This just got more serious

Mastering vibrato takes a very long time, but I think you will discover a whole world of expression within your first year of practicing it that is very satisfying. Don’t ever give up! Kick the door down!

Its funny how when I go to concerts of modern music, I notice the squiggling hands of the vibratoing string players and it always looks and sounds so strange to me. In fact, I've noticed a parallel in opera, wherein the baroque opera singers have a much more natural and clear tone, without the tremolo of modern-style singers. I so much prefer the straight intonation of early music. On violin, it means I really have to get the note right on target because there's no smooshing it around in a wide mark. Not that I always get it, but I listen carefully and pay a lot of attention to how my fingers feel when I know I'm getting nice tones in, say, third position.

Nicki you also mention learning to shift and explore higher positions. Not too many years ago, I had a teacher initially holding me back from it until I had better technique in first position, but eventually because I was always sightreading lots of sheet music she took time to show me ways of finding the note in a shift. Which brings me to another funny thing...since this year I wasn't able to find a baroque violin teacher, I'm back on my own which has turned into a freedom I'm using to compose. I just sent my second toccata (for solo violin) to the print shop! These first 2 were each dedicated to one of the 2 teachers I've had; I have a list of 4 more violinists to whom I feel connected, so eventually my opus 1 will be a set of 6 toccatas for solo violin.

I mention this because I've been writing things that are hard for me to play, including chords and some pinky extensions all the way up to the high G (so far). It is only since July that I've learned to use the MuseScore notation software and each toccata so far has taken me 6-8 weeks, with probably 200 reprints each, as I take the fresh version upstairs to my violin and play through it and noodle around for better notes and pencil in the changes, run back downstairs to type and print the edits, take it back up to play it more.

I've become obsessed and really feel I'm learning music finally in a more complete way that has more dimensions than when I was just reading other people's works with no idea how they decided what notes went where. My Toccata #2 has 140 measures, with maybe an average of 10 notes each so 1400 notes, every single one of them I carefully put there, somehow combining my ear and my heart into exactly what I want. At first I wasn't sure how I'd know when I had finished a piece but as the weeks go by the edits become fewer until finally there is a moment when I know it is done. I may not be learning technique this year but hopefully next year I'll have a teacher again and I will definitely be a different musician than I was last year!