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August 19, 2005 at 3:26 AM

Well, last Sunday I went to a recital by a friend of mine and she was phenominal. Great intonation (there were a couple of slips but she corrected it almost right away), her musicality was just jaw dropping. Her tone was like butter. She did the Brahms G-Major Sonata like it was her piece, I have never heard it played to musically and warm by someone her age. It really inspired me practice. So did getting the Inner Game of Music. I started reading it on Monday night and I had a lesson on tuesday. My teacher had me play a piece for her that I havn't played at all for about a month. It was almost perfect and I think part of it is because I took the authors words to heart. I can't wait to read the whole thing. The only thing I need to do with it is get the lyrical part to sing a little bit more.

I think I will be ready for the Luther Orchestra Audition in about 2 weeks. I have the orchestral excerpt fairly close to perfection and they seem to be sounding pretty good. The only thing with the Mozart is getting the spicatto to come out more clearly. But I am using a different bow than usual because mine is being rehaired so, it should be better by the time my audition comes around. I am no where near close to the tempo the dirctor has marked though. It's half note=72-76, that's just way to fast for me, I can play it at about 60, which should be close enough, it's a college orchestra not the NY Phil. A couple of things in the Dvorak go a little out of rythm, probably because of my fingering which I'm going to fix tomorrow. I use an extended 4th and it just slows down.

I'm in a good mood now about violin and I can't wait to get to college and to get better and go to a Conservatory for Grad school. These 4 years will go extremely fast I think. I can't wait for the tours with the orchestra and the lessons with Virginia Strauss. Oh the glee.

I had my last lesson with my student tonight. She went far this summer. She managed to relearn the violin within 2 lessons and we were able to move to suzuki book 2, the wolfhart etudes and other pieces. We have played America the Beautiful for much of the summer and today she played it for me. She played it nearly flawlessly, and where she made a mistake she fixed it herself with-out me haveing to say a word. She only had to do this once. Otherwise, she had a great tone and impeccable intonation. It's such a change to work with a 12 year old who wants to learn and has a really good ear at the same time. I will miss her but next summer, if I have time to give lessons, she will come back to me again. Afterall, I will know more about music because I'm taking plenty of music classes this year.

If anyone has any tips on how to get a clearer, crisper spicatto just let me know. Have a great night!!!

Believe me four years will go by super duper fast. It did for me. Just make sure you still have your priorities straight and make sure you know exactly what you want to do, and make sure you do it. Good luck

Sheila

My teacher says, regarding spiccatto, that some players never play spiccatto in their life. You can't really be taught it...you have to use your ears...it's really something you have to develop herself. That's just what Petia has said, others may have different ideas.
Dont grip the bow tightly, and use a very small amount of bow. Practice in front of a mirror with a metronome to keep your bows really even and dead in line with the bridge. Make sure your bow is tight enough, has plenty of hairs on it or it wil be more difficult to control. Use exactly the right part of the bow so that the bow produces the spiccato itself. Remember it is on the string, so start on the string. I like to use 3/4 of the bow hairs on the string, I find that you get a cleaner sound. Using the flat of the bow is easier to control but I find that you get a bit of a scratchy tone from doing that. Remember, everybody's staccato sounds different so you really have to find what suits you best, and what sounds best.
Good luck for the audition!
Thanks John, I will try that tomorrow.