Violin lesson #104

After the disappointment of last week's lesson, and trying to decorate my cake before I baked it (that is trying to add the finesse to my pieces before getting the basics right), I was a little bit down.

The first practice I was able to do after that lesson I spent working on my intonation. At first I started using Pitchlabs then eventually worked without it. I was playing notes up and down, partial scales, working on each string in turn. It was boring, yes, but necessary, and I was focussed.

The other thing that helped lift me was a quote Laura posted on FaceBook:

"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable"

After hearing that I tried to play my pieces with more feeling, and I think it worked. Well, I felt better at the very least =) It's odd, but there are pieces I know how to play - things I have learned outside my lessons - that I think sound really good. Sometimes I think it is because I have more confidence with those pieces, or because I am more familiar with them, so I am able to worry less about wrong notes and think more about the music I want to play.

The work paid off in today's lesson. My intonation was much better than last week.And I tried to play my pieces with more bow and more energy. For the most part it worked. Mango Walk sounded pretty good today. There were some timing issues but it was pretty good. I'll need to work on the opening two bars (which are repeated a little later). They sound sweet when played with confidence but I don't always play them that way.

Even when Sirisha walked in with Anand, her husband, I kept my composure.

After this I worked on Londonderry Air. I need to become more aware of how much bow I use to make sure I don't run out at one end or the other. So, apart from learning what notes to play, I need to plan how to use the bow (more than just whether or not it is an up bow or down bow or a slur). I think I will need to play it a little slower and stop when I run out of bow to figure out why and how to fix the bowing leading up to that point. I was really happy to be able to get to the end when I played the first time. I didn't stop even when I knew I had messed up. I just kept going, and it felt pretty good. All in all I enjoyed playing it, warts and all.

There was time at the end to talk about scales. I am going to write them down, partly as a way to learn them and partly to have the music in front of me the way that I am supposed to play.

I enjoyed my lesson today and look forward to my practice and my next lesson.