One Hundred Days of Practice 2019 edition

Some thoughts:

100 days of practice within 365 days of 2019, or about 27% of the days of a year.

Longest break was just after the Rollick, from mid April to late May when I didn't practice for a month.

If I can do 100 days in 2019, I can do 180 days in 2020. That's my goal for 2020. 180 days out of 365 is about 49% of the days of a year, or just about every other day.

2019-12-30 - Day 100! - 6 days in a row
40 min

it's not a race; it's not the end but the beginning to a lifetime of choices and understanding
I've reached day 100, but there's still so much more to learn, so much more to put into words and into music.
Started with D major 2 octave scale with shifting on the E string
O Magnum Mysterium
Include all slurs whenever possible, all dynamics whenever possible, all rits and fermattas whenever possible
It's time to start working on the musicality of the piece
I'm landing the 1st shift, but still having minor issues with the double stops just before the 2nd hard shift and reaching high enough into that 2nd shift, but that can be practiced.
I understand what I need to do.
It's still beautiful, but what I'm bringing to it is a timing - expanding and contracting time as it is under my control, emoting and pulling back as the music demands.

2019-12-29 - Day 99
20 min

Short practice tonight cause I also went to hear Marley's show at 120 Diner.
Marley is really awesome! She's got this low voice, but she uses it in a way that's really mellow. Her music is a blend of all different kinds of sounds and genres. Sometimes it feels like a low-tempo soul-rap. She's got this baseline going strong and low, with beats, and she floats on top of it with her beautifully low voice, singing about love, self love, waking up in the morning. Really mellow but still with a lot of nerve and soul. My favourites were the song that sounded like James Bond, and the "Blitz" song. In the 2nd part of the show, there were some standouts, her final few songs with muslim elements were pretty amazing. Great show!
Tonight I took 20 min just to go through the 2 "hard shifts" and then added the double stops onto the 2nd shift. The composer intended probably that I use higher positions to pair up the D and the E, but I'm chosing to keep it simple and only double stop when I am able to - it sounds pretty cool, there's a 3 note stop that works really well because it uses the whole range of the instrument. Pretty amazing
It's hard, but as I have come to understand, learning new things just need a short, intense practice, but I can't do it for too long or I'll "overtrain" I guess.
I'm thinking up all the things I can do for the 100 day write-up that I'm posting. Still thinking about how to write it.

2019-12-28 - Day 98
40 min

D major scale, 2 octave with shifting
D major arpeggios / broken scales
tuning phrase (will I ever know...)
O Magnum Mysterium
The secret to the first Open A's is to start at the top of the bow, and not use too much pressure. I think I have a good beginning.
Don't hurry! Don't rush! This is a contemplative piece that already has intensities written into the music. Trust the composer and take his tempo
Have I already said? Each time I play this it sounds different because it's revealing my inner state. If I'm rushing it's because I feel anxious. If I sound robotic, it's because I am nervous about keeping time. If it sounds lush, it's because I am emotive and loving.
The 2nd part, I tried to get the higher notes, but decided against it. The positions are too high and it's hard to get the tuning right.
It's coming along. I'm getting closer and closer.
There's 2 notes that I'm conflicted about the timing for - I should take a listen at the original music versions to see what they did.
I almost hit that 2nd hard shift in the first part. I think I've been systematically hitting those 2 shifts in practice. Just don't be nervous and relax!

2019-12-27 - Day 97
40 min

I'm getting closer and closer
D major scale, tuning
2 octave D major scale, with classical shifting points on 3rd position A string over to 3rd position E string
O Magnum Mysterium run through, part A before the 2 bar rest
run through part B just to keep it in memory
finally got a good resolution for the final 3 notes, which is just 3 long notes. I am thinking of playing each note differently, resolving on the last one.
I recorded myself, need to listen to my own recording to hear my musical decisions, which isn't always easy to decipher after the fact!
I'm getting closer and closer and closer.

2019-12-26 - Day 96
50 min

D major scale, 2 octave
D major exercise
Started with regular fiddle, on O Magnum Mysterium
This song sounds really good on the regular fiddle, even though I enjoy playing it on the octave fiddle, it works better on the higher notes on this fiddle.
I remembered the little advice that I learned from Itzhak Perlman on a trial of Masterclass.com (I didn't end up subscribing, but the little bit I saw did help) - His advice was that every note has to have a core. No matter how strong or how softly you want to play the note, or how airy or whispy, you have to have a core, and that core is what makes the sound.
This advice is dead on - I tried to play softly, but there was no core so my sound was sliding around - once I started playing with a core sound, then I can put in the dynamics of soft or strong
This idea is so similar to Scott's emphasis that you can be quiet, but you have to have the intensity or the intension of a note. You can't be singing quietly and just back off all the way and make a weak sound. Quiet is not weak.
After putting this into practice, I did another "one take" of O Magnum Mysterium.
I'm dividing this song into 2 parts. The 2nd part has the shifts into higher positions that I'm not ready for yet.
This song is all about trust. Do you trust the sound you are making? Do you trust the shift that you are taking?
Landing that shift makes me so happy and it shows.
Ended the practice with a short go over of Prelude from Bach Cello Suite No. 1. I didn't complete the song - I think it's just so different, and in a totally different mindspace (and scale) from O Magnum that I can't switch without starting from scales and building up from there.
That's ok! I don't need to do everything in one day. I'm happy with my progress with O Magnum Mysterium and it's coming along.

2019-12-25 - Day 95
25 min

Merry Christmas!!!
25 min was all I think I could do in a hotel room in Ajax! I had the best sleep ever on their King bed and I'm really glad I shelled out for a hotel room to get out of the house for a day. I have the whole day free to go walk in parks and just lounge around and be restful
Short go over of Bach Prelude from No 1
Tiny memory exercise Sky Black Black
Bulk of the time was spent on O Magnum Mysterium.
Did a 1 take recording! Here is where I'm starting from. Hope to turn this into a musical piece by the end of the 12 days of Christmas

2019-12-22 - Day 94 - 6 days in a row
50 min

It was difficult to get motivated today
Slept in, had a mini sore throat, didn't feel like seeing anyone today so skipped church Christmas pagent
made a fuss with doing chores, laundry, anything to avoid practicing
maybe there's a post about overcoming procrastination or avoidance?
Either way, I dragged myself out of bed and got to my rehearsal space. There were people all around, but I didn't care. If they knocked and told me to pipe down I would have.
Started with a tune up, then G major scale
Octave violin with O Magnum Mysterium
Continuation where I left off yesterday
The first page is pretty much ready, there is that complicated shift near the end and a harmonic (which I don't know how to do) - so I decided to skip the harmonic, and just try to land that shift and hope for the best
Everytime I play it, the first section sounds a bit different. I think it's because the notes are so simple, you really have to put your intention into it in order to get the meaning across
I tried to record myself, but I keep tripping up on notes that I totally get once I turn off the recording, so I know I'm not ready
Also something to be said about not pushing yourself past a point if you're just not ready.
I think I need a few more days with this, to let it sit into my memory, and then recording will be less stressful.

2019-12-21 - Day 93 - 5 days in a row
60 min

all on octave violin
started with D major scale
memory exercise with Spotted Pony, Eighth of January
tuning phrase
Bach Prelude Cello Suite No 1, getting 1st 12-15 bars into muscle memory
took about 30 min on the prelude before getting a bit tired of it (it's still great!)
However, the next 30 min really surprized me.
Started Octave violin, O Magnum Mysterium
This time, I'm more confident about timing, bowing, both following the written bowing as well as inventing my own.
This time I followed the rits and the dynamic markings
OH MY - the dynamics really makes this piece come alive
I was totally laughing together with playing this piece.
That first time when I went through the whole piece. It was such a joy
I wanted to make a recording, but thought that the piece is so ephemeral I can't do it tonight.
Keep practicing this and make a recording before/by Christmas time.
Love love love this fiddle
That's what 30+ years of maturity does to a violin OH MY

2019-12-20 - Day 92
30 min

First time playing O Magnum Mysterium on the Octave violin
It's soulful, I'm reconnecting with the music, but I'm struggling. It's taking all my effort, all my technique, all of my will and restraint, all of my exuberance, all of myself to make a good sound with this violin. At the edge of all my technique and all of the violin's sound - it's the voice of a scrappy kid who grew up without a father to guide him, vowing to succeed, vowing to make this music sing.
I no longer blame the violin for being basic. That is its nature. I gave it a good home, and it's trying to pay me back, by being the best instrument it can be. And it still has music to give, after all these years.
I'm finding my practices shorter is best for learning new music, longer is best for practicing and building repretoire. Tonight is a short one, but oh my - I'm ~~on the verge of~~ crying.

2019-12-19 - Day 91
30 min

It's very cold outside today, around -10c, thankfully I have a warm place to sleep
Worked with the Octave violin all practice today
Started with D major scale, then some Old time tunes in D - Spotted Pony and Eighth of January memory exercise
G major scale, G broken scales/arpeggios
Resume learning Prelude from Bach Cello Suite No 1
Focussed on first 10 bars for getting the patterns into muscle memory
Most of it was just going over 2 bar repeated segments over and over and over again
Bach's pattern is really obvious, BUT the fingering pattern isn't obvious for the 3rd set, where on the violin, I have to change strings and change between a low two and a high two.
I'm cheating by using my unused first finger and "reassigning" the notes.
I think this is just remaining flexible, and not holding onto the idea that a particular finger is for a particular note, and just getting the note, rather than the finger.
Also, continued working on the last 12 bars with the awesome elation and intensity (I think those are the words I used last time, and I continue to feel this way about these 12 bars.)
The middle, I will just keep learning this piece, 10 bars at a time.
At some point, I'll have to integrate dynamics and fermattas, but for now that's not too big of a concern. For now, I'm figuring out notes, fingerings, and sensible bowings (the written bowings are kinda awkward for me for now.)

2019-12-18 - Day 90 - 10 days to go!!!
20 min

D major scale with mute
O Magnum Mysterium continue sightread
there's some 4th and 6th (and beyond) positions in this score! I'm going to have to take some time to figure out how that works!
Such a wonderful arrangement, full of space for the violinist to imagine what Lauridsen wants to do with the music. Some parts of it just wants to stretch time as far as possible. Remember the silences are as important as the sustained notes!
Showed A my violin score! she was very interested in seeing it. She's taking voice lessons with H
Goals for this Holiday season: 12 days of Christmas: Complete learning Bach Prelude from Cello suite No. 1 on octave fiddle, and learn O Magnum Mysterium on regular fiddle - how's that for a classical music challenge!
I'm going to start a new story page for the 12 days of Christmas for writing down progress and challenges, etc. Just how far can I push my musicality and technique? We'll find out! When does 12 days of Christmas start anyways?
LOL a quick google search says it starts Dec 25, and ends on Jan 5

2019-12-17 - Day 89
30 min

O Magnum Mysterium is here!!
Started sightreading
The timing is trickier than I expected, fermata's everywhere!
The music is so beautiful
my fiddle loves this music!

2019-12-15 - Day 88
45 min

felt really overwhelmed today probably due to too much "people time" over the last few days
went home, and started practicing
G Major scale, getting tuning accurate
4 notes, and then 8 notes per bow
Went down in the weeds and did some (re)learning for the first 12 bars of Bach Cello Suite No. 1. - you have to be willing to sound bad before you sound good!
Bach's a genius
the whole piece is just so beautiful
played on the octave violin
practiced the first 12 bars, and the last 12 bars of the piece.
The middle section needs a bit of exposition and learning, but I'll do that next.
I'm focussed on getting the airy feel of the first 12 bars, and the elation and intensity of the last 12 bars today.
More to come on this Cello Suite 1! I hope to learn it in full by end of year. I'm following along on Inbal Segev's masterclass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eueVozXhFz0 - She really is an emotive and intelligent musician at the same time!
Practicing makes me feel better already!

2019-12-14

really wanted to practice, but my regular rehearsal space had lots of activity and other groups meeting so I skipped
I got to hear Univox sing Sure on this Shining Night, and Sarah Quartel's Winter song series. Also got to hear an African American Kwanzai themed composition, and that was really spiritual
Loved the whole Univox concert!

2019-12-13 - Day 87
60 min

D minor scale
Paddy on the Turnpike review
Almost getting better with intonation and tuning
Played at medium speed, and then at slow speed to get all the tuning right and all the string crossings clean
played Floteren from memory.
decided to read music, and LOL! I memorized it in the wrong key!
switched to the right notes and it sounds pretty good
I'm getting the low strain better in tune. still difficult though - E major has some weird finger positions
Switched over to the Octave violin - I haven't tuned it in a long time and it was badly out of tune
Sightreading exercise of Cello Prelude No. 1
Such a beautiful piece of music
the last 15 bars of buildup is just the most incredible most beautiful buildup ever. It naturally wants to crecendo and pull back as if the music is written that way without even marking dynamics, the way it flows on the bow just makes it want to grow and swell
I need to learn this for real for the last bit of 2019!
I still have a lot of tension in my shoulders and need to really relax. I learned this season that relaxing makes my playing better in so many ways, so keeping that tension is just cramping my sound. Relax!

2019-12-12 - Day 86
30 min

sick today, stayed home
almost didn't practice
however, I felt that this was an important thing to achieve, so I got a little bit of practice time in
D minor Scale
Paddy on the Turnpike at 2 different speeds: medium and slow
really tried to listen and clean up my string crossings
my e string needs to be changed I think - it's squealing more and more
I really needed to focus to get my tuning back in order in D minor. Probably because I have the least amount of time in this scale, my tuning is all over the map.
Finished practice with a few playthroughs of the tuning phrase
All in all, the practice is an important part of how I approach life now - it's become a habit, and I feel calmer, more in control of my life after practicing
Maybe that's how it's supposed to work?

2019-12-11 - Day 85
25 min

I think the last few weeks have been really intense, with preparing for the fiddle party, the East End Choir concert, and then with helping the orchestra with their mics
I'm all tapped out so didn't have too much energy to practice
Went over D minor scale
2 playthroughs of Paddy on the Turnpike - starting to feel good about this piece but my energy level is low so didn't have the feel, more about getting the notes in muscle memory than musicality
Memory exercise for Spotted Pony, Eighth of January
Finished with the tuning phrase
I'm all tapped out tonight, and also surprisingly tense tonight. I couldn't relax my left shoulder no matter what I tried.
Time to take a nap I guess.

2019-12-10
volunteer hours

helped the Toronto Community Orchestra with their concert
lots of familiar tunes
Carmen was a really fun opera!
Their concertmaster and conductor both had their last concert with the TCO. There's a new conductor incoming, who has worked with the orchestra before
Not sure who their new concertmaster is

2019-12-08 - Day 84
20 min

One of the most musically intense days this year!
Fiddle party - played Dusty Miller, Old Joe Clark, Skittles at Buckley Bay, and did a pretty good playthrough of Trebulianka!
I hit the 3rd position shift in Trebulianka! It feels really good to get that shift, like the finger just sinks in and the bow digs in and finding that right note come in - it's one of the best feelings in the world!
One thought I had is that by the time performance time rolls around, all the hard work had already been done, and what's left is to enjoy the experience.
Ajineen and the group and I spent a lot of work getting those pieces together, and it shows! I really like the whole fiddle party.
I didn't stay very long because I had a call time for the East End United Christmas Concert!
The concert had some really moving pieces - as a whole group we had to be quiet and grow intensity. I think we achieved that - it was a difficult program though but we pulled it off, but with one boo boo - our half of the choir went up to the loft a little bit early! But I think it's fine. Just part of the show!
With that, we wrap up Day 84. I'd like to finish out the 100 days and then send my fiddle into the luthier to be checked over for an annual inspection, to make sure all is right with my musical partner.

2019-12-07 - Day 83
45 min

final group class before the fiddle party!
it was a good rehearsal of all songs that we are playing: Dusty Miller, Old Joe Clark, Skittles at Buckley Bay
I'm really super impressed at the music that the entire class makes! I am not the only voice (and neither is Ajineen the only other voice) - now there are 4 people playing together plus a piano and it's really awesome how well we fit together, pick up after each other when we make mistakes, and (eventually) tune together after a few playthroughs.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow!

2019-12-06 - Day 82
15 min

played at an open mic with MLT
Fun times! Easygoing crowd, no pressure. It was fun!

2019-12-04 - Day 81
45 min

lesson at Ajineen's
both our violins had loosened strings! must be the weather.
My A string and E string came loose, and we spent a few min just getting everything back in tune
Practice/Review Trebulianka with piano. It sounds pretty great!
Practice/Review Paddy on the Turnpike, also with piano
We spend a good amount of time getting Part B (high strain) back in tune. My hand shape was moving around a bit too much and that's causing my 2nd finger intonation to move all over the map.
Hoping to practice this some more to get it ready for the fiddle party!
Key to playing these tunes is to relax! Don't stress out and the tune will come! Relax! no pressure, no worries!

2019-12-03 - Day 80!
45 min

review before fiddle party
G minor, A minor, D minor scales
Review Trebulianka - getting ok!
Review Paddy on the Turnpike - getting there. I can hit all the notes if I relax and don't freak out!
Review Dusty Miller - especially the last system, the newest part that we learned last class.
Just gotta relax! It's going to be fun playing these tunes!

2019-11-30 - Day 79 - 3 days in a row
45 min

group class with Ajineen, B, A, MLT
Great review of all songs
Dusty Miller, learn the 3rd system - a variation of the timing but very similar
Dusty Miller sounds amazing! Very lone ranger, very much want to crack a whip when playing this
Old Joe Clark + variations sounds really good - I like the piano accompanyment
Skittles is probably our best song - B picked up after all of us today! :D
Gave MLT the fiddlerman bow - she seems to like it and I can tell the bow wants to be with her.

2019-11-29 - Day 78
20 min

quick review of Skittles, Old Joe Clark, Old Joe Clark variations
go through Dusty Miller with the tricky timing.

2019-11-28 - Day 77
45 min

class at Ajineen's
I like the cat!
Practiced Paddy on the Turnpike, got a good speed going
Practiced Trebulianka, main comments are tuning and using lighter even bows. There are runs where I'm putting too much stress, and too much unevenness, so Ajineen showed me to lighten but also to make the notes the same / even when the music calls for it.
Tuning is still difficult with these minor tunes.

2019-11-24 - Day 76
60 min

G, D major 2 octave, D minor scales, broken scales/arpegios, A minor scales, broken scales/arpegios, E major scales
Will I ever... tuning phrase
Spotted Pony memory exercise
Practiced Trebulianka and get it up to performance speed. The tricky part is the 4th finger - I slow down because there's not enough time to move the fourth finger from closed in beside my 3rd out to reach that note
Listened to some versions of Trebulianka online - one is pretty close to my version!
Practiced Paddy on the Turnpike. This tune still eludes me. The fingering is ok, just that I forget I'm in minor and my fingers automatically want to go to the major scale during the runs!
Finished with some sightreading of Fløteren, it's also got this weird lifted 3rd and lifted 4th from the E major scale, which I've never done before so it's a bit awkward. Needs more practice.

2019-11-17 - Day 75
60 min

Practiced scales
Go over Trebulianka - this one I still need some work on it
Go over Paddy on the Turnpike
Learned Fløteren by Norwegian Annbjørg Lien as taught by Brittany Haas on Peghead Nation. I really like this tune! and it sounds pretty good already.

View this post on Instagram

New songs are old songs. First part of Fløteren by Norwegian Annbjørg Lien as taught by Brittany Haas on Peghead Nation. Originally on the hardanger fiddle.

A post shared by jlin (@deaffiddler) on Nov 17, 2019 at 8:11pm PST

2019-11-16 - Day 74
45 min

group class with Ajineen
went over the tricky timing of Dusty Miller!

2019-11-14 - Day 73
60 min

one of the best practices so far
I wanted to try something different for my practice
spent almost 30 min on scales alone
focussed on G major scale, 2 octave on all 4 strings
gradually sped up until I could play all 2 octaves up and down on a single bow! This is something I've never even tried before and I am really excited about scales!
G minor scale, not as fast because I don't have it all in muscle memory yet
D major 2 octave scale with 3rd position on E string - I practiced the shift from 2nd on first over to 1st on 3rd until I could feel myself getting it right
I LOOOOVE SCALES
C Major scale
Practiced Skittles at a fast pace. Faster than I've ever played it
Practiced Old Joe Clark
Learned / Practiced the first 2 systems of Dusty Miller - what an awesome tune!
I didn't have much time left for Trebulianka and Paddy on the Turnpike but I did go over the tunes at least once
Ended with the softest version of my tuning phrase I've ever played.
It was a fullfilling practice session! May there be many more like this.

2019-11-09 - Day 72
45 min

group lesson with Ajineen
practiced Skittles, Old Joe Clark + Shuffle variation
learned first few systems of Dusty Miller - it's a great low tune that is C major I think
the strings held up - no buzzing, but I think I still want to replace my e string.

2019-11-06 - Day 71 - 5 days in a row!
45 min

lesson with Aj!
I got surprised by Sadie, Ajineen's cat!
go over Paddy on the Turnpike, need to go faster!
go over Trebulianka - need to practice the last part a bit more to get the fingering right
need to get my A string redone - it's buzzing a little bit

20 min

changed G, D strings to new Passione's I still like Passione's for these 2 strings
need to get a new E - I think I can stay with the Evah Perazzi E - Gold version
need to start looking for a new A - maybe try something from the D'Dario line, the Pro Arte maybe. MLT has them and they are pretty good.

2019-11-05 - Day 70
20 min

short practice tonight, don't have too much energy after the last few days of performing and recording
G minor scale
Paddy on the Turnpike go over
got 1st phrase ready
re-learned the 2nd phrase - it's starting to get there, but I can still feel some hesitation because some of the fingering is still new
that's all I have to give tonight! and that's ok!

2019-11-04 - Day 69
2 hours

practice and record first phrase of Pas de Deux from Nutcracker with SR
her piano skills are really great!
I only learned one phrase so we just kept practicing that until we have it down - I even memorized it!
really beautiful piece!

2019-11-03 - Day 68
20 min

performance at SoundCrowd Cabaret with MLT!!!
played Skittles at Buckley Bay at moderately fast pace
we started a bit too fast, I was trying to go slower but we just kept trucking along
when the audience started clapping it was good, but it meant we were committed
I was trying to slow down but that confused the audience so I had to keep going
the last third like was super awesome at tempo!
we had a great time!!

2019-11-02 - Day 67
45 min

Group class
Clean up Skittles song
Clean up Old Joe Clark and the shuffle time variation
learned new tune, C major using some D minor notes - it's a great song!

60 min

practice with MLT, cleaned up the Skittles song for performance on Sunday evening with the SoundCrowd cabaret
great go over
find out more about her fiddle

2019-10-31 - Day 66
45 min

lesson at Aj's today
clean up Trebulianka
clean up 1st part of Paddy on the Turnpike
learn 2nd part of Paddy
G minor scale go over

60 min

Great choice to go practicing at CSI since when I came home, there was a power outage at home, on Halloween Night - there must be something more than coincidence here ......
Just played around for the first time in a long while
no real practice agenda, no real piece to learn
G minor, A minor, D major scales
Played the tuning song for the first time in a long while
Learned the beginning of Tsaikovsky's Nutcracker Pas de Deux - such a beautiful song! Does anyone know why Tsaikovsky wrote music in French? I thought he was Russian.
Really jammed out on Spotted Pony and a few of the old time tunes
Changed G to A for Spotted Pony
Crossed to DDAD tuning for go over of two foundational tunes for me: Washington's March and Bonapart's Retreat. such great tunes.
Falling in love with my fiddle again, for the first time, in a long while.

2019-10-30 - Day 65
1 hr

first real practice in a few weeks!
went through D major scale, 2 octave
focus this session was getting Skittles at Buckley Bay cleaned up for our performance this Sunday
questions and explorations on pacing, timing, bpm's, stresses and accents, doublestops and/or just play it clean and good
I'm starting to feel good about the 3rd line where there is a ton of string changes
almost totally off book for this piece
Planned a practice session on saturday evening
A minor + Trebulianka practice to keep it in muscle memory
what is 1 flat sign? it appears to be F major?? Paddy on the Turnpike practice - I can now loop the first phrase - it's difficult but sounds pretty good on my fiddle
I used OBS this time to stream the practice to Twitch - it worked better than I expected!

2019-10-26 - Day 64
45 min

group class!!
go over Skittles, Old Joe Clark
learned Old Joe Clark variations
lent fiddlerman carbon fiber bow to MLT

2019-10-23 - Day 63
45 min

class at Ajineen's
practiced A minor scale, G minor scale
went over Trebulianka, glad that the muscle memory is still sticking
learned first few lines of new song in G minor
email conversations with MLT re our playing of Skittles - try 90 bpm, both of us on melody, see how it goes!

2019-10-19
45 min

group class at GAS
MLT mentioned Mixolydian Mode, and how it pertains to songs we're learning now. I haven't got a clue what she's talking about :D
continue polishing Skittles, learn full phrasing for Old Joe Clark
I find myself singing Grainne's tune to myself - it's a great little tune

2019-10-16
45 min

lesson at Ajineen's
polish up Trebulianka
need fine tuning for A minor
new scale! F major
new tune! F major is really fun but also quite hard to get in tune!

2019-10-14
10 min

car practice in the back seat
parking lot of the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport by Oro Station
very short go over of Grainne's The Woe of It.
Happy Thanksgiving!

2019-10-13
60 min

G major, A minor, A major, D major scales
re-cap Skittles song
re-cap Old Joe Clark
re-cap Treblianka, full song play through
continue sight-reading Canon in D
There's a new part of the Canon that's utterly beautiful but I've been skipping it all this time. Here's to discovering new things in old music.

45 min

Gráinne Brady teaches The Woe of It on fiddle-online
learning the lower part (which is same notes as higher part but we didn't go into it this session)
slow Jig
great tune! 6/8, swing
Gráinne has a really laid back teaching style - great teacher who goes slowly and gives a lot of repetitions for us to play along. She likes play alongs rather than single performances.
She really comes alive when watching people finger and bow together with her playing.

2019-10-12
45 min

Full house group lesson! 4 fiddles + Aj's fiddle!
Skittles song is great!
lots of string changes, tuning matched up in the end, and it sounded really great!
speed it up a bit and try to get it off book
started learning new tune

60 min late night practice

G major, A minor, D major scale practice
some memory exercise for Spotted Pony, First of January
Re-learn Skittles song slowly, that third line is full of string changes that has to be clean! It's really good string change practice between the A and E
practiced our new song Old Joe Clark (It's election weekend in Canada so we were joking about this in class!)
Practiced full tune for Trebelianka, was able to get through one full playthrough with repeats without having to stop for corrections
SIGHT-READ CANON IN D - especially the parts I didn't learn!!!
String Space's solo Canon in D is really helpful - the parts with the rests are just as important as the voiced parts!! I need to get the internal rhythm going with this tune.

2019-10-09
45 min

lesson with Ajineen today
worked through problem spots for Trebulianka
1st finger tuning! Don't get tricked by the high and regular 1st fingerings!
3rd position tuning also needs some work

2019-10-05
45 min class + 45 min practice

Group class
finished Skittles song
holy string transitions! E to A and back to E.
my 3rd finger on e is a little bit flat for some reason. I'm not sure why my hand shape is changing?
tricky, I need that extra 45 min practice after class in order to get it worked out in my head
I need to work a lot more at getting the A string to voice because of my string setup - it's a lot of work, but it sounds pretty good once I get the string to move.
I realised this tune was a lot harder than I thought it was!
This class was challenging because of the string transition in time in the tune. hopefully we all made it through this class. Not every class is going to be easy, I need to be more forgiving to myself and my instrument, as well as the people in the group and my teacher. Not sure if I was being as kind as I usually am but I hope we all are doing well with our learning!

2019-09-28
45 min

GROUP LESSONS!! I love the feel and sound of playing in a group
Learned a wonderful new song
Want to try to learn it by memory
What a great return to group lessons!

2019-09-25
45 min

lesson at Ajineen's
finished learning Trembulianka
some tricky bowing needs refinement
A minor scale still needs work on intonation/tuning
let go of the first 3 fingers in order to reach that fourth
third position! on e string
I think my e-string is starting to go, probably need a replacement soon

2019-09-23

stayed up way too late watching music theory videos.
um... A minor is the same as C major??? No wonder the key signature for this song has no sharps nor flats.
I really need to get my music theory under control
I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to theory.

2019-09-22
60 min

G, D, A scales
Started getting A minor scale working
A minor broken chord fingerings?
Trembulianka first 2 sections playthrough. The double upbow thing is getting into muscle memory
Practiced Spotted Pony, Eighth of January
Also tried to stream to Discord, but I'm not sure if my mic setup is right. Someone said it was dropping out and I didn't notice until the end (I didn't look at the channel for a while)

2019-09-18
45 min

First lesson of the Season!
It was great playing with Ajineen again!
A minor ! New Scale!!!
Started learning Trembulianka a Ukranian song
There's a double downbow stroke that I've never done before and we spent a good 10 min just going through that bow stroke.
It sounds really cool and it's something I haven't encountered before!
Group lessons start in 2 weeks!!!

2019-09-15
70 min

G major, D major, A major scales
Started the Granddaddy of all exercises: Schradieck 1
Following With Nicky Basics of the left hand
4th finger stiffness on release
Spent a good 10 min just getting the 4th finger under control
I can see that I need more work on this, but it's really intense and I have to think so much to maintain control
Continue trying to relax both shoulders
Getting ready for class next week!

2019-09-12
45 min

first real practice after coming back from Vancouver
first real practice of the season
new classes and new group classes start next week
looking forward to learning new things
during the summer break, I got more confident in my sound, with my vibrato in particular. it wasn't there before, but now imperceptibly, it's starting to grow.
in order to complete 100 days of practice in 2019, I have to practice every other day until December 31, 2019. :D

2019-08-10
5 min

back to Vancouver on vacation
talking to my sister about playing and listening to music while wearing hearing aids
discussed the "warble"
watched youtube video about Tartini tones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPGA2pkrabU

2019-08-05
EPIC 6 HOUR RECORDING SESSION for Canon in D

of course we took breaks!
played through the Canon with S
3rd position start with shifting, fourth finger when I could, and a lot of open strings
cut out a lot of the song since I wasn't confident in the "fast" parts of the song
there was one practice take where I was sweating so much I couldn't open my eyes and I found I could play the first 15-20 bars of the piece from memory! I wish to do more off book playing in the next 1/2 of the year.
It was a great experience and a good resting place for now. I'd still like to learn the rest of the song but that can be a 1 year goal for the end of 2019.

2019-07-29
90 min

more scales!
review Canon in D
recorded tuning phrase

2019-07-27
80 min

Back to the midnight sessions at CSI RP
Basic Scales - all the scales. G, D (2 octave, 3rd position), A. Broken scales, 1-4 notes per bow
I joked on someone's insta comment that I'm a Basic Dude cause I need to do my basic scales. It's kinda true - I just really need to do these scales!
More scales! Did I say more scales!!? I'm so excited!!
Also did some basic work on D major 3rd position on both A and E strings. At the end of the practice I feel more confident with 3rd position on A, which is used very often on the Canon in D
Practiced Canon in D, memorized the first 2 slow parts. Getting the fast part 3 into muscle memory.
Ventured into the high notes near the end of the piece. It's coming together. I'm skipping a lot of parts though.

2019-07-24
10 min

I know, I know! 10 min is a really short practice!
I just got my Blazin' Fiddles Tunebooks 1 and 2 in the mail today, so I noodled around trying some tunes.
For me, these books are more about listening to tunes rather than learning them, since they come from the body of work that the Blazin' Fiddles group played on their early records, so each tune and set have a corresponding version on their CD's. A lot of familiar tunes done fast, and slow.
Excited to listen to more tunes - it's like remedial class on what a Scottish fiddle player would have been listening to growing up.

2019-07-12
45 min

Canon in D on regular fiddle
trying to refine and figure out how to finish the piece.
the last section goes into higher positions and it's hard for me to get intonation right there.
single finger scale exercises to get used to positions.

2019-06-20
60 min

practice Canon in D

2019-06-25
45 min

Spent all this session with the Octave violin
Got my bow back from Heinl's with their premium rehair - excellent work as usual
Getting smoother with Canon in D, almost ready to proceed onward to the last few sections
The 3rd position shifts are coming a bit easier, still a bit rough but I think I'm getting there

2019-06-22
60 min

I sent my main bow in to be rehaired so I used my IncrediBow for this practice. It works well and sounds better than I remember
Review of Canon in D, first few parts, and started drilling the fast portions of the song, especially there's an E string to D string change that needed a bit of work.
Starting to sound better. I just need to play this at a slow tempo because it actually sounds pretty good at a slower pace.

2019-06-16
1 hr

fiddle tunes practice: The Butteryfly
Canon in D practice
Went through all of first 3 sections
moderate memorization exercises

2019-06-15
1 hr

Canon in D practice with S
I really enjoy playing with her

2019-06-11
15 min

restarted learning Canon in D
listening to the London Symphony Orchestra version
watch Beth Blackerby's learning videos
start figuring out how the LSO version fits into the sheet music.

2019-06-02
1hr

Fiddle Party!
Played 2 duets with ML, and 2 tunes with Ajineen (Tra Veglia e Sonno, Red Haired Boy)
It was great to hear all the songs I've learned through the years
Loved hearing all the kids play!
Hopefully we'll get two more adult learners in our group fiddle class!

2019-05-27

Played about 15 minutes for a community meeting at EUC/East End United.
Mix of old and new songs.
Some I knew really well, and some I didn't quite remember!
It was very fun!
I completely went off from my planned well currated song list and started doing random tunes!
It's good to have some ready tunes in my head to play on the spot. I need more of those kinds of tunes.

2019-05-22

I've dropped off practice time after returning from the Rollick. Mostly just to decompress and to let myself take a short practice sabbatical. Is that even a thing?
I started putting together a set list for a 10-15 min mini-performance as pre-show welcoming music for a community oriented meeting.
Set list:

Tuning Phrase - slow romantic song - Starts on D, ends on D string open

Eighth of January, start on 1st finger on E, ends on D string open.

Spotted Pony - starts slow, ends fast - starts on D string open, ends on 3rd on A

Talk a bit to change the mood -0- change music

Red Haired Boy - fast song starts with 1 on D, ends with open A

Cluck Old Hen, mid-fast, ends with blues scale. BIG change in pacing - starts with open E, ends with G.

Extra song Mcfall’s March, slow song, starts on D string open, ends on G open

Probably around 10-15 min in total.

It was interesting seeing how one tune ends and how the next one might start - I was looking for similar key and feel/tone of the music. There's going to be an abrupt change going from spotted pony into red haired boy, and I haven't figured out how to make that change yet.

2019-03-27
45 min

class with Ajineen
played through Tra Veglia e Sonno all repeats all parts, with Ajineen on harmony, beautiful piece of music
learned melody and harmony of St. Timothy's march
learned 4 bars of Redhead boy

90 min

violin playalong of Dear Evan Hansen for note plunking
completed first section playthrough of Shetland Nights
practice Redhead boy
tuning phrase practice
Prep for Old Time Rollick, Becca's song, cross tuned to ADAE with double stops, memory exercise

2019-03-23
30 min

practiced both melody and harmony parts of St. Timothy's March with ML
it turns out our music books had different arrangements of the same tune!

2019-03-17
45 min

Back at CSI RP!
"Spider" or "Pterodactyl" bow climbing exercise on instagram
Since it's St. Patrick's day, I reviewed all the Irish songs I learned
also reviewed Westphalia Waltz from memory
played Tra Veglia e Sonno from memory (with bad timing ;)
reviewed tuning phrase
played Eighth of January, both Becca's and Bruce's versions from memory. The bow climbing exercise worked! I found my bow hold changing "up stick" for the old time music to get the old timey feel. I think this bow hold will be where I'm most comfortable for old time music.

2019-03-16
45 min

G major, G minor scales
D major 2 octave + shifting scales
tuning phrase bowing exercise
Tra Veglia e Sonno practice
Westphalia Waltz
Old time tunes, Eighth of January memory exercise
attempted to do caterpiller, having trouble getting bow back up!
First time back at CSI RP in a long while. Feels good.

2019-03-13
15 min

Shetland nights memory exercise

2019-03-09
80 min - Part 1

fiddle retreat at the Fat Squirrel out near Kawartha's
I think I'm going to make this a regular thing - I really like the place and the host Tracey is really great!
G major, minor scales
Tuning phrase
Tra Veglia e Sonno review - I think I'm over working this tune so I might just leave it for a while
Went backwards through our repertoire and did almost all the songs we learned just to get it back in tune
the squirrels and birds really liked the songs :)
sightreading exercise with St. Timothy's March and Mairis' Wedding, both are great familiar Irish tunes that allow for a large pallet of emotions. These songs will be important for collaborating with ML

80 min - Part 2

"With Nicky" vibrato part 1, getting that "pulling back" movement does feel unnatural but I think I should give it a slow go for at least a few weeks, taking Nicky's advice of putting a timer on it and doing it consistently during practice
learned a few more bars of Shetland nights, got the low strain transition back to the high strain worked out
DDAD practice for Washington's March and Bonaparte's Retreat

2019-03-06
45 min

lesson with Ajineen
went over g minor scale
Tra Veglia e Sonno all parts, all repeats
my efforts to improve timing on A and B parts worked out - I can play with Ajineed on the harmony in time. Part C (the dream sequence) still needs a bit of timing work, especially with the dotted quarter notes - need to hold those for the time indicated

2019-03-05
30 min

probably the longest stretch without practicing this year
G major/minor scales
memory exercise with some ashokan tunes
double stop exercise
tuning song
Tra Veglia full song, all repeats
Westphalia Waltz
more ashokan tunes, with double stops
"Will I ever..." memory exercise

2019-02-23
30 min

back to 30 min practices
G minor scale
Tra Veglia e Sonno taking into account Ajineen's comments on my timing - extending whole notes to its fullest extent, taking up all the time it needs, being confident. But also short notes need to be exactly short as written, long notes need to be long
feeling a bit more about the timing, it really makes the piece work
Sky Black Black memory exercise

2019-02-20

45 min lesson
first lesson in about 3 weeks
lots of corrective measures needed on my timing in Tra Veglia. Most noticibly the full bar length whole notes, as well as the dotted quarters. When we did a note by note exercise, it worked and made sense, but when playing normally, I tended to shorten the whole notes, and drag the dotted quarters.
need to be more aware of counting

2019-02-13
45 min
Out of all the days, there's bound to be ups and downs. Today was a down. It was a great sunny day and I had gone out to dim sum with my family and had a great time at brunch. I wanted to come back home to practice and I didn't expect my mood to turn down.

I did the usual tuning exercises and phrases, played the scales as usual. But today didn't feel like I usually do. I didn't feel like the fiddle was cheering me up. I played Tra Veglia e Sonno but I didn't have the same expressiveness as yesterday. I kept messing up my forth finger intonation.

Out of the mess of notes, I started playing McFall's March. It has special meaning to me because it was the tune I was learning when I got word of my grandmother being sick at the hospital, and it was the tune I listened to when I flew back to Taiwan, not knowing what awaited me there.

I managed to see my grandmother one last time before she passed. When she passed away, I played McFall's March on the fiddle my grandfather and grandmother gave to me.

Today is the first time since her passing that I played this tune. This time on my regular fiddle.

It felt smoother than before. It's like this tune will forever be associated with the spirit of my grandmother. When I play it I feel a bit sad, but at the same time, thankful for her gifts and her life.

After understanding this, I couldn't play any other tunes from my regular suite of tunes. I crosstuned over to DDAD and played Washington's March, and that managed to cheer me up. I'm still a bit teared up. It's mysterious how something like our mood can change so quickly.

I remember my grandmother, and let McFall's March be my prayer for her.

2019-02-12
60 min

tuning exercise
Will I ever... tuning phrase
double stops
G major scale, broken scale
G minor scale
Tra Veglia e Sonno full song, all parts, all repeats
Starting to get part 3 into muscle memory - this tune is coming along very well
Westphalia Waltz
La Bastringue full song, both parts, up to speed
Going backwards through the previous songs I've learned
Howie Macdonald's Cape Breton Jigs, starting with Lay Herring in Salt
Merrily Kiss the Quaker, Ragtime Annie (still difficult!), Sleep Soond in da mornin', June Apple into Hobart's Transformation, Rakes of Kildare, Kesh Jig into Swallow's Tale (still one of my favourites and my fiddle loves this tune), Tenpenny Bit (very hard to get into tune), and Lannigan's Ball (another of my favourites)
End with Cluck Ol' Hen and blues scale - which is the coolest tune I know
After playing 60 min practice sessions, I suddenly realised why I don't have a repertoire. It's only in the 60 min sessions that I'm able to not just learn new tunes, but also review old tunes and get them in better shape, in better tune, and in better tempo and feeling. It really is a big difference going from mainly 30 min practices to 60 min practices. It makes a huge difference.
The goal for this year is to get a repertoire in memory.

2019-02-11
60 min

tuning exercise
G major scales, broken scales
La Bastringue, both slow and fast sections back into muscle memory
Westphalia Waltz
G minor scale
Tra Veglia e Sonno all parts, all repeats
3 songs from Ashokan retreat
first 3 bars of Shetland Nights - going to the high strain. Finally got the lower parts figured out and the "loop de loop" to go up high is brilliantly composed.
Finally making a little bit of progress on Shetland Nights, looking forward to more

2019-02-09
60 min

DDAD cross tuning exercises
Irish version of Bonaparte's Retreat
Washington March
Back to standard tuning
G major, G minor scales
3 songs from Ashokan last year
good practice of Tra Veglia e Sonno
Great run of Westphalia March
getting the fast portion of La Bastringue back into muscle memory
Starting to figure out the bottom fast run of first few bars of shetland night

2019-02-07
30 min

G major scales
double stop exercises
Will I Ever Know... exercise
Cross Tune to DDAD
Irish version of Bonaparte's Retreat from memory
Found this wonderful version from Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, who founded and run the Ashokan Centre. Feeling very thankful to have found them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPr4f-5T1kw

2019-02-06
20 min

fine tuning of new A string
Scale exercises G, G minor, D 2 octave, A
string crossing exercise
small memory exercise
I like the new A string. It holds the note better.

2019-02-03
60 min

best practice in a long while
in a hotel room, in the middle of the day
Changed A String from Passione (gut) to Evah Pirazzi Gold, bought at Heaney Violins, who were very friendly
The A Passione was starting to show some tiredness, constantly going out of tune, and showing fraying at the part where the string meets the bridge, so I thought I should change it
Tuning, G major scales, double stops, G minor scale
Tra Veglia e Sonno full song practice, with all repeats
Getting part one really in memory, starting to get into the emotion of the piece
Part 2 of the song is in the muscle memory phase, there's one small string change that I can't reliably get - I can get it if I really focus, but it's not all the way in my memory yet
Part 3 is still in the learning phase
Also practiced La Bastringue and Westphalia Waltz at about 50% speed - both needs a lot of fine tuning work to get it back to speed.

2019-01-31
15 min

tuning
Eighth of January memory exercise
First bar of Shetland Night

2019-01-30
15 min
SFO trip day 1

tune up after flight and traveling
played with mute on
G minor scale
one single run through Tre Veglia e Sonno, no repeats
first bar of Shetland Night review

2019-01-28
30 min

strings might need changing. the A string didn't fare too well in the changing temperature and humidity as we head into deep winter. I kept having to retune. I think I am due for a string change since it's been about six months since I got these strings.
due to the constant retuning, I had to do more scales to get myself back in tune G major, G minor, D major 3 octave scales
Tra Veglia e Sonno full song with full repeats
try to get Shetland Night back in my finger memory
Need to make decision about Fiddle & Sails, or to go on Scotland walking tour. Not sure which one, but space and time is filling up.

2019-01-22
30 min

it seems like forever since I had a fiddle practice.
G minor scale 2 octave
Tra Veglia e Sonno full song 3/3 parts with full repeats.
time to get back on the routine

2018-01-21

Soundcrowd rehearsal
MJ Medley, Signed Sealed Delivered review

2018-01-19

SoundCrowd On Broadway Concert!!!!!!
Sang with former Les Miserable cast members!!!!
What a great show
Favourite tunes were Hello, Gold, You Can't Stop the Beat

2019-01-14

SoundCrowd rehearsal before show
still a lot of memorisation to do

2019-01-10

Soundcrowd extra rehearsal at Robin's

2019-01-09

Lesson with Ajineen
practiced 1,2 parts of Veglia e Sonno
learned 3rd part of Veglia e Sonno
chromatic scale runs
ANNUAL HEARING TEST!!! PASSED WITH BOTH GOOD AND BAD NEWS.

2019-01-08

Soundcrowd Bass/Tenor sectionals

2019-01-07

Soundcrowd rehearsal night

2019-01-06

skip day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VIN1uc-pns

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/the-irish-rock-legend-youve-never-heard-of-35529271.html

I never really got this song until I watched Fergus and read the story written after his passing.

2019-01-05
45 min

First few bars of Shetland Night by Blazin' Fiddles. Learning by ear.
This was so much fun! I love this arrangement! Most fun I've had in 2019!
Liberal use of the Amazing Slow Downer to get the notes in the runs.
I need to get a better feel for bowing, which is harder to listen for.
Notes for this tune

2019-01-04
10 min

1st/3 Tra Veglia e sono memory exercise
2nd/3 read playthrough
got the first third playable from memory
need to get this ready for class next wednesday
do a recording tomorrow at csi

2019-01-03
5 min

5 bars of Tra veglia e sono while the chicken cooks in the red wine

2019-01-02
30 min

G minor scales
G minor broken scales
slight memory exercise with 5 bars of Westphalia Waltz

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsJ6_BOgOyP