Pauline Lerner on Violinist.com

Rain and Ghosts

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:05:17 GMT

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... but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply
....
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before
...
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

From Sonnet XLIII by Edna St. Vincent Millay

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I met him at a jam session and fell in love with him at first sight. Within a few weeks, he fell in love with me, too. It was wonderful having someone I loved, who also loved me, to play music with. We always had music playing on CDs or Internet radio. We had violins (my primary instrument) and mandolins (his primary instrument) scattered around the living room, and whenever one or both of us liked the music that was playing, we'd pick up an instrument and jam. He wanted to learn to play fiddle. The two instruments are tuned and fingered the same way, and that was an advantage for a beginning fiddle student. When I had students over for lessons, he would hide and listen. He said that he learned a lot that way. Of course, I gave him private lessons, too. The hardest thing for him to learn -- not surprisingly -- was bowing. It was even more difficult for him because he had an old, painful injury in his right shoulder. He was determined and persistent, though, and he gradually became better and better at it.

Then we broke up and lost contact with each other. Several years went by. Sometimes I'd get some news about him from a mutual friend. Sometimes it was sad news: lung cancer. When I looked at photos of him on Facebook, he looked emaciated, and I wanted to hug him. Tonight on Facebook I saw a rather poor quality video of him and a large group of friends jamming. He was playing fiddle, and he did it very well. I couldn't hear him individually, but his right hand posture, left hand posture, and bowing looked perfect. He must have had a good teacher, I thought.

Tonight the ghosts are back, and I feel lonely.

Veteran's Day, 2009

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:24:44 GMT

Today, November 11, people in countries around the world observe Veteran's Day / Armistice Day, a holiday created to honor the millions of people who died in World War I, "The War To End All Wars."

Eric Bogle wrote a song called "The Green Fields of France" or "William MacBride" for this holiday. It is a very powerful song. For several years after I learned it, I could not listen to it or play it by myself. I had to do it in the company of friends to give me strength. It still affects me deeply. I cried and at times, had to avert my eyes, when I watched this video. This video is very special, too. It was put together by a 12th grader for a sociology class. She said that she wanted it to represent not only World War I, but all wars.

The chorus of the song, which starts with "Did they beat the drums slowly..." describes a traditional Scottish funeral rite. "The Flowers of the Forest" is played at Scottish funerals and other Scottish gatherings to honor the fallen.

Playing Notes vs Playing Music

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:29:29 GMT

It seems so simple and obvious: Playing notes is not the same as playing music. I once saw a musician wearing a T-shirt that said, "Just because you know a lot of notes and can play them fast doesn't mean you're a good musician." I believe that.

I'm a sort of hybrid because I play both classical and nonclassical music. I hear ignorant criticism and snobbery from both sides.

I had an interesting conversation with a very good musician, a folk guitarist, about the state of classical music in the U.S. We agreed that classical music is fighting to stay alive while newer styles of music keep gaining audiences. His opinion of, say Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, was that if you've heard one performance of it, you've heard them all. Every time it's performed, the musicians play the same notes and markings, so the outcome is always the same. I considered the vastly different sounds of a given piece when played by different orchestras or under different conductors. I remembered the debates on v.com about the merits of different violinists who play the same pieces with entirely different interpretations. I thought of pieces written a few centuries ago which are still played and loved today, and I compared them mentally to pieces of music which were very popular ten years ago but completely forgotten today. I wondered how I could convince this man that different performances of a given piece can reveal vast varieties of beauty or that one can hear completely different things in a single recorded performance of a single work each time one listens to it. There is something deep within the listener which resonates with the music. People who respond strongly to classical music may have grown up with it or may just have it written in their genes.

There are many kinds of nonclassical, European and American music, and I've tried playing a bunch of them. I gravitate towards the ones in which technique is important because my roots are in classical music. Scottish fiddle music is very technical and appeals to a lot of classically trained musicians like me. There are virtuoso soloists, of course, but even fiddlers playing in a group play some pretty technical stuff. In Irish music, fiddle soloists can really flaunt their virtuoso techniques. The same is true of bluegrass music, although I haven't noticed many classically trained violinists turning to that genre. Something that all these kinds of nonclassical music have in common is improvisation. Even if you're only improvising ornaments, you're making the music your own. My classical training has been very helpful here. All those bowing variations in Wohlfahrt, Kreutzer, and other etude books have served me very well in playing nonclassical music. Even my orchestra experience as a second violinist has taught me many ways I can contribute to the totality of the sound even though I'm not playing melody. One time when I was jamming, I had to stop and laugh because my playing sounded like the second violin part of a Mozart symphony.

I got a rude shock recently when I heard some folk musicians describe themselves as beginner, intermediate, or advanced players based on the number of tunes they knew. Don't they know the difference between quantity and quality and the sublime importance of the latter? I became sensitive to the shortcomings of some of the folk fiddlers I had been jamming with. One fellow, definitely not a beginner, proudly played for a group of us a few tunes that he had practiced a lot earlier in the day. I didn't know what they were until after he stopped playing and named them. They were tunes that I know, but his intonation was so bad that I didn't recognize them. Then a woman played lead fiddle for a set of tunes. Her intonation was not good, and her bowing was loud and scratchy. Ow! I don't let my beginning students get away with that.

Fortunately, there are some very good folk fiddlers who are also very good teachers, including Ken Kolodner. He has put out a two CD set on folk fiddling which is really fun and very educational. The CDs contain recordings of him playing 35 old time fiddle tunes three ways: first, slowly with no ornaments; second, slowly with ornaments; and third, a tempo with ornaments. It sure beats listening to a fiddle tune over and over and trying to figure out what the fiddler is doing so quickly. Of course, there is plenty of software which will play music slowed down with no change in pitch, but Ken's CDs are so much easier to use. The CDs also contain PDF files with sheet music for all 35 tunes with bowings, chords, and comments on stylistics. To top it all off, he has a PDF file eleven pages long which describes with remarkably clarity many fiddle ornaments, how to play them, and their best uses in tunes. I bought his CD set recently, and I'm having a lot of fun learning stylistics with it. I excitedly told a fiddling friend about the treasure trove of knowledge in these CDs. He responded, "How many tunes are on the CDs?"

I think I'll look elsewhere for people to jam with.

Happy Halloween

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:41:48 GMT

Enjoy some spooky music for Halloween.� Saint-Saens's Danse Macabre was inspired by a French poem about ghosts who are summoned by the Devil to rise up from their graves at midnight to dance and then return to their graves at dawn.� The piece begins with 12 notes played on the harp, signifying midnight. Then a violin, representing the Devil, plays some eerie chords, including the "Devil's chord," with the E string tuned down to E flat.

A most welcome gift from one of my new students

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:55:05 GMT

Beyond the Goal

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:32:27 GMT

I know a little girl who is growing up in a very musical family. Both of her parents love bluegrass music, and her father plays in a bluegrass band. Every summer her family goes to a bluegrass camp where performers play during the day and almost everyone stays up late at night and jams. This girl loves bluegrass music and she especially loves her father's band. She started violin lessons in school with the goal of playing with her father's band. Her parents agreed to let her take private violin lessons, and I became her teacher.

I found her to be smart, musically talented, very directed, but somewhat lacking in self confidence, so she was sometimes scared to start something new. I give her intensive training on new pieces and then assign her just the first half of the piece for homework. Breaking down the piece this way makes her feel less intimidated, and she makes progress quickly. She was really excited when we started working on The American Fiddle Method, a wonderful instructional book for beginners which teaches technique beautifully and contains some really fun American folk songs. When she learned to play about half of the songs in the book, we went to the section at the end of the book called "Creating Your Own Variations," which teaches drones, double stops, slides, chords, and "chunk" style of backup playing. Right now, she is having a great time playing drones and choosing the spookiest tune she knows for Halloween.

At the end of her last lesson, my student took notes on her homework assignment in her fuzzy purple notebook with her purple pen, as usual. Then her mother suggested that she play something at a Christmas party planned for a school for children with disabilities. The girl's father's bluegrass band is going to play there. My student didn't want to play alone. I suggested that she play something with the band. She was thrilled with the suggestion. Her mother told her, "You will accomplish one of your major goals. You can put a big checkmark next to it on your list." I said, "This is not the end. It's just the beginning."

The Silent Blogger

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:23:20 GMT

C'est moi.

I've got the flu, and I've got it bad. Real bad. In fact, I think it is the swine flu. I saw a newscast about college football players being wasted by the flu, so I shouldn't be surprised that it has hit me hard. The flu plus my asthma make a double knockout.

I think I'm past the worst of it. I no longer sleep 18 hours a day. The acute aches and pains are receding. Now I relish every small gain in strength. For a long time, the only meal preparation I could do was to spread butter on bread. When I made myself a tuna sandwich, I felt that I had taken a great step forward. I can now do some very mild yoga and other exercises which I couldn't do a week ago. Yesterday, I went out of my home for the first time in about a week and a half and walked about two blocks to the 7-11. I was motivated for this great athletic feat by my love for the coffee at the 7-11. I've resumed teaching and preparing lessons. My recovery is not steady. I have my good days, when I go out for a walk, and my bad days, when I just sleep all day.

At my worst, did I do anything constructive? Read a good book (Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama)? Watch music videos? Pay bills? I did very little of these things. I spent a lot of time vegging out over the Internet. The only good thing I did for a long time was to spend a lot of time on v.com. I've been reading and writing comments on blogs and discussions. I'm still connected to my life support system, so I'm not entirely brain dead.

Now I'm just tired and bored while I wait to get better.

Body Maintenance for Violinists

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:24:02 GMT

We violinists abuse our upper body muscles every time we play. We hold some muscles still for hours, and we make repetitive motions with other muscles. We introduce a severe asymmetry into our upper bodies. On our left side, the muscles of the head and neck become chronically contracted. The corresponding muscles on our right side become chronically hyperextended. It's no wonder that we get chronic muscle stiffness. If you're not aware of this in your own body, you have only to watch a beginning student. He stops playing after a short time because his upper body is uncomfortable. The affect is most pronounced in adult males because they have the largest muscles.

How should we take care of our affected muscles? There are several techniques that work well. I will focus on simple, quick, and effective muscle stretches that require no special equipment. You can do them all in your office or at home. I teach these stretches to my students, and I'm always surprised at how few adults know the names of the muscles or the stretches. I suppose that's because I've spent years as a gym rat and a yoga student, and most other people don't work out. Yoga works well for stretching and relaxing muscles, too, but it is too complex to describe in this article. I'll leave the Alexander technique for Buri to address.

Stretches Kids Like To Do

Kids like to do "wet dog shakes." They shake their arms from the shoulders like a wet dog trying to dry off. The kids often get carried away and shake more of their body, and that is good because they loosen more of their upper body muscles. They also like to do shoulder rolls, making large circles with their shoulders, first clockwise and then counterclockwise. (I've done shoulder rolls with light hand weights.)

Stretches for the shoulders (deltoids)

The first stretch I will show is part of a series on "Office Chair Yoga Stretches." Don't be put off by the instructor's soft voice and gentle manner. These are not wimpy exercises. When you try these stretches, notice the difference between your left and right shoulders. Your left shoulder will be tighter because you use it to hold the violin. (I refuse to be dragged in to another fight on shoulder rests.)

If you prefer to see exercises done by a hunk, the next video is for you. He does the stretch with one arm against a wall. Again, you should feel a marked difference between your left and right shoulders when you do these stretches. Note the advice on coming into and going out of the stretches.

Stretches for the Upper Chest (Pecs)

The pectoral (upper chest) muscles (pecs) are just in front of the armpits. The ones on the left are contracted by holding the violin, and the ones on the right are used in moving the bow. Again, the first video is from the Office Chair Yoga Stretches. A word of warning: If your neck is weak or you have any neck problem, you should go slowly on putting your head back. You may start by putting your neck back just a little and increase the range of motion of the neck gradually.

The next brief video shows three different kinds of stretches for the pecs. In the first one, done with one hand on the wall, the body is stretched / rotated away from the wall. Caution: If you have had shoulder rotator problems or any other shoulder problems, you should not do the exercise with one hand against the wall.

When you do these exercises, notice the difference between the left and the right side. The pecs on the left side will probably be stiffer and harder to stretch than those on the right because we use the pecs on the left side to hold our violins.

Stretches for the Neck

When you try the next exercise, your neck will feel different on the right and on the left. Again, the neck will feel tighter and be a little harder to stretch on the left side because we use the left side of the neck to hold the violin in place.

Here is another good video from the Office Chair Yoga series on neck stretches.

Stretches for the Wrists

I have not had very many students who need to stretch their wrists, but those who do have found this very helpful.

Stretches for the Upper Back

The last group of exercises that I'm showing works several muscle groups at once: the upper back, shoulders, chest, and arms. My students and I use it mainly for the upper back and pecs.

These exercises should ideally be performed before, during, and after exercising. I do them as stretch breaks when I'm practicing and when I finish practicing. I don't do them all every time I practice. I listen to my body telling me where it feels tight, and I choose one or two exercises to stretch out the affected muscles. After years of doing this, I can predict pretty well where my trouble spots are. I also use these exercises as stretch breaks when I work at my desk for long periods of time. I can feel the relaxing and regenerating effects of these stretches during and after doing them. They always make me feel good.

Every body is different, and the exercises that are good for me may not be the best for you. Youtube has many, many exercises taught by professional trainers or other health care professionals. I suggest that you try the exercises I've shown here and/or any other helpful exercises on Youtube. They're relaxing. They're free. They don't require a doctor's prescription. You can tailor them to your (violinist's) needs. Give them a try.

Here's to your health.

R.I.P.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:28:03 GMT

Senator Edward Kennedy

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President John F. Kennedy

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Senator Robert Kennedy

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A different kind of aha!

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:52:02 GMT

I knew that "E," one of my adult beginners, had musical talent almost from the very start. He wanted to learn classical music, and he talked about classical music with me when he was just learning to play open strings and scales. He knew the classical literature well and with the sensitivity of a musician. He talked about subtleties of different pieces and different recordings of the same piece. Soon we were trading copies of our CDs, telling each other about performances on Youtube, and discussing what we liked and why.

Then came the long, slow period of learning right hand posture, left hand posture, bow placement, bow movement and pressure, torquing the left arm to put the fingers over the strings, intonation (very important), reading music, etc. After that comes what's really hard: remembering to do all these things at the sametime. We used Essential Elements and Suzuki Book 1, both of which have some pretty, sometimes recognizable, melodies to make learning more fun while establishing good techniques to build on. When "E" could play simple melodies, he wanted to play much more. He would bring me sheet music with violin solo arrangements of classical music he loved. Most of them were way too advanced for a beginner. There were some that I could rearrange and simplify without unduly compromising the beauty of the original music. He really enjoyed learning these, and he improved both his technical and his musical skills by doing so.

One day he told me that he wanted to learn to play the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus. I love the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria. It is not a difficult piece to play, especially if you put it in G major and keep it all in the first position. I gave him a copy of that, and he found a copy of Panis Angelicus appropriate for his skill level. He is a devout Catholic and a true believer, and I'm neither. He told me the words of the Panis Angelicus in English and explained to me the emotional impact of the piece. He said that the part near the end where where you admit that you have sinned and beg forgiveness makes you feel quite vulnerable. Then he played the piece for me. Aha! I had one of the most rare, endearing experiences for a music teacher. I just had to let go, stop being a teacher, and simply listen to some beautiful music. I wrote in my notebook where I take notes during lessons, "He chose something personally meaningful, and his violin sang."