Earplugs

January 30, 2009 at 1:30 PM

Yes, I need them.

My new year's plan for 2009, as opposed to resolutions (which I never keep), was to heal the anxiety in my life. So far I am doing reasonably well: I am officially no longer the RE co-chair anymore, which is a great relief. I also started again doing push-ups and sit-ups and climbing the stairs every day to the office. I work on the 6th floor. I'd been doing that last year but for some reason just stopped. Then I read in a women's magazine about a woman who decided to do push-ups every day for a month. That was it, and over time it transformed her attitude about exercise, not to mention giving her more upper-body strength. Her rationale was, you can do push-ups anywhere, you don't need special equipment, you can do them in your pajamas. This is my kind of rationale. It reminds me of Sander Marcus' "3 minutes a day" of violin practice. No, it's not everything you need, but it is sure better than nothing.

Which brings me to earplugs. And Dvorak's Slavonic Dance #1, the first violin part thereof. While I enjoy quite nicely listening to a recording of this piece, actually practicing my part at home is somewhere between sliding down an icy sidewalk and torturing a guinea pig. For this concert, my orchestra is also playing excerpts from an arrangement of "West Side Story." Not only do I not get to play my favorite, "One Hand, One Heart," (because of conductor's cuts), but "I want to Live in America" has a whole page of 8va. That and all those ledger lines bring me right into the, um, belly of the beast. And the screeching, the SCREECHing. I want my viola!!! Anxiety, anyone?

I'm not helpless, I have resources. My teacher, for one, can talk me down from the ledge. For "America," she stressed thinking in intervals. Fourths. When I play it slowly, I hear the fourths. And the 6ths. One of the phrases ends with "EN-BEEE-CEEE," I never noticed that before. But when I take it up to tempo, the fourths, and the 6ths, disappear, and I just hear an of out-of-tune screechy mess.

The tuner is helpful here too. It brings home again how close the notes are up there in the nosebleed section.

And it's helpful to think in finger patterns. The Dvorak opening: E-F-G-G-A-G. It's the same finger pattern as in first position on the D string. I want to do a 4th-finger extension to reach the upcoming C. But I sure wouldn't do that if I were playing the melody on the D string. Hmm. But it's surprisingly and consistently in tune that way up in the stratosphere. Even my teacher is impressed. She lets me keep the 4th finger extension.

Last night I was on a roll. Sort of. E-F-G-G-A-G. C-G-G-F-E. C-D-E-E-F-E. G-E-E-D-C. Over and over again. Watching the tuner. The G is not as far from the E and F as my third finger thinks it is. It is just a step-and-a-half, and a small one. The shift down on 1 from the E to the C is always flat. Fix that. Don't go back as far. The two 4th finger extensions are very different. That's probably why my teacher was leery of having me do it for the C. But for some reason that C is still generally pretty good. (It occurs to me now, belatedly, that I should have started out this practice session with a 3-octave C major scale or two. I can do those for a few minutes every day. Like the push-ups.)

Remarkably, the tuner sometimes gets confused. It calls an F-natural a B-flat and vice-versa. If I play the note long and loud, it will usually correct itself and settle in. The mistake seems to always be a fifth up or fourth down. I don't get this. Overtones? Admittedly, I don't know anything about overtones. But I do know it's hard for me to hear pitches up here. Apparently for the tuner as well.

After a few times through, some of the notes ring out clearly, especially the E's. It's starting to sound less like an out-of-tune screechy mess and more like the recording. As my teacher says, I'm "finding the clarity." My grudging respect for my old violin is increasing. It is, in fact, capable of playing those notes if I am.

But when I take a break, my ears are ringing. This can't be good. I remember an old thread on v.com about earplugs. Someone mentioned that an earplug helped them play in tune better, may have even helped a whole violin section play in tune better. And that they can protect your hearing. My husband wears foam earplugs to bed every night, a habit he developed when we lived in Brooklyn and has kept up. He's extremely sensitive to noise.

I borrowed one of his earplugs and put it in my left ear. Interesting. Now, when I play the same passage, it sounds different. Not muffled exactly, but a little softer and not as cringe-inducing. Not as sharp (I don't mean pitch, I mean like a knife). The pitches are, I think, easier to hear. I'm definitely going to do more experimenting with this.

From Terez Mertes
Posted on January 30, 2009 at 5:01 PM

I know this blog is about the music, but I just had to comment on this:

>Then I read in a women's magazine about a woman who decided to do push-ups every day for a month. That was it, and over time it transformed her attitude about exercise, not to mention giving her more upper-body strength. Her rationale was, you can do push-ups anywhere, you don't need special equipment, you can do them in your pajamas. This is my kind of rationale. It reminds me of Sander Marcus' "3 minutes a day" of violin practice. No, it's not everything you need, but it is sure better than nothing.

...and say yes! yes! yes! A fabulous habit to develop. Go, girl, go! : )

From Terez Mertes
Posted on January 30, 2009 at 5:09 PM

Okay, now that I've read the rest, I'll comment on the rest: enjoyed reading it! Especially hearing about your work with the chromatic tuner. Mine gives me SO much help with my C and C sharps. I try to rely on my ears first, but boy, glad to have such tactile feedback there for me when I need it.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on January 31, 2009 at 12:07 PM

Thanks for the encouragement, Terez! Relevant to your blog, I'd also been developing the habit of eating under stress, something that I hadn't really done that much when I was younger (and perhaps less stressed). And unfortunately, it's showing. Trail mix with nuts (and a few chocolate chips) seems to be a good thing to keep on hand for those addiction moments. It makes me feel full while giving me some protein and iron.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on January 31, 2009 at 12:12 PM

For me it's F's and F#'s that seem to be especially problematic. And many if not all notes above 5th position on the E string. I would like to be able to rely on my ears more up there, but I think to do that, I need to train them somehow.

There's a real perceptual shift when I can hear it (or as my teacher says, "find the clarity"). It's almost like something clicks into place: it goes from this awful screechy mess to something resembling music, with intervals and pitches that I can hear and correct. Right now it seems like I can get the click when I am playing slowly, and watching the tuner. What I am hoping is that if I do it enough and increase the tempo gradually, it'll click when I need it to and I can put the tuner away.

From Terez Mertes
Posted on January 31, 2009 at 1:50 PM

>I would like to be able to rely on my ears more up there, but I think to do that, I need to train them somehow.

Someone once commented here that our ears want to hear higher notes even higher. This certainly includes me, as I tend to sharp my higher notes on the E string (I only play up to 3rd position, though). The B and C are the worst. I just can't trust my ear, even when I play slowly and carefully. It just wants the notes to be sharper. It's an odd feeling, because otherwise I have a good ear and can tell when I'm off the mark. Oh, well. Good thing for me to be aware of, that "natural" pitches, to me, are not technically accurate. So if I aim to sound slightly flat, voilá, problem solved. Strange...

From Bill Rose
Posted on January 31, 2009 at 3:16 PM

I remember on a discussion thread on earplugs that someone said they thought that plugging the left ear gave a closer representation of the sound that a listener would hear. Apparently due to the seperation of the right ear from the violin. Couldn't try this myself as might right ear is my bad one.

From Jodi Bernard
Posted on February 1, 2009 at 12:33 AM

I am a firm believer in earplugs. I have to be, I play piccolo. I have also offered them to the 2nd violin players who sit beside me too :)

The sound is a little bit different, but once you get used to it, it will become easier to tune and play. I would get used to them in the practice room, then go on to play in the orchestra. Believe me, my ears wouldn't just ring, but feel warm too... which in turn, wasn't good at all.

I know of some college students who are loosing their hearing.

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Earplugs

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