March 28, 2006 at 5:35 PM

Happy Spring to all - even though I enjoyed Danielle's photo of the snow, I am ready for some warm weather. It has been unseasonally cold here in Georgia. LIFE has kept me busy. My father-in-law passed away a few weeks ago and my husband has been so sad. In a weak moment I went out and bought a puppy to cheer him up. I have been the one to nix the new dog idea the last few years, so this was a big commitment for me. Needless to say, Baxley has been a tremendous joy to both of us, and yes, he is Trouble with a capital T. But oh so cute.

Our community symphony will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto in F Major (with a student competition winner) and Wagner's Siegfried's Idyll at the next concert. Neither piece is too difficult for me and I am really enjoying rehearsals. My church orchestra is gearing up for Easter and the string quartet will play for the Good Friday service. This music is killing me! On paper it doesn't look too hard, but the key signatures are tough and the second part sounds "minorish" if that's even a word. I have no pitches to match and am struggling with intonation. I have resorted to placing my transparent dots back on the fingerboard to help me stay in tune. It doesn't take much for a fairly new adult player to lose confidence. Any suggestions?

From Linda Lerskier
Posted on March 28, 2006 at 8:23 PM

OMG! He is so cute!@!! Ahh!

From Jessica Smith
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 1:04 AM

I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law.

The puppy is really cute!

From Sheila Ganapathy
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 1:03 AM

Your doggie is soo cute...

regarding your intonation troubles, I would suggest practicing scales in the key that the music is in, that way it will help set up the basic hand position for that key. After that, if you hear how it is supposed to go, I think you might just want to try it slowly working on one note/measure at a time and then work it up from there. You have to basically train your muscle memory to know exactly where the note is, and you yourself have to know exactly where the note is. Often times when I am having trouble with intonation or starting in a certain position, I find the note and I drop my hand and then find it over and over again until I know EXACTLY where it is, how it feels, how it sounds...etc.

With scales, I find it tremendously helpful if I start with my metronome on 40 and play one note for each click. I do it ten times, until I get it right ten times in a row. Otherwise I start over again. Tedious, yes, but it has done miracles for my intonation in just about two weeks.

Good luck with your practicing.

Sheila

From Sheila Ganapathy
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 1:03 AM

Your doggie is soo cute...

Good luck with your practicing.

Sheila

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 7:17 AM

I'm sorry about your father-in-law, and I love your dog. I was going to give you advice on intonation, but I couldn't say it any better than Sheila did.

From Donna Clegg
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 5:16 PM

Thanks so much, Sheila. Will try all your suggestions.

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March 28, 2006 at 5:35 PM

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