staccato notes three times and they are connected by some melodic sections. I had been practicing those in the same style as the double-stop passages.They are meant to be played more lyrically, smoothly and connected. I am sure this piece will be ready to pass by the next lesson.
I can't say the same for Raggle Taggle Hippie. Yes, it has been improving, but the phrasing needs work. I expect this to take some time. Still, in the time until the next lesson I expect the first half of the piece (that is all I have been playing) will be pretty sweet.
We did not cover Plesiosaurus. I did practice it and it was going okay. My fear with this piece is that I will be practicing incorrectly and it will thus take longer to get i right.
There is a new song, with new techniques. It's a cute song called Hear That Whistle. It involves harmonics (with a feather-light touch) and glissando (sliding along the strings). And some heel-of-the-bow (heart beat) playing at the end. It will be a good little show-piece when it's done.
My lesson ran a little long today, for which I am grateful seeing that it will be quite some time before the next one. And I really look forward to hearing about Laura's trip with the orchestra, and her experiences in China as well as being assistant concert master. How exciting!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
O.M.F.B (Oh My Pho Bar)
Hahaha... see what I did there?
Ahem. It's not often the Szechuan Sage finds himself home alone. Tonight was one of those nights. Mrs Sage has gone to a Bon Jovi concert with some of her girl friends. The Prince and Princess of Sage are with my in-laws as it is school holidays here and both Mrs Sage and I are working this week.
So tonight was the perfect night to try My Pho Bar in Sunnybank. I have been wanting to visit it for ages. The Szechuan Sage has a fondness for noodle soups. After the chickens were locked up around 7pm I drove to the restaurant.
It looks pretty enough on the outside. They have coloured lights up for the festive season. The effect was warm and inviting. While I was outside I read the walls. The left wall has a description of what pho is and some of the background behind it. I knew it was beef noodle soup but I was happy to be educated further.
The right wall informed the diner about the 'Super Bowl Challenge'. It is a huge (no, really, it's huge) bowl of pho: 800 grams of noodles, 800 grams of meat and enough broth to cover it. When they say meat, they mean rare beef, tendon, tripe, flank, beef ball. You have sixty minutes to eat it all - noodles, beef, broth. I don't go in for eating contests when there are people in Brisbane (let alone around the world) who don't have enough to eat so I won't be doing that.
I went for My Freedom tonight, which includes three meats. I chose tripe, tendon and flank. I ordered it to take away. It cost $12, which I thought was good value for money. It came out in less time than I was told. Then again, they weren't overly busy. I took home one container with the broth and another with meat and noodles. There was also a small container of chili sauce and another bag of bean sprouts and Thai basil. I put everything together and left it soak while I went up to get the dog.
When I came back the smell was amazing. The broth was so fragrant, and combined with the rest of the ingredients, it smelled really delicious. With the spoon in the left hand and the chopsticks in the right, for the most part, I started eating. It was fantastic. The broth was very tasty, and there was a variety of tastes and textures from the noodle and beef components. I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to going back there again one day.
Ahem. It's not often the Szechuan Sage finds himself home alone. Tonight was one of those nights. Mrs Sage has gone to a Bon Jovi concert with some of her girl friends. The Prince and Princess of Sage are with my in-laws as it is school holidays here and both Mrs Sage and I are working this week.
So tonight was the perfect night to try My Pho Bar in Sunnybank. I have been wanting to visit it for ages. The Szechuan Sage has a fondness for noodle soups. After the chickens were locked up around 7pm I drove to the restaurant.
It looks pretty enough on the outside. They have coloured lights up for the festive season. The effect was warm and inviting. While I was outside I read the walls. The left wall has a description of what pho is and some of the background behind it. I knew it was beef noodle soup but I was happy to be educated further.
The right wall informed the diner about the 'Super Bowl Challenge'. It is a huge (no, really, it's huge) bowl of pho: 800 grams of noodles, 800 grams of meat and enough broth to cover it. When they say meat, they mean rare beef, tendon, tripe, flank, beef ball. You have sixty minutes to eat it all - noodles, beef, broth. I don't go in for eating contests when there are people in Brisbane (let alone around the world) who don't have enough to eat so I won't be doing that.
I went for My Freedom tonight, which includes three meats. I chose tripe, tendon and flank. I ordered it to take away. It cost $12, which I thought was good value for money. It came out in less time than I was told. Then again, they weren't overly busy. I took home one container with the broth and another with meat and noodles. There was also a small container of chili sauce and another bag of bean sprouts and Thai basil. I put everything together and left it soak while I went up to get the dog.
When I came back the smell was amazing. The broth was so fragrant, and combined with the rest of the ingredients, it smelled really delicious. With the spoon in the left hand and the chopsticks in the right, for the most part, I started eating. It was fantastic. The broth was very tasty, and there was a variety of tastes and textures from the noodle and beef components. I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to going back there again one day.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Violin Lesson #53
This will be a short post because this lesson was a lot like last week's, except that this week I brought the sheet music and diary with me... then left it behind after the lesson :(
This lesson included information on how to clean the violin strings. The best way to clean them is with perfume. Hm... how am I going to explain that one at home? Apparently it is great for removing the rosin, and as long as it is kept away from the varnish of the violin there will be no problems.
My heartbeats are getting better. I am confident in being able to play with the heel of the bow. I certainly don't fear it or avoid it.
I forgot to play the double-stops exercise this week. Hopefully another week of practice will help.
The sound quality for Wave Machine had improved. Unfortunately it was at the expense of dynamics. I know the dynamics for this music but I forgot to apply them. Laura gave me some tips and as long as I remember to play them all will be sweet next week.
Raggle Taggle Hippie still has some way to go. It's going to be one of those songs that will take ages to get right but will sound amazing when it does.I can't do the quick fingering satisfactorily and I the bow work needs attention. It's all good though. It's getting better every week and I am learning something new with each lesson.
I had my first go at First Base this week. It was sounding pretty good. It was not "shocking" enough at the start. Perhaps I am too much in touch with my feminine side? This song also came with a lesson in economics. Save before you spend. Some notes require the whole bow to play. The bow starts off slowly (the saving) and when it gets about a third of the way along it gets faster and louder (the spending). Had their been no saving at the start, there would be nothing to spend. Nice one, Laura. I won't soon forget it. This song was actually sounding better than Raggle Taggle Hippie. It is most likely to be stamped before Raggle Taggle Hippie too.
I have not tried Plesiosaurus. I will give it a go this week and show Laura next week. Next week is the last lesson for 2013. Laura is off to China over the holidays. It will be around three weeks before I get back into it. So I better make the next lesson count.
Unfortunately Sarisha was sick today so I did not get to see her new violin and compare instruments. I look forward to doing that when she is well enough to attend lessons again.
This lesson included information on how to clean the violin strings. The best way to clean them is with perfume. Hm... how am I going to explain that one at home? Apparently it is great for removing the rosin, and as long as it is kept away from the varnish of the violin there will be no problems.
My heartbeats are getting better. I am confident in being able to play with the heel of the bow. I certainly don't fear it or avoid it.
I forgot to play the double-stops exercise this week. Hopefully another week of practice will help.
The sound quality for Wave Machine had improved. Unfortunately it was at the expense of dynamics. I know the dynamics for this music but I forgot to apply them. Laura gave me some tips and as long as I remember to play them all will be sweet next week.
Raggle Taggle Hippie still has some way to go. It's going to be one of those songs that will take ages to get right but will sound amazing when it does.I can't do the quick fingering satisfactorily and I the bow work needs attention. It's all good though. It's getting better every week and I am learning something new with each lesson.
I had my first go at First Base this week. It was sounding pretty good. It was not "shocking" enough at the start. Perhaps I am too much in touch with my feminine side? This song also came with a lesson in economics. Save before you spend. Some notes require the whole bow to play. The bow starts off slowly (the saving) and when it gets about a third of the way along it gets faster and louder (the spending). Had their been no saving at the start, there would be nothing to spend. Nice one, Laura. I won't soon forget it. This song was actually sounding better than Raggle Taggle Hippie. It is most likely to be stamped before Raggle Taggle Hippie too.
I have not tried Plesiosaurus. I will give it a go this week and show Laura next week. Next week is the last lesson for 2013. Laura is off to China over the holidays. It will be around three weeks before I get back into it. So I better make the next lesson count.
Unfortunately Sarisha was sick today so I did not get to see her new violin and compare instruments. I look forward to doing that when she is well enough to attend lessons again.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Violin Lesson #52
That's right, my lesson was on Thursday this week. Laura was kind enough to reschedule me because I had to be home for the children on Tuesday. Did the extra two days make a difference?
In a word, no, not really.
And it didn't help that I forgot my music books and diary at home today as I rushed out with both children. This was not how I wanted to start my second year of lessons.
I still have more to do with the heart-beat exercise and the double-stops exercises. They are sounding better each week, yet each week there is something else to do. For heart-beats I have to be aware of my bow hand. There is a subtle change between the up-bow and the down-bow. It took me a little while to understand it but I think I know what Laura means. The double-stops still need more arm-drop from playing the single string to playing the two strings at once, and less pressure on the two strings.
I asked about playing with the mute. It's something I have been using for a few weeks now. I think I'm going to stop using it. Some of the issues I am dealing with a really hard to work on with the mute in place. I have been told the music does not bother anyone downstairs, nor should it. After a year I'm sounding pretty good (far better than this time last year to be sure). Let's see how much difference practice without the mute can make.
I tried The Old Fiddler Man next. Laura's advice was to hum to myself the trickiest passage at the speed I want to play it just before I start, like a lead-in. I'll give this a go. Laura says we can move on from this piece (though I should still practice it from time to time). I'm not lying when I say I am a little disappointed I could not play this piece for her better than I did today. I know the good performances are in me... I just have to let them out.
Laura also had some more suggestions and advice for Raggle Taggle Hippie. Some aspects I had been practicing incorrectly so I'll work on those this week. One of them is to "let the bow flow". Laura gave me some adjectives for Irish music, to keep in mind as I play. It's nothing specific about physically playing the music, but I'm sure it eventually translates into a better sound.
I didn't get to do First Base because we ran out of time. That will have to wait for next lesson.
Finally, Sarisha had some good news. She found her new violin. As I understand it she went to Animato and Dietrich was able to hook her up with her new love. I can't wait to see it and hear it, hopefully before the holidays.
Also this week I got tp practice some Christmas carols. I had some music but mostly I've learned by ear. And as I played some to my daughter in her dimly lit room the other night I found I still need, occasionally, to see where to put my fingers.
There's not much time before the next lesson and there is still ever so much to do =)
In a word, no, not really.
And it didn't help that I forgot my music books and diary at home today as I rushed out with both children. This was not how I wanted to start my second year of lessons.
I still have more to do with the heart-beat exercise and the double-stops exercises. They are sounding better each week, yet each week there is something else to do. For heart-beats I have to be aware of my bow hand. There is a subtle change between the up-bow and the down-bow. It took me a little while to understand it but I think I know what Laura means. The double-stops still need more arm-drop from playing the single string to playing the two strings at once, and less pressure on the two strings.
I asked about playing with the mute. It's something I have been using for a few weeks now. I think I'm going to stop using it. Some of the issues I am dealing with a really hard to work on with the mute in place. I have been told the music does not bother anyone downstairs, nor should it. After a year I'm sounding pretty good (far better than this time last year to be sure). Let's see how much difference practice without the mute can make.
I tried The Old Fiddler Man next. Laura's advice was to hum to myself the trickiest passage at the speed I want to play it just before I start, like a lead-in. I'll give this a go. Laura says we can move on from this piece (though I should still practice it from time to time). I'm not lying when I say I am a little disappointed I could not play this piece for her better than I did today. I know the good performances are in me... I just have to let them out.
Laura also had some more suggestions and advice for Raggle Taggle Hippie. Some aspects I had been practicing incorrectly so I'll work on those this week. One of them is to "let the bow flow". Laura gave me some adjectives for Irish music, to keep in mind as I play. It's nothing specific about physically playing the music, but I'm sure it eventually translates into a better sound.
I didn't get to do First Base because we ran out of time. That will have to wait for next lesson.
Finally, Sarisha had some good news. She found her new violin. As I understand it she went to Animato and Dietrich was able to hook her up with her new love. I can't wait to see it and hear it, hopefully before the holidays.
Also this week I got tp practice some Christmas carols. I had some music but mostly I've learned by ear. And as I played some to my daughter in her dimly lit room the other night I found I still need, occasionally, to see where to put my fingers.
There's not much time before the next lesson and there is still ever so much to do =)
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