Category Practice Notes
Memory: A Theme and Variations
Suzuki Book Three opens with a Gavotte by Martini – the Suzuki Book doesn’t cite the source work’s title, but the site I found the other day sources it to Martini’s Sonate D’intavolatura per L’organo e il Cembalo Sonata No. 12: V. Gavotta. The piece is a theme and variations kind of number, and I’ve […]
Aspiring to Well-Tempered
Johann Sebastian Bach is a favorite of violinists – of all musicians, I assume. I wrote a post a while back about Hilary Hahn and her appreciation of the great Baroque composer and organist, and his music’s usefulness, in her view, for both tempering a crowd at a nightclub in Berlin as well as for […]
Chamber of One?
Due to my back pain extravaganza, I registered quite late for the chamber music festival I mentioned a while back. I missed the deadline, and while Teacher said that would probably be OK (she checked with the organizers) the main practical effect is that I have not had the same amount of time with the […]
Back at It
I have been so fortunate for most of my life as far as health goes – occasionally my back has given me fits over the years, but it’s been relatively minor, causing minimal impact on my day to day. As I wrote in my last post, however, minimal is not how I would describe the […]
Pain
Well I haven’t played since last Thursday, a whole week. The reason is I’m nursing a seriously messed up back. I have been alternating between flat on my back and walking pitifully since Friday. I did get some pain meds from the doctor, but the healing has been slow going. Yesterday I went back to […]
Practice Overhaul
In yesterday’s lesson I confessed to teacher that I probably need to change my practice method, which I’ve been using since the beginning. My method has always been to play through all the songs I know well, maybe repeating them if they give me more trouble than usual. A few songs into Book Two, I […]
It Takes Time to Learn to Gavotte
The new song is coming along – it’s a Gavotte, by Martini – there is a theme with about seven variations – the theme is definitely coming along, and I’m pushing through the variations. Yesterday I reached the spot where I can play through the whole thing, more or less. I’ve barely begun to memorize […]
Practice Notes
The postural changes I worked on in the lesson last Wednesday have done a number on my ability to be in tune. Keeping the shoulder rest at the new angle brings the violin forward a bit for me, impacting the angle at which my hand approaches the strings. So I have to figure that out […]
There Is No Finish Line
We made it through to the end of the Boccherini Minuet in Wednesday’s lesson, and with it the end of Suzuki Book Two. I love this minuet – it’s extremely fun to play, and, while challenging, the technical details are not such that I feel I won’t be able to make the piece sound OK […]
Canon in D
On Monday the ubiquitous wedding march Canon in D, by Johann Pachelbel, popped into my head. I’m not really sure why – I do enjoy the tune, but it’s quite well-represented by others in the universe. I’ve never considered it to be one of my favorites, personally speaking. But it did occur to me that […]
Ryan Libel 