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!
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