Violin lesson #94

Not only is this lesson #94 but it is also two years since I started on my violin journey. More on that later...

This week the focus was on the two pieces I am playing for the recital at the end of December. The minuet needs some polish. It does sound pretty sweet, but I am not always getting the second set of pedal notes, and sometimes not the third. Wrist action is very important, especially to get into the third set. I am sure Laura has mentioned the phrase "leading with the wrist" before so I need to pay more attention to that.

While Jumping Jelly Beans is sound it is not up to speed yet. Laura talked a little about speed today. A few things to note: keep the fingers close to the strings during fast passages so they have to travel a shorter distance. The danger in that is the fingers may touch the strings when not required so there is a fine line there. This is something Laura was explaining to Andre before our lesson started. He was playing an etude and it really sounded familiar, so either I have heard it before or something similar is in another piece. Laura also told the story of having practiced an audition piece so well at a slower speed it was almost effortless to play it at almost double speed at the actual audition. I guess part of it is also getting the brain out of the way to let the body do what it knows to do.

Less time this week was devoted to the exercises (the Spock hand and the slide). Laura passed me on the Spock hand as it was so close and there wasn't anything else to add. Perhaps there was some intangible thing but I know that I can play it and it won't be too hard when it comes to a piece that uses those fingerings (like the Balkan / gypsy music of which I am a very big fan). The sliding goes better with closed eyes. I think the signals my eyes give me get in the way of the hands and fingers moving about.

There was also talk about the different grading systems for violin exams. Long story short Laura prefers ABRSM to AMEB. So the Sage hopes, all things being equal, to prepare for and pass Grade 2 level ABRSM next year.

As I said, today marks two years since I started learning from Laura. In some ways it seems so long ago. Starting with hired violin I borrowed one from my dear friend Tina (the one she played at my wedding) and then to my own beloved Patience. It would take quite an effort to write down all of the musical events I have attended since starting. Some were expensive and some were free. I have seen internationally renowned acts and local groups (including the Ady ensemble featuring Laura). And I have met some lovely people. Laura, of course, and Sirisha, who now shares lessons with me, and Greta, from MZAZA (and Deep Blue). I feel like I have learned a lot, yet I am sure it's the tip of the proverbial iceberg. And it feels good to play for myself, and great to play for others. And I plan to keep learning at least until I can do justice to Monti's Czardas =)