Monthly Archives: November 2015
Evening Blues
Over a year ago I posted about evening practice sessions being problematic for my tone production, memory, and playing in general – I observed that for whatever reason my morning and early afternoon practice sessions are better. I think that since I wrote that post the daytime/nighttime disparity has evened out somewhat, but it certainly […]
Four Lines and Climbing Higher
Yesterday’s lesson was welcome. We worked on the final four lines of Humoresque that I had yet to work with, so now I have all the pieces and can put the whole thing together. The toughest parts of the piece – two slurred sections that are done in third position – are in these four […]
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor
There’s a distinguished list of violin concertos that comprises a part of the standard repertoire for great players – most play them all. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Sebelius, Mendelssohn. Plenty of other notable concertos exist – Mozart’s 5, Max Bruch, the modern Russians. I’m not sure why, but aside from Mozart many of these great composers […]
Humoresque Halves and Arm Becoming Bow
It’s not often that I skip two lessons in a row – in fact I’m not sure it’s happened before; we tend to reschedule for another day. But Teacher was sick the week before last, and I had to cancel this past week due to some work commitments. I have been playing nonetheless, and am […]
Joshua Bell at Symphony Center
Friday night Michael and I had the pleasure of seeing acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell at Chicago’s Symphony Center. Bell is touring with pianist Sam Haywood, and the duo brought out a great crowd of adoring fans. From our perch in the first balcony we had a great view of their fingers; I told Michael that […]
Ryan Libel 