Second Chances

May 22, 2011 at 4:40 PM

After getting a small case of the "shakes" in last week's recital, my ensemble got a second chance to play "Reflection" at the early service at church.

It was not a perfect performance. Slow pieces like this are incredibly difficult. Small intonation and shifting errors are exposed, maintaining a good tone over long slow bows is a challenge and synchronizing each change in note is essential. Add to it the pressure of performing and tension compromises the control. The difference can be amazing. Here is our warm-up less than a half an hour before:

Mistakes and all however, I was glad to play this piece with my friends again and am happy with how it turned out (with no shakes!). It has become a favorite of mine that I hope to play again someday.

From Christina C.
Posted on May 25, 2011 at 1:40 PM

What a beautiful piece, and very well done! The one thing that I would suggest is the same thing that I often get- more vibrato!

From Mendy Smith
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 1:24 AM

Christina, thank you! All three of us fell completely in love with this piece at first sight-read through.

I'd love to be able to get my vibrato to the point where I could do more of it. It is still a work in progress and a constant challenge, especially when performance tension comes into play.

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