I was struggling with a bit of rhythm and Samantha had me sing it out. After getting over the embarassment it was really useful. It seems obvious that acting it out will help connect your brain to the music but wasn't something I had done before.

Goals for this week

• Improve postrure and drop wrist
• B minor scale work on descending and trying E on the D string
• Tellemann still needs work on that section with the
• Work slow triplet practice in Bach Minuet, the last note keeps dragging
• Fix dragging the last note of each phrase in Minuet #2 with descending scale
• Practice transition from forte to piano on the down beat. I am getting piano but not on the down beat

Sunday (1 hr)

• B minor scale @ 80bpm with seperate bows and E on D OK
• Practiced triplets with metrenome from green hat and minuet
• Played some fiddle tunes

Monday (40 min)

• Tuned and played through Staten Island (8 minutes)
• New bowing and forte to piano transition on minuet

Tuesday

• Played through
• Worked on bowing and rhythm of tellemann, nailed new bowing a few times.

Wednesday

• B minor scale, seem to have quarter notes at 120 down with 4th for E going up
• Telemann, worked on new bowing some practiced at 65 bpm
• Bach worked on triplets and rhythm at 65.

Thursday

• 56 on bach
• 65 on telemann ok, work dynamics
• 8th note practice few at a time to get to full scale using proper bow distribution

Goals this week

• Minor scales, 1/4 notes and 1/8th notes at 67bpm. Full bow.
• Rhythm through that last bit of the Telemann Minuet. Concentrate!
• Flow from the second to last line to
• Piano on middle 1/3 of bow, mf on bottom bits, full bow on 1/4 notes
• Work on F#A triplet to B on Bach minuet, do the double stop exercise
• Continue working on smoothing out Statten Island
• Telemann and Bach up to 70bpm. You can do it.

Sunday

• B minor 1/4 notes at 80bpm pretty successfully, slipping around on the E string and not staying straight.
• Played through Staten Island, needs metronom work
• Played other tunes

Tuesday

• Worked on Telemann rhythm bit
• Got the F# triplet to B mostly nailed on Bach
• Played through Staten Island

Wednesday

• Played through minuet, still need to do rhythm for triplets
• Scales 80bpm 1/4 notes. 120 1/8 notes wonky intonation

Questions

• Practice mute?
• Play through Rose Tree II

Posture

Samantha corrected me on my posture today. I learned the habit of holding my violin at a slant over the last few weeks.

Bouncing Bow

When playing pieces calling for "forte" I have noticed my bow was bouncing. I got two pieces of advice: practice double stops and moving between strings in time to better control the difference in friction when changing strings and that the sound the player hears is not the exact sound that the audience hears.

Minuet #2 (Bach)

Working on tempo mostly. I need to work on even triplet rhythm a bit and we also worked on not rushing the 1/8th notes in a few places.

Minuet Duet

Sounding pretty OK. Work on dynamics and getting my 4th finger A on D and the G sounding good on the second to last line. Still having trouble reaching. Also the rhythm could use a bit more owrk.

Duet Minuet

Sounding pretty good but I need to work on projecting more and the rhythm and timing of the one passage that requires me to hit that fourth finger A on the D string.

Minuet 2

Work with rhythm alot more. Start with open strings at 40bpm, alternate open and playing lines in the piece.

• Monday progress- 60 BPM outlined the downbeats of the first line and got rhythm pretty much on time.

Scales

Work on 1/8 notes for E minor. Learn the B minor melodic scale and get it to 1/4 or 1/8 notes.

• Monday progress- G major 8th notes practice. Tuning ear again after a week break.

After LPC my form on my left hand has taken a turn for the worse. Samantha reminded me to place my thumb a bit higher up on the neck so there is a gap between my index finger and thumb again. It is a small thing but can make it much more comfortable to reach all the finger positions.

Worked this week to get the E on the A string (4th finger) into reasonable shape. Nisha offered helpful advice: approach the note like you are going to hit it right everytime. This caused lots of noise but I quickly improved. Playing timidly doesn't really work out.

Work for next week

• Minuet up to 70 BPM. Taking small steps. Louder with more confidence.
• Scales with different bowing patterns
• Smoother string transitions on scales. Holding the finger positions before moving. Also, setting fingers before the crossing on the way back up.

Today Samantha and I worked on ear training for various intervals by playing double stops. I am quick at the math but I need to get better at hearing them for myself. Also worked on bowing over various BPMs to use the full bow fluidly.

Learned that when you talk about steps between notes it is always on a chromatic scale. I was very confused at first when we were talking about the steps between say E and G on a G Major scale was 4 whole and 1/2 steps when there are no half steps on G major between E to G.

Work for next week

• Metronome and scales to use bow, concentrate on near frog work
• Minuet intonation. Slowly, slowly move through checking intonation

I didn't get much practice in the last few weeks with all of the other things going on but I was able to improve my rhythm over Big Arty's Reel quite a bit.

In class we worked on some of the rough spots of the reel. Mostly the last measure and the transition to the beginning of the second line. Also, we discussed how the rhythm works with the pickup from the second line back to the first: basically stay on rhythm and treat the pickup as the fourth missing beat of that short last measure.

We also worked on a trill ornament which is a bit tricky since the original note should retain its full value so you need to steal some time from the measure before. Plus we practiced droning on the strings a bit.

Practice plan for this week: work through rough spots in first half of the reel, practice the rest of the reel, practice the trill ornament in time and work through the piece droning strings for four counts to practice finger position and tone throughout the bow lengths.

Fun week and fun class.

Today Samantha and I focused on getting the swung rhythm even across the first line of Big Arty's Reel. Some of the trouble, for me, was that I was running out of bow and some of the string crossing were not staying on beat.

With the metrenome we worked on a lot of those details and played through measure by measure. I think it is better but I have another few hours of working on it slowly.

Trouble spots - Slurred string crossings - Speeding up string crossings - Need to practice making up bow on the first part of a swung note - More bow :)

Practice this week - Big Arty's Reel (work on getting an even rhythm to 80bpm)

Samantha and I worked on playing through mistakes in the Greenwood Tree and how to lead another muscisian in if you are playing a duet. Doing a lead in is a bit like a frame shift in dancing to lead into a turn.

We also talked about having an "action plan" and executing on it for dynamics of Greenwood Tree. So I will need to play through it a few times to figure that out. Suggestions inclue playing piano through the F# slur in the middle of the measures.

I sitll need to work on hearing and adjusting my C# and D as I often hit those sharper then I intend. Hearing it as it happens is a bit tricky but I think I can work through that.

On "Big Arty's Reel" we worked on swung notes. It was a bit tricky for me to multiply the notes into triplets and figure out the timing. So, I will play through it a few times with the triplets all broken out.

Practice this week - Greenwood Tree (dynamics action plan! and getting my C# and D under control) - Big Arty's Reel (work on triplet and swung notes)

Ahh Ha! Something in the lesson today really helped for things to click for me. I have been struggling with using a metronome and generally rhythm in general.

But, today Samantha suggested that I internally hum out the tune that I am working on to the beat of the metronome. And that hit me really quick: it is just like anything else I try and figure out; I must visualize the goal and then do it.

I encounter this need to visualize when I look at a bug report. If I look at the bug and then jump into the code straight away I am doomed. I get lost in the syntax, functions and structs.

Instead I first visualize how it should work and based on that write a hypothesis (on paper!) of what is causing the problem. Then when I dive into the code I am thinking: "I need to find how this happens because it is clearly causing the issue." That gives direction and a drive to my code reading so that when I encounter something that is a little off beat I notice it quickly and can revise my hypothesis to keep narrowing in on the issue.

And that is the role of humming to the beat: to make that initial visualization so that when you put bow to string you have an expectation how it should sound so when you screw it up you can find the bug. Ahh ha!

Reaching the fourth finger on E to hit the B is difficult for me. So, Samantha suggested that I do interval exercises with B, A, B, G, B, F from half notes to almost a trill to strengthen my pinky and get it working.

Weight distribution of the bow can be difficult nearer to the frog. Practice getting to getting my wrist to drop out to carry weight evenly. Practice on the open A.

On Cupid's waltz work on getting a full sound out of the notes, particularly the slurred staccato/hooked bowing. Use more bow! :)

Working on

Practice this week * Greenwood waltz (faster bowing is good but need to pace usage to not run out) * Cupid's waltz (Section 3, al fine!

In practice this week I concentrated on listening and reading notes instead of watching my fingers. It was one of those plateau moments like when you move from hunt and peck to touch typing: you get worse before you get better for a bit. A week of practice and now I can avoid looking at every finger movement.

I also got the slur from two strings down. Fun!

To increase my sight reading speed I found some flash cards that have been quite useful. Since they are fold in half style I can stand them up and play through them in random order which is good practice.

Todays practice focused on intonation of notes particularly in the "Cupid's Waltz" which has a few notes that I don't have dialed in all the way. Samantha reminded me that notes have a tendency to go flat if the string isn't completely engaged so I am working on that.

Turns out I am also tightening my bow too much. Enough tension is required so that pressure doesn't cause the bow to touch the hair but no further.

Need to work with metronome this week since my rhythm was a little wonky in places.

While walking back from class today a guy on a bike yelled at me:

• Guy: "Violin?"
• Me: "Yep"
• Guy: "Nice, keep it up man"

I chuckled and said thanks as he kept riding past. Thanks guy on bike.

Practice this week - Greenwood Waltz (increase speed, ensure long notes are held) - Cupid's Waltz (intonation and long notes and full play through)

The waltz I am working on introduces a two string slur which is a first for me. Samantha had me practicing this pattern by first double stopping the strings then alternating them. I will practice with a metronome. Also, need to exercise switching strings upbow, upstring, downstring, downbow, upstring, downstring, etc.

Another exercise is hearing flats/sharps by ear. Need to work on that one. but it is hard to practice without an instructor. But, I do need to work on my sight reading. I plan on making some notecards to practice playing notes without knowing the "song" by mixing them up and to increase my sight reading speed.

As always, more bow.

I learned some new vocabulary today about Chords. I is the tonic, V is the dominant and IV is the sub-dominant. In theory the IV pulls you towards the V and the I makes things feel concluded. So, I need to go through the Greenwood Tree and try to listen for those effects and write down the chords.

Another new piece of vocab is the way notes are counted. e.g. C -> C# is a half, C -> D is a full and C -> E is a third. That always confused me a bit but now it makes sense.

The Metronome is a difficult thing for me to use but Samantha suggested a few ways I can use it to work on Greenwood Tree including setting it to around 100bpm and playing every 1/8th inside of every note. This help get my rhythm more regular across the piece.

Something that we noticed when trying to do this is that I was having trouble figuring out what notes to play. I need to read the notes, play with the metronome and get the rhythm all at the same time. Music is hard... ;)

Songs I am working on: - Greenwood Tree (work on rhythm, try to find chords) - Go Tell Aunty Rhody (string crossings)

Samantha introduced some music theory into the lesson today. This included how chrods work using the example of the A major scale in Go Tell Aunt Rhody. I don't grasp the entire concept but the guitar + violin on Go Tell Aunt Rhody sounded nice.

I will work out the chords she wrote down (Virtual piano makes this easy and fun) in the music and post the engraving. It will be a good experiment in using lilypond.

If someone has recommendations for an intro music theory book let me know.

We worked on the Greenwood tree quite a bit more today and I have all of the measures down indivdually pretty well. Still need to work on the second to last measure that has F#3 G E. It is very hard for me to keep the time in my head. Also I keep dropping part of the 6th measure which throws my bow and timing off. Work in progress.

The big trick in working on Greenwood was playing backwards. Start with the two notes giving you trouble, then move back a note, then back a measure, the back and forward a measure until things smooth out. Do not play through. Stop, correct the mistake then continue. I spent a lot of time unlearning things this week because I just played through without stopping.

Songs I am working on: - Greenwood Tree - Go Tell Aunty Rhody

Nisha got tickets to the Oregon Symphonies Dvořák Violin Concerto and the performance was moving. The soloist was Chee-Yun who gave a powerful and flawless performance while maintaining the stage presence of a rock star. It was fun to watch.

Another rockstar was first violin Jun Iwasaki. He was nearly jumping out of his seat while playing through some movements of Thunderbolt P-47 and responses in the Concerto.

The complete lineup of the night: * Martinu: Thunderbolt P-47 * Dvořák: Violin Concerto * Respighi: La boutique fantasque, ballet after Rossini

I realized at the end of the concert how poor my music vocabulary is. I will need to pick up a music theory book and fix that. It is frustrating to experience something and not be able to communicate it beyond cliches or analogies.

I am feeling well inspired to continue pursuing the fiddle at the very least.

Samantha, my instructor, made an observation during class today: "I play something, then you end up playing it back a little faster, then you play it again even faster." Fantastic observation and its cause, I suppose, is that most everything I do during the day is better if it is done faster: fixing bugs, writing code, running, translating Hindi, etc.

A couple of practice suggestions: - More bow! - Accent the downbeat of each measure to help internalize rhythm of music - Play through concentrating on dynamics in different areas

I feel my rhythm was worse this week since I used the metrenome much less (not at all). Need to make sure I bust it out and least once per song.

Songs I am working on: * Greenwood Tree (completely new, F, F# and G are new notes) * Song of the Wind (work on improving seperation of last F# and E on first measure) * Go Tell Aunt Rhody (dynamics)

Samantha encouraged me to try a new song this week: "Song of the Wind". The challenge with this song is holding position on the E string while moving to third position to get a D on the A string. It is a bit of a trick to touch A then E.

I have gotten much better at playing Go Tell Aunt Rhody working on dynamics to make sure I can differentiate the metzo-forte from the piano.

It is a joy to be able to pick up the instrument and just raddle off a couple of short songs while walking around. There is some tension that I might forget what I am doing but I find I actually play better when I am not paying close attention on those pieces that I have played dozens of time.

To get inspiration for moving onto Fiddle music I have started listening to The High Lonesome Sound by Old And In The Way. This is my first introduction to this band and it is a nice change of pace from techno and metal for work music.

Songs I am working on - Old And In The Way - Go Tell Aunt Rhody - Song of the Wind

This weeks songs: * Suzuki v1 Twinkle A, B * Struggling with Twinkle C, D * Gently row

Personal Advice * More bow! I have a problem not using enough bow

Practice tips * Go through the entire song practicing meter only on an open string * Practice with a metronome to iternalize divisions: 160bpm 1/16 notes, 80bpm 1/8 notes, 40 1/4 notes

Songs I am working on: * Aunty * Twinkle C, D * Warm-ups: Suzuki Twinkle A, B