Violin lesson #76

I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last lesson. It has been hard at times to keep motivated with practice but I have done my best.

It was good to see Sirisha again. We keep in touch outside of classes so I know she has been doing very well since our last lesson.

The lesson started off with our Greek duet "Paploma". We both decided to learn a duet. It is not that the song itself is especially difficult - the hardest part is probably getting used to the 7/8 time signature - but we are learning so much else at the same time. For example, it is not easy to adjust to someone playing right next to you, and often playing something different. I don't quite know why it is different to the times Laura has accompanied me on some of my other pieces (with piano or violin). But unless I want to spend the rest of my violin plahying days as a solo artist I am going to have to get used to it. Otherwise I will not be able to play in a quartet or any other ensemble let alone anything like an orchestra. It also highlights to me that if I were to get serious about making music with others I will have to commit to spending what would otherwise be family time practising and rehearsing with others.

Brief aside: On June 18 I went to a Waziz session at BEMAC (part of the Queensland Cultural Center). They are a group of musicians specialising in Balkan and Middle Eastern music. They made me feel welcome and it was a great experience. However, even trying to learn one of the songs would require a commitment of time I just don't think I can provide right now.

Back to the lesson... Paploma was sounding good. Laura provided some guidance on how to play the music for the rest of the song so now I can have a go at playing all the way through. She says we are doing well and some parts are really sounding very good.

After this is was time for scales. I was happy to earn two stickers: one for A Major (two octaves) and the other for A Major arpeggio (two octaves). What practice I have done in the month since my last lesson focussed on scales and studies first. Laura the explained the formula behind the Major scale. It goes

Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone

Seven steps for the eight notest in the scale, starting and ending on the same note an octave apart. Knowing the formula allows a musician to play a major scale starting from any of the twelve notes (seven natural and five accidental). As a demonstration Laura very quickly had me playing a B-flat major scane even though my fingers were out of the one position I know. I don't know if this is something I was specifically taught previously or something I came to realise one time when I was mucking about on a keyboard. But it is a part of music theory that some people pick up easier than others. As a software engineer and soemone who is good at mathematics as well as having previous musical experience, I understood the concept immediately. Music is mathematics. Mathematics may or may not be music.

I moved on from here to the stacato exercise. This was okay but not passed. I need to watch my tempo so playing this exercise with a metronome will be really really helpful. Also, the staccato at the nut of the bow need to start with the bow on the string. I baulked at that because putting the bow back on the string before the next stroke makes a scratchy sound that I really don't like. HJowever, it is important to endure that to make sure the bow is on the string before I start. That sound will go eventually.

I had time for one piece: I chose the Minuet by Telemann. It went well, though again not well enough for a pass. I think here too I need to watch the tempo. The passages with the notes that required rapid string changes (aka elbow circlies) had improved so I was happy about that.

After this it was Sirisha's turn. She did very well with her exercises and pieces and I think increased her sticker total by one. Her new pieces (new at least to me) sounded very pretty.

When we were done Laura spoke about an article I shared on Facebook. It was about the age people should start learning the violin. I think general consensus was around four or five. Laura told us she started late. She was eight =) Goodness. Really? Three to four years later is considered late? What is it about those extra years that is so important? If you have been learning and playing the violin for twenty years, does it matter when you started? Won't you eventually catch up to someone who started a few years before you?
I guess I will find out for myself... eventually.