Category Practice Notes
Playing vs. Practicing
I’ve been under the weather for the past week, very slowly getting over a cold, and though I’ve kept up my practice, during yesterday’s session I realized that I was playing instead of practicing. Prior to yesterday I hadn’t thought about what that means – to me it means that I was playing without worrying […]
No Lesson
Teacher e-mailed me a few days ago and begged forgiveness for canceling this week’s lesson. She’s got a gig in the far suburbs all week and has to be there early. I haven’t really skipped any lesson weeks until now – we’ve moved days a few times, but have always managed to get one in. […]
Leaving a Minuet Behind
I’ve always loved travel, but there’s always the tug of the stuff you leave behind – like your bed, perhaps your family, and possibly your violin. Wednesday’s lesson brought me the rest of my new minuet, and I am having a great time learning it. It’s challenging, and my three days away beginning in an […]
Warming Up Is Playing
So far, I’m still starting all my practice sessions with Twinkle Twinkle. I then play all the songs I’ve learned to date in succession, often repeating ones that aren’t coming out right that day. I will throw in scales and arpeggios often, especially if I think I need to be more in tune. I do […]
My Danny Boy
Yesterday’s post concluded with the promise that I was going to try to “pick out” Danny Boy on my violin. I’ve done exactly that with some other songs I’ve wanted to play – Ode to Joy, It Is Well with My Soul, and Oh Holy Night. But in all of those cases it was a […]
High Three
I’ve posted on low second finger, a necessary feature of playing in G major on the A and E strings. Low 2 is coming along. I do struggle with being in tune, so I’m drilling a lot of G major scales and arpeggios to try to train my fingers into the low 2 groove. Of […]
Anticipation
I’m only 4 lines of 10 into this second Bach minuet, so it’s likely that in today’s lesson I’ll get through the rest. I don’t go ahead by myself – I feel I have plenty to polish, and I expect Teacher to dole out the new stuff as she thinks I’m ready. I think my […]
More Stuff
The Chicago winter, my teacher’s habit of keeping one, and my desire to do right by my 87 year old instrument resulted in my ordering a little humidifier – dry air is the main risk to older instruments (well, carelessness, I suppose, is the biggest risk!). The hygrometer in my spiffy new case reports virtually […]
Bach is Beautiful
Well I’m enamored of these minuets. As I’ve developed a basic competency playing the first one, and am at the spot where I can start to hear what the second one is getting at, I have come to the conclusion that I love Bach. To hear teacher refer to him, I think all violinists do. […]
What’s in a Room?
I’ve written before about the joys of high rise living, worrying about the neighbors, and a desire to keep the peace as it pertains to subjecting people to the undeniably problematic sounds of a beginner playing the violin. Happily, our units do a pretty good job of soundproofing, but still, violins are made to be […]
Ryan Libel 