Violin lesson #64

I'll start by warning the reader I'll probably waffle on more than usual...

I arrived at the lesson early today because I agreed to meet Sirisha before our combined class. She had come back from India, and she had brought with her a violin. Before the class we spent some time chatting about her trip away, and then about Indian music and culture, and even about Arabic music. It was all very interesting and rather fascinating. The more I learn about world music, the more I see how small a part Western music makes up. This is by no means denigrating Western music. I'm just pointing out how much bigger the musical world is.

Was it mere coincidence that I read an article about Indian Music on Gamasutra today? Probably =)

While I am here and thinking about music I will post this link to Mzaza - a world music group based here in Brisbane.

Eventually it was time for our lesson. Laura took out the old violin and tuned it. She played a pretty little piece on it and told Sirisha what she already suspected. It will make a wonderful story and is a great memento of her trip, but it is not better than any of the violins the three of us have. It needs a bit of a clean and some new strings and the bridge was rather unusual. It spread the strings further apart than one would normally see on a violin, to the point where a player would be at risk of their fingers slipping from the fret board if they were not careful.

To the lesson... Laura asked who was going first. With very little hesitation Sirisha indicated I would. Seeing as I am a gentleman I obliged. I started off with some scale work. My eagerness betrayed me and I played some scales too quickly. Yes, I need to slow down a little and get the good sound rather than worry about speed. I could play detache (short detached notes) but the whole bow exercises are mine for another week. This is why I like them. I have a chance here to focus on bowing technique because I already know how to play the scale. It's not like I have to learn it, or think about too many other things (one must always be aware of intonation).

I had a go at the arpeggio. I know that I know how to play it. Again, it was too quick so it didn't sound the best. Slowing down will help heaps.

My finger pattern exercise "running up and down" still needs more work too. I'm not quite getting the fingering correct. At this point Laura told as that as professionals (which we will eventually become) we can think about our own fingering and work out what works best for us. That is all well and good, but for now I have to stick with the fingering as taught.

The Superstudies pieces were pretty good. Strawberry Milk Shake still needs another week so I can add the ninja punches towards the end of the piece. Toffee Nut Fudge Cake needs more practice too. I had neglected this a little during the week. I need to write down what I practice to make sure nothing gets missed especially when my practice time is at a premium. Speaking of neglect, Rum-Bah Ba got very little time this week. It's a curious little piece as it is in 3+3+2 / 4 time (as written, or 8 /4 time). When Laura played it I could hear a rhythm different to the one I know so well. This week I'll practice it more.

By this time I had one chance to impress with either Hornpipe or Fiddler's Fancy. I did impress, but for the wrong reasons. It was too fast, too sloppy, and the intonation was poor. I rushed it and mucked up. Whether it was the fact that I thought I had to play it so quickly, or a feeling that I wanted to show off, or having Sirisha back for the first time in ages, something happened to bring about that result. I expect it was a little of everything. I certainly did myself no good at all. Next week I will play it again, a little slower, and a lot cleaner and see if I can't get that sticker.

That was me done for the week. Not my best lesson but not the worst.

Then it was Sirisha's turn. For someone who has been away for a while she played very well. I was particularly interested in the way she was playing Raggle Taggle Hippie. It's the same song, obviously, that I passed the other week, but to me it seemed there was something different about it, especially with the grace notes. Perhaps it was her interpretation? I don't know but I will get to hear it again next week.

After the lesson Sirisha and I asked Laura if she would teach us a duet. Laura said she was more than happy to do so. I look forward to the experience. We have learned some of the same songs but this will be the first time either of us has worked on a duet.

Violin lesson #63

Practice has been good again this week. I think there is more incentive to practice when your pieces are close to completion because they generally sound really good, and so are more enjoyable to play. Having said that, I think I have been neglecting the Superstudies pieces a little.

One thing I have found is that when I don't think I can play because it will be to loud, I can play the pieces pizzicato style. It's not ideal, no, because I miss out on the bowing, but I can still practice the left-hand fingering, which certainly must be better than no practice at all.

Today I was in Room Three. Normally the room assigned to Laura is a small room downstairs. There was some mucking about this week and Laura ended up in Room Three, which was big and airy and even had its own piano.

Laura is full of surprises. Today she had written up some music gleaned from YouTube. It was one of the Greek songs I had mentioned to her (and yes, I am embarrassed to say the name slips my mind at this time). It sounded really cool when Laura played it. It's not difficult to learn but it will have to be transposed (to G Major I imagine) since I don't know F Major on the violin yet. Laura, thank-you for taking the time to do that. I really appreciate it.

It was St Patricks Day yesterday, and some of it must have rubbed off on me because today I passed Raggle Taggle Hippie. Huzzah. Again I had to play it with Laura accompanying on the piano and it was much better. I think this was partly due to having practiced with the recording of her accompaniment from last week. Laura says I should be proud of myself because it sounds really good is a big improvement even from a few weeks ago,

The other two songs are pretty close to being finished too. Hopefully the practice I had previously allocated to Raggle Taggle Hippie can be allotted to these songs and they will be good to go next week. I need to practice my articulation with the runs of notes in Hornpipe and play into the string a little more for Fiddler Fancy.

The Superstudies songs are going good too. They need a little more time, and they are now joined by Vanilla Ice-Cream. Also this week I am starting on some of the scales and exercises Sirisha has been doing (I think). There are things like two octaves of G Major with different bowing techniques and assorted other exercises. Like I've said before, I enjoy playing the scales and exercises as much as I enjoy the set pieces. I hope I can get plenty of good practice time in this week.

Sirisha wasn't in this week. Probably next week.

Violin lesson #61,#62

The Sage has been lazy (and busy, yeah, busy sounds better than lazy) so these two lessons are in the one post.

Last week's lesson saw me pass Hear That Whistle. That is the show-off piece that features harmonics and glissando to simulate the whistle of a train.

I am still working on Raggle Taggle Hippie. As I expected it did not take so long to learn the second half. I have been able to increases the speed and play the whole song through. Last week I played with Laura accompanying on the piano, and I had one of those rare "aha" moments where I seemed to be listening to someone else playing and thinking "damn, that sounds pretty good". Then I lost focus, but it really did sound good :) This week was good too but I need to use more bow and position my left hand better to allow my fingers to curve properly and get even better intonation. I also recorded the piano so I am going to try and practice with that. Part of me thinks I don't play as well in the lesson because I am not used to the piano playing along with me.

I have also been working on Hornpipe and Fiddle Fantasy. Well blow me down if Hornpipe doesn't remind me a little of the Popeye theme - not the chorus, but the music at the beginning. I won't be happy until I've had a go at learning it. Laura and I are both happy with the progress on these pieces. They really are fun to play and technically not so difficult. Hopefully with some good practice this week I can knock them off for next week.

After Hear That Whistle I have been given Strawberry Milkshake, which I neglected a little due to enjoying the other pieces so much, and today I was given Toffee Nut Fudge Cake. No, Laura did not make a dessert, it's the name of another piece from Superstudies For Violin. I am so glad Laura suggested I buy this book when I bought Patience. It has taught me a lot.

Also this week Laura started with some sight-reading and I did rather well. I will be very confident when doing this for an exam at some point in the future.Laura says this is a valuable skill. She has known some professional musicians who struggle with sight reading. They'll be fine on pieces they know but will find it hard to play something brand new.

That brings me to another point. I have been speaking to a friend of mine - Stauro - about learning some Greek songs from his father. His father, like mine, plays the accordion, but does not know how to read music so he learns by ear. Stauro and I have both played accordion and both know how to read music. He has shared some music with me so I can learn a few Greek songs. I'll show them to Laura but as far as I can see there is nothing in them that I can't do at this point. I would like to continue to develop sight reading so I can learn new songs more easily, and still reserve the right to learn some things by ear.

And Laura has returned my Klezmer book. I don't need any more distractions so I will put it away... for now.

Next week Sirisha is supposed to be back, and hopefully with her new violin and some stories of home.