First lesson in 3 weeks tonight

Tell me all, Claudia!

We didn't stick to E's lesson plan at my lesson yesterday (also my first for 3 weeks, as I'd had to cancel last week), but we did do the one octave F major scale! This is 'noteworthy' to me as it's a grade 2 key and, as you know, I haven't even done grade 1 yet. We were making a start on 'official' scales, and Teach seemed pleased that I'd already done the format before with my first teacher and I often practise that way anyway. She was also complimentary on my intonation with my two-octave C major scale, which involves low 2nd finger position on the D and A strings. The F major required that on the G string too, so I was quite delighted to play it right first time, (once she'd had me go through the fingering verbally first).

We also did some sight-reading and I always enjoy the challenge of that.

So, over to you. What did you cover this week and how's your prac going? Having 3 weeks 'off' after only 2 lessons must have felt like you'd stopped 5 minutes after you started! Done any fingered notes yet? Or are you working mostly on bowing - upper half, lower half, arm height, whole bows and 'turning the page'?

It's really interesting to me to hear what you're doing.

It would be fun for the three of us to meet up sometime (and anyone else in the area), and I could bring along Anna as well (anna-pianna )

Well, we certainly will soon - at the Jan concert, if not before. We could get quite a Leeds ensemble together, with piano, clarinet, Claudia on flute and me on viola!!

I don't think I'll be playing the piano in public for several concerts

If you and BB fancy meeting up at the college sometime though for a bit of jam (do people still use that word ), send me an email Mind you, they've got pianos there obviously but I think BB might see mine and want one


PS Going to log off now, see you again soon!

Lesson went well

Started off with some pizz., then went over bow hold and bowing exercises again, just to make sure I hadn't forgotten them Then bowed open strings for a bit, and that's my homework for next week

Babybird everyone has to start somewhere. When I started playing I was doing open strings and g major 2 octave scale for ages. However I did not know it was called a scale then. I just thought it was an excerise to practice bowing!

My main trouble now is doing vibrato with the 4th finger. I have resorted to shifting into 3rd so as to use a 2nd finger.

Lesson last night and now not for 2 weeks as teacher is away.

I can start to reacquaint myself since I have developed this unnerving fear of getting things wrong. I think it's frustrating her as much as it is me and I'm spending probably 10 mins or so in each lesson frozen to the spot unable to get started. I know what the problem is - and it's got next to nothing to do with the violin- but its going to be difficult to sort out.

So I've got some homework to do. She's given me a couple of the grade 2 pieces we've been looking at to really focus on, and to look at some scales- G major, D major and A major with A major being a new one (and two octaves! madness but I do like me a challenge). My other bit of homework is to try and work out some sort of "trigger" for myself that says "it doesn't matter what it sounds like, it just matters that I start when I need to start and don't keep putting it off" - I spend a lot of time at the beginning of lessons just stood there in position unable to make a first note. Agh.

Perfectionism, people, it sucks beyond belief.

I would say that it certainly does frustrate your teacher to have to lose 10 valuable minutes whilst the pupil consents to start!!

But seriously though, now you've identified how you're thinking and feeling, you can sit down and work yourself through why it's bad for you and, perhaps, you might want to do what I would do under the same circs and give myself a good talking to?? For instance, if it were me, (and note that I said 'if it were me' here and am not bagging you - you must work out your own lecture!!! ) I'd be reminding myself (in advance, one doesn't have time for this at the lesson) how I was wasting my time, my teacher's time and my own money etc., how I was actually preventing myself from making better progress, how not even the best player that ever was got it perfect 100% of the time and how even pros have off days, how many people my teacher would have heard that were far worse than me and also, heck, I was doing this for fun, so why give myself such a hard time about it and making myself look such a numpty into the bargain!!?? Also, I would make up my mind to just do as I was told at once at my lesson and then, take a deep breath when asked to play and just get on with it. My teacher is there to help me, so my co-operating fully with him/her is in my own best interests.

Something that may be worth your considering honestly is, are the pieces you're doing etc actually too hard for you, (which looks possible as you cite Grade 1 scales and Grade 2 pieces)? When I felt that I was being given stuff that was beyond my level at the time, I hated prac and my lesson and felt very unwilling. Once I'd carried my point that I felt it was too much with my old teacher, (not my present one, she's much better), we dropped back to where the course actually was taking me instead of racing on to something that wasn't specified at that point and I started to enjoy it once more. We all want to be virtuosos somewhere inside, but we all have to take the needed time about it so, if you're trying to race ahead too fast, (or are being pushed ahead too hard), then say so and drop back to what you feel is right for you and see if that helps. There'll be less fear of gaffing up if it's not too challenging. It should challenge us a bit, but not too much.

Good hunting!

Don't panic Violin Hero, you'll get there - it takes a while to get used to fourth finger vibrato - you'll probably look back on it in a while and wonder why it was so difficult.

I STILL bow open strings now as part of my regular practise - I think a lot of fiddle players would be amazed at how much it helps, irrespective of how long you've been playing, so Babybird it sounds like you've got yourself a teacher who sets good basic foundation - it will serve you so well in the future. Enjoy the ride!

I do too and, yes, she has got a good teacher. I can speak with authority there as I have the same one!!

elisabeth: no offence taken, promise

I identified this morning that I used to be exactly the same when I was learning the clarinet. It's not a matter of the things I'm doing being too hard, it's this all encompassing fear of messing up.

But, as you said, I know how I think, I know how I feel and now I can sort it out. I have a few ideas and I'll be talking to my teacher in a couple of weeks when she's back. It's a good, safe place for me to experiment with that and she is really patient with me.

(I have to say, I did let her know this was a problem for me right at the very beginning. I have the same issue with the clarinet, as I've said, and also when I sing... ugh)

A problem clearly identified is half way to being solved. Stick with it, you'll get there! Perhaps you can take that old Nike slogan as a personal motto:

JUST DO IT!

Ok having passed G7 violin with distinction I guess I hardly qualify for his thread, but I wanted to add my name to the "I hate using my 4th finger" club. I have very small hands, and my teacher is big on "lets not play this on the A string like any normal person, let's play it in 7th position on the G string"! Ouch

Your teacher may be guilty of what my ex-teacher called 'unnecessary shiftin' just cos you can - it doesn't impress anyone, you know' ! (Actually he was a little coarser than that and it was more like 'I'm sorry to p**s on your chips, but no one even notices you doing that, you know...', blunt but got the point across once my bruised ego had healed.)

Seriously though, unless it's physically necessary or a tonal requirement (which is a lot rarer than you'd think) why do people insist on shooting around all over the flippin' place? That' what happens when you invent plastic thingies that wedge the poor fiddle in place under your chin so you can play it like a piano.

Sheesh! Take the teacher to a clinic to learn that if your nose is bleeding and you're playing a note that could be played with less atmospheric pressure, it's time to seek help!

Allan

How's the viola playing going at the moment, elisabeth? Playing anything exciting?

Me? Play something exciting? What an idea!

No, I'm just ploughing my way through my beginners' course as ever, but we did do a one octave F major scale last week, which was quite exciting given that it's a Grade 2 scale!

No lesson this week as E had to go to a training day and we're then looking to rearrange our lesson time. With me job hunting and her not being sure of what she's doing school-wise, it's quite likely to turn out to be a headache, but we'll get something sorted OK. It's your lesson tonight, isn't it? Let me know what you do. It's really interesting to follow along with someone starting totally from scratch, even though I'm pretty sure they're going to overtake me within 6 months. Sigh.

Um. We'll have none of that attitude!! Continuing with the road metaphor, you know that you always end up next to the people who've raced ahead of you at the next set of traffic lights... It's not the speed, it's the journey that matters.

But I think I have a flat tyre ...

I think one of my axles has broken...

But, as you didn't really know what I meant there, InvMoon, I shan't take you to task!!

And how are we all doing this week? I only did some simple scales etc today and that with my mute on as I've had a vicious headache for the past 50 hours and I couldn't take the volume without mute!!!

I'm doing fine, just open strings and stuff, especially long bow strokes

Excellent! Do you do that in front of a mirror sometimes? Otherwise it's easy to think your bow is straight when it's not. It looks straight when it's not. Sort of an optical illusion.

I am temporarily without a viola, since this afternoon. Missing her already.

I grieve for you, Primmers!

Yup, the long bows are good stuff. You'll be doing upper half and lower half soon as well. I never did bow economy etc with my old teacher, so all this was quite a revelation to me when I changed. I always descrbe my long bows as having 'natural vibrato', i.e the wibbly bit in the middle when your whole arm stops moving and you change to just lower arm movement!!

My bowing suffered from, "wibbly bits" too ... unfortunately vibrato doesn't describe the phenomena correctly, as vibrato would be a controlled variance of pitch (which sounds good when used correctly), wibbly bowing would be an uncontrolled variance of volume (which always sounds bad).

Thankfully I seem to be getting over it now. Practice, confidence and eliminating tension seem to be the key.

Hello again

Yep I do lots of it in front of the mirror - not just because it's useful but also because the bedroom is the most convenient place for me to play viola without annoying my boyfriend The study is probably a bit too small....

Oh, I say! You never took the 'natural vibrato' bit seriously!!


I wouldn't care to see my hubby's face if I started to prac in the study! It's tiny and he's in here almost every waking moment he's at home!!

Yep my boyfriend is in there lots at the moment doing exam revision

I'm probably more worried about the bow hitting the door while I'm playing

The study was a lot bigger before I decided to put the keyboard in there permanently on its stand

But of course I took it seriously! You didn't put in any silly faces to make me think otherwise!

First lesson in 2 weeks in about an hour.

Kinda nervous after last time, but at the same time just raring to go. Have had a recurrence of shoulder/hand problems since last Fri which has been annoying but hopefully ok today. I'll just try to relax. Whee!

I thought it was so obviously ridiculous that no-one could miss it!! Anyway, I'm sure it's a 'natural phenomenum' that time will cure me of.

Had my lesson this afti and it went well. My teacher seems really thrilled with me at the mo and said it was my best lesson yet. I found that interesting as it'd been 16 days since the last and I think I'd actually picked up my viola only 3 times during that period, plus I was tired from a busy day at college with an hours journey each way. So, seems that being artistic during the day is good for my viola playing at tea-time.

Was fab. Woo. Just going for it really helped..

That's great! You're the new Nike kid then, huh? "Just do it" Keep up the good work.

Marvellous. None of that standing frozen to the spot nonsense?

I have my viola back at last, and she sounds better for some tlc and a posher bridge. I don't really think I ought to have to clean the gunk spread on the varnish by the luthier in the course of replacing the bridge, but I'm probably just being picky.

Upper and lower half bow strokes for me this week

And I don't understand how to bow using the whole bow. My arm isn't long enough

^ You haven't been through the initiation ceremony then? You know, the one where they break your arm and lengthen it? No?


you'll get there. I know how to do it but I still get stuck at one end of the bow or the other. Frustrating, much.


primrose, there was a lot less of the nonsense. I figured just taking a breath and going for it was as good a shot as any.

on the "just do it" thing, remind me at some point to explain one of my lecturer's* theories of adapted cognitive behavioural therapy. Involving Carlsberg and Dr Pepper...








*said lecturer is an occupational therapist- which I'm training to be- with a special interest in laughter therapy...

Well, there you have it IM, you need to learn to laugh at yourself!!! Seriously though, it's often best to just get on with something before giving ourselves time to think. I remember my kid bro telling me he umm-ed and ah-ed for 15 minutes by his flat door before going out running that first time! Foolish kid could have done his first run, got back and been in the shower by the time he actually went out. He was so afraid that others would see him etc. Daft article that he is!! Thankfully, he got over it and became quite fond of running.

Claudia, I doubt my arm is long enough either! You just go as far to the point as you reasonably can. I daresay E's told you that anyway. BTW, have you had a go at finding notes on the strings yourself yet? Or maybe you did a bit of that at the YLSSO event??

Well I've had a few goes at Ode to Joy

OK I'm gonna practise now! I live in fear of you over-taking me within 3 months!!!

(No, I'm not serious guys!!)

I can play that on piano Only with one hand though, but I tell my friends and family that I can play Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and they're so impressed!

Perhaps I could accompany you at the next concert

Maybe your violin and bow are too big for you?

I doubt it. Claudia's an adult beginner on viola, so a bit of a different set of measurements. It doesn't matter about not being able to get all the way to the point of the bow. You find you can get further as you practice, but at her stage, she needn't worry.

Thanks for that I was getting a bit worried there, my viola is only 15" that's just a bit bigger than a full size violin, I believe

I didn't practise yesterday, I feel guilty

Babybird2, have you tried pointing the instrument further round to the left, so that the furthest point you can reach with your right arm is further from the instrument? I find this helps keep the bow straight, too.

I'm not quite sure what you mean primrose

I think he means holding your viola further back, but that could lead to postural problems. Ask E, but I personally feel that you go as far as you can with the bow and that's it!

Don't feel guilty if you don't prac every day. I feel pleased with myself if I prac 3 times between lessons and, as E said last week, she tries not to give too much homework and put too much pressure on adult learners as we have a lot more to do than kids.

Yes, that's true. I don't feel much like an adult though

Guessing what I mean, elisabeth?
If directly in front of you is 12 o'clock, and your left shoulder is pointing towards 9 o'clock, I mean pointing the scroll towards (say) 9.30 or 10 rather than 10.30 or 11. Of course you have to work out what's right for you, and of course you should ask your teacher (if any). But I've had three teachers, of whom only the third noticed that my playing position was not ideal for someone of my size and shape. The new position felt odd at first but is a great improvement.

Thanks for the advice guys I had a lesson tonight and my teacher has just told me to bow as far as I can get comfortably at the moment

Lots more open strings for me, and upper and lower halves of the bow