News by E-mail

Lesson Season

September 2, 2008 at 2:19 AM

Lessons started up again on Sunday, so now it time for lesson blogs once again. Regular lessons will be on Thursdays. Yesterday was the begin of "lesson season".

Being a new lesson season, I decided to bring "options" on Sunday. I brought the Clarke Sonata that I was working on before and during the summer, the Bruch, Hummel - all pieces I've worked on with Joel before. I also brought some new pieces with me - Bach/Cassadeus Concerto, Schumman Sonata, Schubert Sonata, and the Brahms Sonata (op. 120). The hour began with Joel flipping through what I brought. He stopped on the Brahms: "Oh! The Brahms!!!! You'll LOVE this!!! It's a beautiful piece. Want to try it?" Of course I say yes. I failed to mention that this is another of my "bucket list" pieces.

Since my version is a urtext, he digs out his copy with all the fingerings and bowings that he's happy with, and we begin, very slowly note by note. After the first two excruciating measures he stops. "I want you to listen to a recording so that you know that this really IS a beautiful piece". OUCH!!! OK... It really is a beautiful piece. We begin again, but not as beautifully :)

It is a typical run through for us. He writes in bowings and fingerings on my copy for several lines, we play through together, he marks my copy for several more lines, etc etc.. About mid-way through I start seeing some very interesting fingerings. He must have noticed the incredulous expression on my face and told me that I'm "good now on my shifts" so can now have more expressive fingerings. YIKES! He's got me shifting all over the place now. Well, I trust his judgement and give it a go.

Before I knew it, the hour was up, and we had just worked through the entire first movement of No.2. Once home, I listened to the recording again following along with my sheet music playing "air viola". I played it on my own once, and played along with the recording once. OK - that is a little to fast for me right now...

After a day and a half on this piece, I realized that I could play this beautifully with practice. There are a few measures with some challenging expressive shifts that need extra practice time. However, this piece is now within my skills. I can't wait to see how it sounds after a month or two!

From Tess Z
Posted on September 2, 2008 at 12:57 PM

That's wonderful Mendy!

This entry has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.