This week's lesson was almost, almost I say, over-shadowed by another exciting event. Lindsey Stirling is coming to Australia! She is playing at the Tivoli Theater on February 20 next year. Not only did the Sage get two tickets for the show, he also ordered a meet-and-greet upgrade. This includes:
* meeting and greeting Lindsey
* a signed poster
* a VIP laminate
* question and answer session (I promise not to propose marriage to her)
* watching the sound check
Needless to say I can't wait to see her and the show.
The lesson was supposed to be on Wednesday because the Sage Princess was graduating from primary school on Tuesday. When I turned up another young lady was having her lesson. After that Sirisha had her turn. Her songs for the recital are sounding great. When I thought it was my turn young Andre turned up. He is really good and fast-tracking his violin studies for entry to high-school. It was at this time we realised Laura had double-booked. I didn't mind coming back on Thursday in the least. I sat in on *two* lessons and learned things from both of them.
When I arrived on Thursday there was a young lad going through his recital piece. After watching him go through his paces it was my turn. I started with Jumping Jelly Beans. In whatever time I had for practice I focused quite a bit on this piece. I finally practiced it with a metronome at 140 (the minimum suggested speed) and I was pleasantly surprised to realise this was a little slower than what I had been practicing. I was able to play the piece through accurately about half a dozen times. When I played this for Laura it sounded really good, even if it was not at top speed. Even the quick string change from A to D in the first part of the piece worked well. Laura was particularly happy about that. It showed I had worked hard to overcome a small section. It is across the space of two notes, and at this speed it is less than a second - only Laura and I will know how much effort it took to get that part just right [and anyone else reading this of course]. Laura said she did not currently have access to the piano accompaniment for this but improvised with the violin. I was impressed. After I played through I received a sticker for my efforts.
When I asked Laura if she would play something I half-expected her to say Monti's Czardas or something. I think my mother would almost pee her pants if she heard Laura playing that because it is a piece she now recognizes and likes. Laura said she would most likely improvise something with Dave - her boyfriend (and a very good music teacher in his own right). Laura said they will often take time in the evening to improvise things with Dave playing piano and Laura playing violin. As much as I like playing existing works, I would also love to learn to improvise, and it pleases me that Laura does this fairly regularly because it means it is something I can learn later.
We ran through the Telemann minuet as well. There were a couple of places Laura wanted me to pay special attention to this week. I need to start off strongly (though we agreed if a piece was to have a single strong point it would be best at the end). The start of the second section also needs to be as bold and strong as possible. And there is part towards the end, before the last pedal notes, where I need to get loud quickly. She demonstrated this to the young lady (not Sirisha, the other one) from Wednesday. And speaking of endings... Laura mentioned a student of the incomparable Jascha Heifetz told Laura about "last notes". Laura told us the bow should never just trail off on its own. It's okay, but it is much better to be in full control of the bow right to the end and to finish off the last note deliberately in the way you wish to finish it.
Last time I expressed my desire to prepare for the ABRSM Grade Two violin exam. To that end I ordered the ABRSM Grade Two violin book from Vivace Music store. Until then Laura walked me through one of the three songs I want to play for the exam - Londonderry Air - which goes something like this. Call it what you will it is a beautiful piece. Laura says it can be played by a student or a professional violinist as part of an encore. Of course the professional would add more layers to it than the student but it would sound beautiful in both cases. I can't wait.
I was Laura's final student lesson for the year. I'd make a comment about saving the best for last but I don't think that's necessary =)
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Violin lesson #95
Laura tells me this week and next week will be the last lessons of the year and after them the concert towards the end of the month. This lesson was crammed full of music and knowledge. I wonder how Laura gets so much into a lesson. Then it occurred to me: she runs over time :) Not just for Sirisha and I but I think for many of her students.
We are fairly happy with how Minuet is going to sound so there was no focus on that this week. There is still no sticker for Jumpin' Jelly Beans so this needs the most work. I don't get it. The piece sounds pretty good at home and I work on what Laura tells me, then when I play in class it goes to pieces. I expect part of that is to do with confidence. After a few mistakes nothing seems to stick. Last week Laura said I needed to swap strings faster. The next day at home and for the rest of the week that part was good. And in class today it was poor again. There is a mind-set here that is holding me back and when I find out how to fix it that will be a good thing.
Laura mentioned that I should play the piece slowly and speeding it up will be easier because it has been practiced so well. And I need to practice with a metronome to find out where I am rushing or where I am slow, and to make sure the speed is consistent all the way through.
Te Deum is going well, There are still some issues with the notes on the E-string. I will have to be mindful of those when I practice this week. It does sound pretty cool. Again, I got stuck playing from a certain bar because I did not recognise the notes. I can start from the beginning of a phrase but I struggle to play a particular bar. I don't know how concerned I should be about this. It may only be important in class when we are learning to play a piece ... or there may be more to it than that.
There was also theory this week, oh yes there was. We looked at duplet and triplets and how they can be simple or compound, and how they go together to form time signatures. It all comes back to mathematics, and since I speak mathematics fluently it didn't take long to see what Laura was talking about.
I also had a moment to bring up ABRSM exams. I am going to prepare for Grade Two. Laura showed me some of the pieces I can play for the exam, and there along side the William Tell Overture was Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy). Laura thinks I should be ready by March or April next year depending on how much time and effort I can put into my practice. I think I need something like this to keep me focused and to set some challenges. I was a little surprised that Laura was surprised I wanted to do ABRSM exams instead of the Australian AMEB ones, and it surprised me more that not many of Laura's students went with ABRSM. Laura made it sound really good last week so I don't know why more people don't do it.
Sirisha's pieces also sound really good. Here Laura started talking about different ways of playing the same piece. She mentioned one of them had warm sections and cool glassy sections. What sound you make depends partly on the bowing and I think partly on the player's own creativity and feelings. It's intangible. A student and professional musician can play the same piece but it can sound quite different. A professional musician can add colour and texture and feeling to a piece that a student can't. It's hard to explain, and I think also hard to teach. I think I'll know it when I play it and also when I hear it.
For one of Sirisha's songs - a Caribbean tune - Laura suggested a different bowing technique. It's one that is not annotated in a standard way but violinists know what it means. It's "somewhere between staccato and legato" :) All I know is I like the way it sounds and certainly did give a different vibe to the piece.
I think this is the part I am going to like the most about playing - letting out what is within, Playing pieces in different ways for different effects. Right now I will settle for playing correctly and be assured that playing with colour etc will come in due course.
We are fairly happy with how Minuet is going to sound so there was no focus on that this week. There is still no sticker for Jumpin' Jelly Beans so this needs the most work. I don't get it. The piece sounds pretty good at home and I work on what Laura tells me, then when I play in class it goes to pieces. I expect part of that is to do with confidence. After a few mistakes nothing seems to stick. Last week Laura said I needed to swap strings faster. The next day at home and for the rest of the week that part was good. And in class today it was poor again. There is a mind-set here that is holding me back and when I find out how to fix it that will be a good thing.
Laura mentioned that I should play the piece slowly and speeding it up will be easier because it has been practiced so well. And I need to practice with a metronome to find out where I am rushing or where I am slow, and to make sure the speed is consistent all the way through.
Te Deum is going well, There are still some issues with the notes on the E-string. I will have to be mindful of those when I practice this week. It does sound pretty cool. Again, I got stuck playing from a certain bar because I did not recognise the notes. I can start from the beginning of a phrase but I struggle to play a particular bar. I don't know how concerned I should be about this. It may only be important in class when we are learning to play a piece ... or there may be more to it than that.
There was also theory this week, oh yes there was. We looked at duplet and triplets and how they can be simple or compound, and how they go together to form time signatures. It all comes back to mathematics, and since I speak mathematics fluently it didn't take long to see what Laura was talking about.
I also had a moment to bring up ABRSM exams. I am going to prepare for Grade Two. Laura showed me some of the pieces I can play for the exam, and there along side the William Tell Overture was Londonderry Air (aka Danny Boy). Laura thinks I should be ready by March or April next year depending on how much time and effort I can put into my practice. I think I need something like this to keep me focused and to set some challenges. I was a little surprised that Laura was surprised I wanted to do ABRSM exams instead of the Australian AMEB ones, and it surprised me more that not many of Laura's students went with ABRSM. Laura made it sound really good last week so I don't know why more people don't do it.
Sirisha's pieces also sound really good. Here Laura started talking about different ways of playing the same piece. She mentioned one of them had warm sections and cool glassy sections. What sound you make depends partly on the bowing and I think partly on the player's own creativity and feelings. It's intangible. A student and professional musician can play the same piece but it can sound quite different. A professional musician can add colour and texture and feeling to a piece that a student can't. It's hard to explain, and I think also hard to teach. I think I'll know it when I play it and also when I hear it.
For one of Sirisha's songs - a Caribbean tune - Laura suggested a different bowing technique. It's one that is not annotated in a standard way but violinists know what it means. It's "somewhere between staccato and legato" :) All I know is I like the way it sounds and certainly did give a different vibe to the piece.
I think this is the part I am going to like the most about playing - letting out what is within, Playing pieces in different ways for different effects. Right now I will settle for playing correctly and be assured that playing with colour etc will come in due course.
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