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Natasha Marsalli

July 2, 2005 at 12:41 PM

I'm FINALLY back from summer camp!!!
For anyone interested in a relatively short (albeit intense) camp for highschoolers, I highly reccomend Sound Encounters in Kansas. It would make a good first camp for junior high schoolers as well.
Today, I think I'll work on Orange Blossom Special. I keep seeing opportunities where I could perform it...all I have to do is tune my double stops a bit and pick up the speed.
I was forced to play solo at our dinner party the other night. I despise being asked to play out of the blue. People think that once you perform with an orchestra, you have the ability to pull out any song you have learned and play it for entertainment upon request. However, almost the opposite is true; once you have established your reputation as a decent violinist, you are hesitant in performing anything not polished to perfection, lest your reputation be muddied. So I just performed the Gigue and Courante from Bach's Suites for Solo Cello (I knew I could breeze through those) and then finished with a Mozardian Minuet. They were a tough crowd to please, and I suspect that should I ever perform again for them, I should have some sort of virtuostic piece ready to play (like the Monti Csardas, or some sort of Kreisler piece...one of those "musical bon bons".
Practicing without a teacher to motivate you over the summer is so difficult though. It's harder to motivate yourself to do things well. So I'm attemtpting different approaches at playing. For the next few weeks, I'm going to practice in the way Heifetz devotees recommend; focus on technique and play lots of technical exercises. I'm getting bored spending a half hour solely on scales, though, so we'll see how long I can keep this up.
From Scott 68
Posted on July 3, 2005 at 1:27 PM
i think practicing scales can be fun, i tend to improvise which leads to new ideas for composition
From Sydney Menees
Posted on July 3, 2005 at 9:35 PM
Hey Natti. Just wondering which scale book you have. I use the Scales for Advanced Violinists compiled by Barbra Barber and it breaks up the monotony (for me anyway). Also are you working on Suzuki right now? If so, which song?

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