Violin lesson #70

Practice has not been great this week but I do what I can.

To start with there were flashcards for Sirisha and I. I think between us we nailed most of them. No-one kept score but I'm going to say it was a tie =)

Firstly, I finished off my G Major scale exercises. Sticker time. Unfortunately it was mostly downhill after that.

Next was the sliding finger exercise. It wasn't too bad considering I only started last week. I still need to get the notes right but progress was good. It was interesting to hear Sirisha play the same exercise. She plays it better than I do so Laura gave her some different advice. It won't hurt to try and apply that to my playing.

Hornpipe is nearly finished. Or is it? Whether it was the tension across my shoulders or trying to play this too fast, it just wasn't happening. Laura said once I relax my shoulders the sound is way better. I can't be expected to play with someone massaging them all the time so I'll have to a) figure out why I get tense there, and b) how to get rid of it.

The notes were there but that was about it. The dynamics and the nuances of the staccato were missing. Laura told me, and I heartily agreed, that it is better to listen to music played a little bit slower but with all of the colour and flavour written on the score that to listen to the same piece played a little faster but flat-lined. I have seen similar comments on some youtube videos "Lacked dynamics", "no feeling" and so on. I will not be one of those players.

This week I spent less time on Air in G and it really showed. I am just not getting my head around it and I'm not sure why. So I will be taking it slow and making sure I am kind to myself as I practice. Some pieces will come to me easier than others. This is one of the others.

So after the lesson I was feeling a little deflated. I am my own worst critic, and that is not helped when I know I (and Patience) can produce a great sound. Practice this week will have to focus on scales and exercises this week and getting back to basics with those two pieces.

What a difference a week makes...