May 22, 2004 at 5:04 AM

I had my violin lesson today and learned that I was not holding my bow in the right location. Usually I hold my bow with the thumb in the notch between the frog and the leather. Today, my teacher was sitting on the floor step looking up at my bow hand and said, "Clare, where are you holding the bow?" My thumb should be on the leather, as well as my middle finger. This changes the balance point and makes it easier to not have a stiff pinkie. Okay, now I have to consciously remember each time I pickup the bow.

I did pretty good on my Dont etude #2, except that I played martele instead of detache. The fingerings are tricky but it is like a puzzle and much fun. My teacher mentioned that his accompanist wants to play the Kreisler Praeludium/Allegro, or rather watch him play it since the piano only has chords. So we worked on that a little bit, mostly he did all of the fingerings and I watched. He is so relaxed when he plays even the toughest passages.

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