Note 12 Bench Marks

April 20, 2008 at 5:44 PM

This is hard. This is crazy hard! I just finished up my Sunday morning practice.
I need need the help from those who have been at this longer than I have. Not the violinists who started very young and are by now perfecting an unbelievable, ridiculously difficult and beautiful passage for an upcoming sold out performance. Just those of you who can remember the process of getting to the next level.
I need to know when I can expect the notes to ring consistently beautiful. I need to know when "bow distribution" becomes automatic. When will the "schrunchy" sound give way to a nice even tone? At what point in time will I be able to nail each note of the scale on time with the metronome? When will I be able to play a nice smooth run of several (more than 3) notes on one bow stroke--Vibrato seems like something from Mars. I don't have a ticket for that ride yet.
I hope by now those of you who can play fairly well have gone off to read the next blog or at least have had a chuckle and have left your computer to go do something else more rewarding. (like practice.) Intermediate or Advanced students: When did you reach these plateaus? Anxiety? From 0-10?

From Bernadette Hawes
Posted on April 20, 2008 at 6:05 PM

Kim,
I too began as an adult, about 18 months ago. I get on a high when I come close to 'nailing' some pieces or etudes prior to an exam (or have just completed an exam), then, when I'm on to the next lot of harder, unfamiliar yet-to-be-mastered material (like now!!!) I'm down in the dumps wondering if I'll ever get it. Apart from the first piece I ever memorized, which I neglected to regularly practice and consequently forgot, I am now regularly going over stuff I've memorized and I'm sure I'm improving on those. My teacher asked me if I noticed a change in my playing since last year - and my first thought was - do you mean there is, and for the better - but I mentioned to her how I felt about the struggles with everything. She knows I love trying lots of things out and so she's given me two pieces and two etudes plus another. She said that's it for now, and anyway I've still got two months till the next exam, so plenty of time to learn. It was then that she mentioned the change from last year. Maybe I should focus more strongly on one piece at a time. I still haven't cracked my bow hold either and that is so disheartening. If I really focus, I can sometimes do it, but the moment I focus on something else it goes totally to pot.
But yes, my tone has improved. I'm very sure yours has too, over time, though it is still not what you would like it to be, what you can 'hear' in your head.
To do several notes on one bow is not easy. Try repeating just one measure, over and over, slowly, first two notes to a bow, then three, then four at a time then whatever you need. I've found working up to it (yes, it IS laborious) but you'll get there. Of course, if you have several measures like that, you'll need to start over again with the next one (deep joy) :-)
My pet hate is staccato. I have (dare I say it - nose scrunched) a lovely concerto with more dots than a kid with chicken pox. I groaned inwardly when I first clapped eyes on it. Now I'm thinking, oh well, I'll get so much staccato practise in, I might be in with a chance of cracking it! To begin with my bow croaked when I tried to copy my teacher's instructions of how to do it. The tone was abysmal. I HATED IT with a passion. It took a lot of willpower to keep going and keep trying different things to get a better tone. Sometimes I come closer then take a backwards step or two. Hang in there. Ask your teacher if he/she can hear a difference from when you started. My teacher hasn't seemed very encouraging or effusive with praise, but she will come out with some wonderful encouraging comments I hang on to when I have a crisis moment. A young lass passed on a message via my hubby, on hearing I was learning with the children - to not give up for at least three years - that there's a point after two and a half or three years where a real breakthrough comes. I don't know if there's anyone reading (or adult beginners) who can back this statement up. Knowing it would be hard, I've determined to keep going for at least five years, no matter what. That, and v.com is sometimes the only thing that pulls me through!

From Kim Vawter
Posted on April 20, 2008 at 6:52 PM

Thanks Bernadette. I need to hear about someone else's struggles because I get to my wits end and I don't see anything that looks like improvement.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 6:03 AM

I have a suggestion: Consider each of those challenging skills as a goal. Write each one down on a separate piece of paper. Then make notes describing your journey to the goal. Include times when you sound good and times when you sound bad. Every time you try something new to help you reach your goal, whether or not it works, write that down, too. When you read these logs, you will feel that you really are trying. You can glory in every bit of success. You can also learn how to learn. What helps you focus? What was a sidestep in the wrong direction? Are you trying to focus on too many things at once? (The answer to that would differ greatly from one person to another.) Don't be ashamed to give yourself strong praise for every little step you make successfully. Remember that sometimes the journey itself is the goal.

From Benjamin K
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 5:58 AM

Well, I haven't got my ticket to Mars yet either, but as far as noticing progress is concerned, I feel that I am making progress from week to week, or even from day to day. I don't expect there to be any "plateau" or breakthrough though. Maybe that's why I notice progress: gradual change is what I watch out for, gradual change is what I notice.

Every once in a while I do notice that something that seemed still very hard and in need of much more work the day before, all of a sudden the difficulties seem much smaller and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel within only one day. I am not sure if this can be called a plateau or a breakthrough though. In any event, I think it helps to learn to become sensitive to small improvements.

As for multiple notes on a single bow, I recommend scale exercises, starting with detached notes, then 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and eventually 12 notes per bow. Do this very concentrated every day, over and over again and eventually, it will seem like your fingers will just connect the notes in your study pieces all by themselves. When this is second nature, you can focus on tone production/quality. But, like I said before, watch out for gradual improvements ;-)

Anyway, this is what works for me. Keep going, you're not alone ;-)

From William Yap
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 1:55 PM

Whatever your challenges are at any point in time, just keep telling yourself, keep doing it.

At times when you seem you aren't going anywhere, play something you learned last year. Compare your playing now to that of last year. Is it much easier? Is it no longer a challenge but joy to play? Then you have progressed. Whatever you're playing now, it will be easy next year as long as you just play and never give up.

From PM Rolf
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 3:18 PM

I concur with William. When you are stuck and get frustrated, take out your earlier pieces that you had problems with previously, and you'll be surprised!!

As for the slurs, if you go back to my first blog, I had a hell of a time doing it. I thought I would never get it, it was so hard. I don't hate it so much now.

I work on slurs using Schradeick. It is written as thi LONG slur with I don't know 32 notes? My teacher break it down so I do each note detache first, then slur 4, then slur 8. (not gone beyond 8 yet)I don't know if you used Schradeick , but it's basically finger exercise, quite helpful.

From Kim Vawter
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 5:21 PM

Like learning a completely new language-
Thanks your helpful information. i will investigate the Schradeick method as well as all of the other good advice.

From PM Rolf
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 9:08 PM

Kim, here is the link to Schradieck. I'm still working on the first page. My teacher have me repeat each line 6 times as one exercise. Hope this helps!

From Mendy Smith
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 4:18 AM

For me this is about how it went:

Year 0-2 : Parents wore earplugs, I was too oblivious to know I was bad (I was 8)

Year 3-5: Got good enough to get into Sewanee Music Camp and the college orchestra.

25 year break happened.

Year 5+1: OMG! I'm Awful! Nothing is in tune and my bow is sliding all over the place. Can't shift out of 1st, vibrato is on Pluto. Can't remember how to do a C Major scale.

Year 5+ 2-3: Shifting starts. Intonation is much better, hopes of vibrato make it to Venus. Bowing is straighter, tone better.

Now on year 5+ 4: Vibrato happens except 1st finger 1st position on all strings. Scales are in tune. Can shift up to 8th position. Bow control getting much better.

Most of my progress has really happened in the last year. So technically that is about 9 years, but a HUGE break in between. The run of notes in one bow probably came at around year 3 or so.

From Bart Meijer
Posted on April 23, 2008 at 5:31 PM

Hi Kim,
You certainly aim high. "Consistently beautiful", no less! For me, it is "sort of OK most of the time", and I have been playing for 30 + 5 years, with a lapse in between. Bow distribution still requires conscious planning for me, but is that such a bad thing?
I'm judging from my own experience, so I may be totally off, but it seems to me that a lot of the other stuff you mention hinges on being comfortable with fiddle and bow. For me, feeling good and sounding good are two sides of the same coin. What is needed is body awareness and a keen sense of comfort vs awkwardness.
Hope this helps!

Bart

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