Dedication, perseverance and self-denial...

June 7, 2010 at 8:48 PM

I have decided that these words shall be my motto.

I had a lesson today. That'll have been my 8th since restarting after my 30 year break. And I think it's beginning to work. It's important to make a note of how far one has progressed because improvement happens both in steps and in incremental ways. Also, when you can do something, it's hard to remember, really remember in a visceral way, what it was like to not be able to do it.

Nothing is perfect. If it was I would not need a teacher.

Yesterday I had an epiphany re spicatto bowing and wrist action. Well that only took me 8 weeks to get!

First to third position shifting. Most of the time OK. Today in the lesson, surprisingly not. When I get stressed I do sweat a bit. To start with, I must have been a bit tense - though I was not consciously aware of it and my left hand was just a teeny bit sweaty and would not slide up the neck in a predictable manner.

The accompanied play through of Rieding's Allegro from the Grade 4 book went from start to finish without my once falling off. (There were a couple of dodgy moments but I kept my balance and made it to the end!)

So, it's decided - we'll be studying for the Grade 5 exam.

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