The A String

May 17, 2012 at 9:06 PM

A new discovery! I started a new Sevcik exercise (#11), playing open A or open E alternately with notes on D or A string. Actually, you also play an octave, but that’s a detail. So I discovered that you can hear harmonics (ringing tones) when playing notes, not just on the open strings. I know, it's obvious, but to actually do it is another thing. That is for me one of the most wonderful parts of playing a string instrument, hearing the harmonics. And for a beginner like me it has to do with intonation, precise fingering, not hitting other strings, and bowing evenly. That is a lot of things to get to work together, at least for me. So even when playing an exercise, it is a wonderful sound. In fact I could hear shades of Bach’s Partita #3. It is wonderful to play. And with a few pointers from my teacher I was able to improve my bowing so it sounded even better: lighter and smoother. She also had me playing it as double stops, which helped my intonation. It’s very interesting that even the dissonant intervals like a second sounds less dissonant when you play it right. Hah, beginner’s insight.

I did finally get my recorder out and listened to my playing. Not very fun. The sound quality was not very good and the playing had problems but it is a different way of listening to things so it will probably be helpful in the long run. I did find that the Suzuki pieces are actually longer than they seemed, it takes a good minute and a half to play through one even though it is only one page.

Started a new Kayser too, #4. Only started with the first two lines. Again, it appears that Kayser likes accidentals; there is a lot of modulation. It sounds nice at a slow tempo—all that I can manage right now—but I can hear it in my head at a faster tempo and it sounds really great. So if I keep at the slow, steady work of good intonation and even bowing then I should be able to ramp it up just a bit before too long.

Finished off the Handel Bourree in Suzuki 2 and now am working on Schumann Two Grenadiers and Paganini Witches Dance. Both have a fast dotted eighth-staccato sixteenth note rhythm. It is a little challenging but not too bad. Stop the bow on the dotted eighth and continue with the sixteenth with the same up-bow or down-bow.

Of course, the vibrato is developing, but slowly. Still find it easier to do it without my thumb touching the neck. I think that as I get more limber, as my fingers learn to roll in the correct direction, by the correct amount, I should be able to place my thumb again and have it roll or rotate a bit. In a way it is one of the hardest things to practice because it has to be slow and relaxed it seems very unnatural. But, as with everything, persistence pays off and it gets a little better each week.

And I am still having a wonderful time.

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The A String

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