February 2006

February 9, 2006 16:41

I had lessons yesterday. My teacher made me think. And I have realized something: I still have a lot of work to do on Haydn.

I also learned a thing or two, such as don't play Schradieck too fast.

It's all scales and fun in the beginning, but the arpeggios in the bottom third of the exercise nearly killed me. I was forced to stop and play it at a more reasonable tempo.

However, the good news is that I am feeling the "sticky, taffy" stuff in my bowing during this exercise.

I am to work on my Kreutzer etude again this week, and boy is it anoying. Who can honestly trill well with their fourth finger? Oh well, I worked on it a LOT last week and got it up to an intermediate level (if there is such a thing). I'm working on my form this week.

I have tension in my jaw, as discovered by Dr. Eanes. It is just another problem I have to work on.

I recently had the priviledge of meeting another one of my teacher's students. He is a junior in college, and I am a junior in high school. Anyways, he's playing the third movement of Bruch for a concerto competition next wednesday, and I have been able to hear him play twice.

So, hearing him play bruch made me want to go through it. I learned it last year, and it wasn't up to par, but looking through it a couple of days ago made me realize how far I have improved in only a short time.

Anyways, I have discovered the importance of practice not just scales, but double stopped scales.

lol, my thirds and sixths have gotten much better, now.

And fifths are VERY difficult to play in tune. I always end up putting my finger more on one string than the other instead of directly in-between.
argh

school is busy. I dislike AP classes.

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February 6, 2006 16:33

Today in orchestra class, we had a substitute teacher. I practiced Kreuzter and Schrdieck a little, and then practiced scales. I practiced sclaes for maybe 40-60 minutes, and by the time I got around to haydn, I had run out of time because the period was almost over.

It was aggrivating.

I should go practice haydn, and then watch 24.

good ridance.

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February 3, 2006 16:27

I have an audition. Well, it is an interview. It is for GHP. If I make it... I'll get to spend six weeks at Valdosta State University studying music this summer.

I wanted to play haydn Concerto No. 1 for my audition section of the interview. I had my lesson wednesday, and two days before an audition is not a good time to get used to those fingerings.

So, I am falling back on Bach. I thought about maybe playing Mozart 3 (most likely the first movement), since I still have it memorized, but I decided it wasn't a good piece for showing what I can do... even though Mozart is incredibly difficult on a "musical" level.

I chose Bach's Minuets I/II from partita No. 3 to play. It shows my ability to play intune, even with chords, and a certain musicality found in Bach.

With Mozart 3, I could play it, from memory, but I don't think I could do as good of a job with it as I could with Bach.

Plus... I'm sure the judges will hear plenty of terrible renditions of Mozart, and I don't want them to have a certain negative connotation when I tell them what I am playing.

I also have an interview section. It includes music history (simple stuff), average high school level music theory, how is your favorite composer, stuff like that. Plus, they should have some stuff with listening to rhythms and writting them down, as well as identifying intervals and maybe chords.

Hopefully, I can breeze through it.

Switching topics: Intonation has always been a weakness of mine. I practiced it so much that it actual has become one of my stronger points. I used to have a bad bow hand, but I practiced holding the bow and it has become one of my finer spots.

Do we as musicians feel compelled to fix our problems? When I focus on my problems, I tend not to focus on much else. A long time ago, if I was out of tune, I would get so fixated on my left hand that I neglected my right hand. Then, one day no this sight, i found something someone said very interesting: "if you think the left hand is the problem, then focus on the right hand, and vice versa".

I tried it one day and it worked well for my technique. The trick wasn't really focusing on my other hand, but making sure that both got equal attention.

Getting back to intonation... I really dislike performances where a performer is out of tune. It seems like such a simple technique that is neglected, especially in young virtuosos, where the teacher's main concern is teaching them the techniques required for paganini and wieniawski.

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More entries: March 2006 • January 2006

February 2006

February 9, 2006 16:41

February 6, 2006 16:33

February 3, 2006 16:27

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