The Weekend Vote on Violinist.com

V.com weekend vote: If you were asked to perform something at the last minute, would you choose a slow or fast piece?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:20:30 GMT

So I got asked at the last minute to play a solo for church, something slow and melodic.

Of course, slow and melodic is great on the old Gagliano, and I love the chance to take it for a ride, especially with such a wonderful pianist. But to be honest, when it's "prepare something for tomorrow," I think that getting something quick-ish and full of notes together is easier. What do you think? Can you remember having to perform a solo at the last minute?�And what feels more comfortable in that situation, playing a slow, melodic piece, or something up-tempo, with a lot of notes?

Please vote, and use the comments section below to share with us your last-minute experiences, insights and funny stories.

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Would you rather be a soloist, or play in a group?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:30:46 GMT

Some people are made for the limelight; they have that kind of energy that transmits best in the solo spotlight. Others enjoy being part of a group, be it an orchestra, chamber group, band or other situation.

Personally, I've certainly enjoyed the recitals I've given over the years, but my heart is in the orchestra. I truly enjoy being one small part in a larger-than-life whole.

How about you? Please vote, and tell us your thoughts on the joys and trials of being a soloist vs. being a team player.

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Have you hit your 10,000 hours playing the violin?

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:57:48 GMT

Have you hit your 10,000 hours playing the violin?

The magic number is on my mind after writing the blog about Suzuki, who frequently asked his students to play 10,000 repetitions of various exercises and pieces. It's also a number that has come up recently, in Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, which asserts that true expertise in any field comes only after 10,000 hours of practice.

Basically, I'm asking you if you've reached & quot;expert & quot; status.

I did some math, to help everyone along. If you practice one hour a day, it will take you a little more than 27 years to log your 10,000 hours. If you practice two hours a day, it will take nearly 14 years. If you practice three hours a day (this is every day, mind you), you can expect to reach expert status in about nine years. Four hours a day, about seven years. Six hours a day, it will only take four and a half years, provided that you don't injure yourself. There is a point of diminishing returns!

Looking at the numbers, the 10,000 hours idea rings rather true.

After 32 years of playing the violin, I've certainly logged my 10,000 hours playing, and probably teaching as well. How about you? And what do you think of the 10,000-hour concept?

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Which conductor, Alan Gilbert or Gustavo Dudamel?

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:05:39 GMT

This fall marks the beginning of a new era for both the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with its new Music director, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, 28, and the New York Philharmonic, with new Music Director Alan Gilbert, 42. When I think about both these new conductors, certainly I am thinking about change and new energy. But I'm not focused completely on youth, like, say, this Newsweek article, which proclaims "A Youthquake Hits Both Coasts" and talks about it as if both orchestras are undergoing "youth movements." BTW I love what Ian Salmon says in his Sound Post News about the Newsweek article, "Click to read the Newsweek article containing the words 'buttress' and 'contemporaneity.'"

Gilbert, left, and Dudamel

Because I live in Los Angeles (and did attend Gustavo's big premiere), I know more about that scene than I do about the one in New York. Despite his "youth," I would dare call Dudamel a veteran conductor, having taken the baton at age 15 and being named the conductor of Venezuela's huge youth orchestra, Sim�n Bol�var Youth Orchestra, at age 17. I'm thinking he's put in his 10,000 hours. I can't even reconcile that kind of experience with the conducting students I remember from college, conducting to the far wall of the listening library as they listened to recordings on headphones and watched their scores. So scarce was their actual experience! Inexperience does not equate to exciting conducting.

Nor does newness and novelty. The fact of the matter is that the changes happening in the Los Angeles classical music scene did not spring fully formed from some"youthquake." The LA Phil's new home, the extremely popular and pleasant Disney Hall, was born only after a painful and attenuated 16-year labor, involving many cost overruns, acoustical overhauls, delays, etc. And you need only to read this article to understand that LA's search for a new conductor began from a years-long effort, started well before LA Phil conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen was to step down, to replace him. Leading the effort was Salonen himself, and Deborah Borda, president of the L.A. Philharmonic.

So far, tickets seem to be flying for LA Phil concerts. Would you like to see Gil Shaham, playing the Berg concerto, with Dudamel conducting? Good luck! And yes, that would be the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg, not exactly a pander-to-the-masses piece.

As for Gilbert, here is an article about his premiere, and I do invite our New Yorkers to go into more detail. But here is some information: you could say that Gilbert is a kind of product of the orchestra, the son of two New York Philharmonic musicians, violinist Yoko Takebe, and retired violinist Michael Gilbert. He is the first Asian American to lead the New York Philharmonic and he studied at both Curtis and Harvard. He is an American, and he is a New Yorker; he will likely spend his time in the city. From what I have read (I have not seen him conduct) he is known to speak from the podium, to embrace new music and to have a quiet, easy-to-follow elegance to his conducting.

In both cases, the change is bringing attention to the orchestras, and one can only hope that the excitement will translate to larger audience and the potential to build loyalty.

Please vote and share your thoughts!

poll by twiigs.com

V.com weekend vote: In what setting did you begin your violin studies?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:39:31 GMT

I remember the day well: a little girl visited our fourth-grade public school classroom, along with the school music teacher, and she played for us. Watching my friend play, I knew I needed to play the violin, too. It was like finding an old friend, I almost & quot;recognized & quot; the violin as something that was an undeniable part of my life, even though I'd never seen one before. So I started playing in the public school, and as soon as my parents and teachers noticed my freakish devotion to the instrument, they found me a private teacher.

But without that start in the public school, I'm not sure if I would have found the fiddle!

In what setting did you start your violin studies? Was it a school program, or a private lesson program? Or, did you begin with the help of another family member? Please vote, and tell us your story below.

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Have you ever held a concert, recital or jam session in your home?

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:11:19 GMT

With Joshua Bell completely making over his Manhattan home to accommodate at-home performances, I've been thinking:

I'd like to do that myself. Hah!

Despite not having any kind of sound-proofing in my home, despite living in extremely close proximity to my neighbors and in a rather small place, I do make quite a lot of music in my house, including the annual holiday jam session, as well as a few mini-recitals for kids. I've also held a few studio recitals in the homes of students.

I love making music in this setting, be it a planned recital or spontaneous music-making. The warm environment of a home brings me back to what it's all about: sharing music with family and friends.. I also love throwing together various random instruments and just reading, or playing by ear, or a combination. What fun!

Have you ever held a music-making event in your home? If so, tell us all about it!

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Which is the most difficult fancy violin technique to execute?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:28:52 GMT

We've been talking so much about Sarasate this week; it made me think about all the crazy wicked tricks a person can perform on the fiddle. Adele Anthony said it well in this week's interview, that Sarasate & quot;was also a violinist, so he wrote very well for the violin & ndash; everything is possible, if you work at it hard enough. & quot;

I can remember the first time I realized this; I was a teenager, learning & quot;Introduction and Tarantella, & quot; which was definitely at the outer reaches of my capabilities at the time. I recall the sheer panic I felt, looking at the music. In particular, I saw the barriolage passage, didn't know at all what that was about, and had a minor panic attack. Visually, the message my eyes sent my brain was something like: & quot;Back...away...slowly... & quot; I considered staying home from my lesson. It looked thoroughly impossible.

And then, the revelation, when my teacher showed me: it works, and it works like a charm.

And that is very often the case, particularly with the tricks that the great violinists like Sarasate and Paganini did: Once you know the trick, you realize that it absolutely fits the violin, like a glove. Not that it's always so easy to get that trick, but you can usually at least understand the fit, before it starts sounding great. Then, of course, crossing the chasm between seeing how it works and making it happen can take years off your life.

Which leads me to this week's question: Which of these violin tricks do you think is the most difficult to execute well? Undoubtedly, I've left some out, so please describe below if there's another one you'd like to add to the list. Also, feel free to list specific passages in the violin repertoire where you encounter these tricks, and perhaps some of your thoughts about how to make them happen.

poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: What is the best key in which to live?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:44:15 GMT

Lately, I've been living in A minor. It's a good place to be; occasionally I'm in C major (such a nice square key) but it keeps me in a good mood. It might be more boring to say that I've simply been putting in a lot of time on the Bach A minor sonata. But I'm only partially joking about & quot;living in & quot; A minor; with the entire sonata in my current daily regimen, my mind tends to be in A minor both when I'm practicing and when I'm not, and probably when I'm sleeping as well!

I mentioned that I was & quot;currently in A minor & quot; on Facebook, and my daughter's fifth-grade teacher asked a good question: & quot;What is the best key in which to live? & quot;

Some friends chimed in: a violist mentioned G minor, adding that he had a darker sense of things over there in the lower strings. A choral conductor suggested Eb major. What? & nbsp;Okay, just not my idea of the perfect neighborhood, but then, I come from the distinct perspective of a high-strung fiddler.

So what is the answer, here? & nbsp;What is the best key in which to live? & nbsp;And what are your thoughts about that key, and others? I'll tell you mine, but not until you vote! ;)

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poll by twiigs.com

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V.com weekend vote: Do you have perfect pitch?

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:36:51 GMT

I do not have perfect pitch. I can't identify the pitch at which the doorbell rings, nor can I tell you what key an unfamiliar piece is in, from listening to a few bars of it. When I sing, I read things intervalically, I can't pick specific pitches out of the sky.

Well, sometimes I can. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different, had I played the piano. More and more, I find myself with the correct pitch in my head, when I test it. But officially, I have relative pitch, and this has served me just fine as a professional musician. I'm not even concerned about cultivating perfect pitch, though it sounds like it's possible. Friends with perfect pitch say that it actually drives them bananas, at times, when the pitch out in the world doesn't match the pitch in your head.

Still, it would be fun, and convenient, most of the time.

Do you have perfect pitch? What are your thoughts about it?

poll by twiigs.com

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What do you do with your unwanted violin items?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:24:02 GMT

Do you have a secret stash of violin stuff you'll probably never use? & nbsp;I'm talking about old cakes of rosin; the pegs the luthier replaced and then handed you in a baggie; a collection of discarded shoulder rests; a book of sheet music you thought you'd use but never did and never will; an electronic metronome that has needed the battery replaced for four years; an old violin case, even old violins....

Maybe you even have a piano scarf. (Don't tell us if you do.)

How do you handle this old stuff? Do you keep it? & nbsp;Do you give it away? & nbsp;Sometimes I give things to students, or I serve as a trading posts for my students to donate their old stuff to younger students who need it. Do you try to sell it? Do you ever throw things away? Or do you keep it all?

Thanks to Alison Smith for today's vote idea! (Have an idea for the Weekend Vote? & nbsp;E-mail Laurie!)

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poll by twiigs.com

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