August 12, 2005 at 12:40 AM

A quick update on my friend who I gave the free lesson to....He said that he practiced for five hours last night, perfecting Ode to Joy! If only all my students practiced that much! I gave him some more things to practice today. The infamous 'twinkle', and a scale in broken thirds.
My own practicing is going pretty well, in the past few days I have worked the first few pages of Moto Perpetuo up to 180 bpm, which is great because it sounds just like the Ruggiero Ricci recording which I love. And it is completely automatic under my fingers, all I have to worry about is shaking my arm as if I have put it in the mains socket. I have memorised the rest of the piece, but can only play it at 80 bpm without rushing. Much more work is needed. Also the piece gets harder as it goes on, with more string crossings and higher notes, so I have been practicing those really slowly to start with. I owe all my progress on this piece to http://metronomeonline.com
I am also learning caprice no.17, I am just playing it a few times every day, slowly and perfectly, and using the middle section as an octaves study. I love this piece, I can remember finding it a really amusing when I first heard a recording(perlman). It is amazing how easy it feels up to speed after lots of slow practice. Apart from the octaves!
Im also learning my first complete concerto. I only started playing at 17, so have only learnt short peices and individual concerto movements as of yet. I didnt want to play something that is overplayed, like Bruch or Mendelshonn. I think that these are really over-rated! (dodges volley of rosin and abuse from angry violinists) I heard the Vieuxtemps 5 concerto a few years back and thought it was amazing, and I'm learning that now. I can play a lot of it up to speed, even the quadruple stops and what-not, theres just a few tricky spots like the development section and getting that little flourish at the end of the cadenza up to lightning speed! The cadenza was sounding pretty neat today though, and a past teacher gave me some excellent advice on up-bow staccato, which seems to have worked a treat. I cant wait to get this piece up to preformance standard, to play it with an orchestra would be amazing. It seems like a flashy piece, but it has some really beautiful lyrical moments with great counterpoint in the orchestra, and I love the way the end of the piece sounds the same as the start. My teacher complimented me on my intonation on the chords as well, which was really satisfying to hear after struggling with this demonic instrument for the past six years! Finally the technique that I have craved since I heard the Beethoven concerto is really coming together. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Gives much hope to all those adult learners out there.... you dont have to have your technique down by 20, but you need a shedload of persistence and determination! Not to mention the dreaded P-word....
Happy practicing everyone

From Peggy B.
Posted on August 12, 2005 at 2:19 AM

Please share your teacher's advice on upbow staccato. I'm working on that at the moment, too, going for cleanliness and speed... :0D

From Dougie Lawrence
Posted on August 12, 2005 at 11:51 AM

John,if that's Ricci with Persinger on the piano I can tell you that he (Ricci) turned on the recorder,sat down on an armchair,leg over the arm and off he went!Remarkable,but a mate of mine was there.

From Carley Anderson
Posted on August 12, 2005 at 1:07 PM

5 hours on Ode To Joy?

From John Lanceley
Posted on August 12, 2005 at 6:32 PM

Yeah 5 hours, he said he couldnt sleep, and was obsessed with getting it perfect. I havent given him a bow yet, he was playing pizz. Dougie, Im not sure if I understand, you mean his leg was over the arm of the chair? I mean the recording where he plays the caprices also, you can hear it at amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000004A50/103-8133685-8084647?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846&vi=samples
The pianist is Carl Furstner.

My teachers advice was to practice the upbow staccato very slowly, #on# the string, with tiny marteles that come from the first finger. The less weight you apply, the faster you can play it as well, but it gets harder to control. Let me know if that helps!
John

From Dougie Lawrence
Posted on August 13, 2005 at 9:43 AM

Yup John,got it in one.His leg WAS over the arm of the chair.
The record I have is "A Paganini Recital".On the "Eclipse" label if my memory serves,and the guy who witnessed it was Miles Baster (late) of The Edinburgh Quartet.
Dougie.

From John Lanceley
Posted on August 13, 2005 at 4:26 PM

Sat down??! I love sitting like that! But how on earth do you play like that? Can you imagine someone playing a concerto with orchestra in a big comfy armchair, or even a lazyboy. Haha. Watching friends at the same time.

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August 12, 2005 at 12:40 AM

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