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)