Author Archives: Ryan Libel
Vibrato. Double Stops. Palpitations.
Teacher has been gently encouraging me to really hone in on vibrato. Of course I’ve been working it for a while, but the recent encouragement is doing me some good. I feel I’ve made some great progress in only two weeks or so, which is rewarding. I feel I’m on the verge of “getting it,” […]
One Hand Clapping
Prior to yesterday it had been three weeks since my last lesson – Teacher cancelled one, then I was away unexpectedly last week. But in the meantime, I had been working on my bow hold, which we focused on when we last met as paramount to improvement in my execution of double stops. To the […]
The Way of Life Long Learning
One of my major goals in taking up the violin as an adult was to add another dimension to my pursuit as a lifelong student. My martial arts training has been immeasurably important to me for many reasons, but one of the most profound is the way it’s helped me internalize learning as a process […]
A Daniil Trifonov Matinee
Daniil Trifonov is a world-class concert pianist, born in Russia in 1991. As a child, he was educated in Moscow at the Gnessin School of Music under Tatiana Zelikman, and he has continued studies in performance and composition in the US with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of music. He has been captivating audiences […]
Taste of Ravel
I’ve been digging into the music of Maurice Ravel a bit more in anticipation of a Perlman recital we’re attending toward the end of April. In addition to works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Schumann, Perlman will play Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in G Major. The piece is clearly influenced by Jazz, […]
Memorization and the Play-Through
Getting to the spot in a new piece of music where I can play it through without stopping is always a thrill. After yesterday’s lesson I am much closer on this newest piece – we worked through the remaining section of the Third Movement of Seitz’s Fifth Concerto, a flowing stretch of slurred sixteenth notes […]
Piu Mosso
Teacher holds my hand and wiggles it – the vibrato project progresses. Looser, looser, looser. The instrument still wiggles too, a little bit. But not like it used to. “Pinkies are the worst,” Teacher says. I don’t need to agree verbally – the tiny appendage really doesn’t wiggle at all for me. Well, it might […]
Doubling Down
I’ve been wading through this exceptionally difficult series of double stops (playing notes on different strings simultaneously, creating chords) in Seitz 5’s Third Movement for weeks now. I just counted – the uninterrupted series of double stops goes on for 25 measures! The past couple of days I do feel like I’ve broken through a […]
Carmen at the Lyric
I am no student of Carmen, the classic French 1875 Georges Bizet opera, nor of opera in general, but I very much enjoyed my first excursion to Chicago’s Lyric Opera House on Friday night to see the current production. The title role is undoubtedly both a burden and a feather in the cap – living […]
Reading up on Carmen
This coming Friday we’re off to the opera with some friends – the renowned Lyric of Chicago’s current production of the Bizet classic Carmen. Though I’ve never been to the Lyric before, and I have seen very little opera otherwise, I do know that it’s best to learn plenty before going. So this morning I’ve […]
Ryan Libel 