My lesson yesterday was fun – we played through my new Wohlfahrt etude, number four, which Teacher tells me can be thought of rhythmically as run puppy.  It’s all repeating pattern of eighth then sixteenth notes.  Run puppy run puppy run puppy run puppy.  Having a mnemonic for the pattern helps quite a bit.  Though I’ve only been playing this one for a week, she says I can go onto the next one too if I want – number five in the book.  Number five is challenging because it’s in F major, which I’ve never worked in before.  The new etude looks like it’s all up and down scales, more or less.

We also spent time on the Seitz, of course – hearing the phrasing and separating out the sets of triplets were the themes of the day.  That and starting on the string.  I need to put the bow on the string then pull it, versus taking a running start!  Starting from a resting spot on the string, no matter how momentary, makes for a much cleaner sound.  I still have a whole lot of work to do on the piece overall.  I’m just barely getting to the spot where I can play it through – even with a lot of trips along the way, the most notable of which happen as I approach the big flourish finish.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan