April 2010
V.com weekend vote: Which is more advantageous to violin-playing, being right- or left-handed?
April 30, 2010 09:55
Several debates having been raging lately over left-handedness and violin playing -- so let's jump right in!
I have to confess a weakness: I get really frustrated when beginners who are left-handed immediately think they need a "left-handed" violin, assuming that playing the traditional way is somehow akin to being forced to write with the right hand, denying their natural handedness. Certainly, being forced to write with the wrong hand can be downright traumatic for people -- I'd go so far as to say it's abusive.
That said, I'm left-handed, and to me, holding the violin in my left hand has always been like having my baby come home to me. Yes, I get to hold the fiddle in my left-hand! And my dominant hand has plenty to do: fine-motor work, vibrato, etc.
Of course, the right hand has an equally important, if totally different, task. One has to be at least a bit ambidextrous to make this all work, and certainly, I've had to do a lot of work on my right hand. (Months of martele on open strings...) Actually, the work on both hands never ends!
When we did a survey of V.com members two years ago, 28 percent of them were left-handed. That's more than a quarter of those responding! Compare that to the percentage of lefties in the general population: 7 to 10 percent (that stat was pretty consistent, but here's the source I used. Slightly higher statistics -- the highest I saw was 15 percent -- tend to come from the pro-leftie camp.)
The question is, is it an advantage to be left-handed, or is it an advantage to be right-handed? And yes, I'm making you choose! But you can argue your case below, and also share your experiences that relate to handedness.
BTW here's one funny story about my own left-handedness: once a stand partner had to "teach" me how to turn the page with my right hand, because I always had to put down everything and make a huge fuss, sitting on the left and turning it with the left hand. Never occurred to me to turn it with the right hand! It was a little embarrassing, but I was really grateful for that "lesson" because I have turned the page with my right hand -- with ease -- ever since!
20 replies
V.com weekend vote: Have you ever participated in a jam session?
April 24, 2010 13:45
I thought of this question for our weekly giveaway, Mark O'Connor's "Jam Session," and I decided it makes a good vote as well!
I can remember going to parties, when I was in the Disney College Orchestra, where my colleagues were jamming, but I honestly thought that I couldn't participate because I played the violin. How I wish I had just taken out my violin and given it a try!
In recent years, I've experimented more with this, but I'd still like to find a setting where I could do a lot more, probably this is the setting, really!
While I'm speaking of Mark, I want to give him a shout-out, I played his Blackberry Mull last night in my violin recital (a benefit for my kids' school), with colleagues Carrie and Dane Little, and it was really fun and well-received. Nice that Mark makes his music available for download, and for a pretty decent price. It's the next best thing to being a master of improv, to play the "jams" he's written down!
Tell us about your experiences with jamming, or not jamming. Also, answer this same question to enter to win Mark's CD.
V.com weekend vote: Do you play regularly with a spouse or other family member?
April 16, 2010 14:17
This week I've been preparing for my upcoming recital, and I've had the privilege of working with a husband-wife team who work together so well! It made me think about musicians who perform regularly with spouses and/or family members.
I don't happen to have any musicians in my family, but certainly many musicians work with family members and spouses on a regular basis. For example, Gil Shaham performs with his sister, pianist Orli Shaham, and with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony. Just last week I also saw the Romero brothers play as a guitar quartet together, a few days before Celino Romero (nephew to Pepe Romero) played the Rodrigo concerto with the Pasadena Symphony. They play extraordinarily well together, and what fun they seem to have!
The great violinist Yehudi Menuhin performed frequently with his sister, pianist Hephzibah, and later with his son, Jeremy. Here is what he said about the matter in his book, The Violin: An Illustrated History:
"I feel as if God has blessed me, by giving me a sister, and then a son, with whom I have been able to share my passion and my vision of music. And, in a general sense, each of my collaborations with pianists has been not only a source of musical enrichment, but above all a human experience. They have given rhythm to my days and my travels, because, unlike a pianist, a violinist who sets off on tour never travels alone. The spirit of a violinist, who only makes music with others, is fundamentally and intrinsically communitarian: life unfolds in an extended dialogue with other musicians."
Do you regularly play or perform with a spouse or other relative? Please share your thoughts and memories about making music within the family; also you can use the space below to discuss especially successful or interesting family groups.
Weekend vote: Sibelius or Finale?
April 9, 2010 07:26
The violin found its perfect form some 400 years ago and has changed relatively little since, but computer software is an entirely different matter -- it changes with the wind!
In thinking about getting a computer (most certainly an Apple), I realized that it's way past time for me to also procure some music notation software. No, I'm not a composer, but a teacher certainly finds many occasions to write down little pieces and exercises and arrange this and that. I also suspect that by having the software, as with having a better computer or a better violin, I'll discover conveniences that I haven't yet realized.
So I'm wondering about the state of music notation software, and your experience, preferences, etc. The two major ones are Sibelius and Finale (poor Jean Sibelius only Googles third for his own name!) It seems that these two programs are fairly neck-in-neck, but having worked very little with either (just a tiny bit with Sibelius), I am not ready to choose one over the other with confidence. They're expensive!
So which is better? Or which do you use? Why is it better, what can it do? And are there other music notation programs to consider?
V.com weekend vote: Female principal first violinist='concertmaster' or 'concertmistress'?
April 1, 2010 21:48
This question came up while we discussing last week's vote on the gender of local concertmasters.
Are some of them "concertmistresses"?
Back when I was a teenager, I sat principal first for various school and youth orchestras, and my title was most certainly "concertmistress." I didn't think much about it until I was a little older, and then frankly, it just sounded a little anachronistic. The word "mistress" doesn't have a very favorable flavor in the popular vernacular now, does it? Then again, sometimes I think all words used to describe a woman, particularly a woman in power, end up being used as epithets.
But I digress. What word should we use, when a female is the principal first violinist, concertmaster or concertmistress?
More entries: May 2010 • March 2010
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