Practice 2023

Reverse chronological diary of my practice year.

2023-08-21
It's been too long since an update. I haven't practiced for 3 weeks and I'm kinda procrastinating.

2023-02-10 - time off

took time off from the fiddle
found a great Bandura Waltz from Sloohai, a Ukrainian Canadian band from Winnipeg

2023-02-02 - 15 min

IV.1-9 exercise
IV.11-16 - these are the strangest notes I've ever played! How weird! what a strange exercise!

Bow Energy - exploratory

2023-02-01 - 45 min class

relearned the timing of Bandura
completed learning this tune!
it sounds really great!
going to learn the harmony part next, but it'll be a few weeks.
The Count's name is "Count von Count"

Bow energy: strong and steady

2023-01-30 - 25min

this weekend and week have been tough.
feeling down and not motivated to play but managed to get the fiddle tuned
and then started with Schradieck IV.1-9, 4 notes per bow, and then to 10 and 11 (which are really wacky)
replayed from memory exercise for A and B of Prayerful Hymn - the 4th finger unison is starting to get somewhere.
Today I learned that I don't have to be great. I don't have to get better. All I need to do is to play the fiddle exactly as I am, and some days, that's enough.

bow energy: the bow wants to cheer me up.

2023-01-28 - 30 min

skipped a day yesterday
Schradieck IV.1-9, with 1,2,4 notes per bow
I'm starting to work on tonality with this etude
did a couple play throughs of Bandura
did a memory exercise with le chevreuil

2023-01-26 - 30 min short practice tonight

A minor harmonic 2 octave and 3 octave scale
Schradieck IV.1-9 and then onwards to 10.
IV is the craziest most awesome etude I've ever done. I'm only doing single bow and 2 notes to a bow, but it's already sounding great.
I'm getting the open - 3rd finger interval (octave interval) sound ingrained in my head. and when it goes chromatic it sounds great!

Bow energy is ready and willing.

2023-01-25 - 45 min class

went over 2 octave A minor harmonic
talked to A about some musicians
worked on timing of Bandura bars 13-16
I'm starting to get it!!
i think the main idea is to clap it our and count!

Bow energy was ready and willing, compliant, just waiting for me to be ready.

2023-01-24 - 30min + 10 min + 20min

started with 2 octave and 3 octave A minor harmonic scales
speeding it up a little bit
trying to get the shifts to sound right. I think it's getting there
worked on Bandura, getting the minor tone feeling into the tune.
the timing is getting better. I think I'm internalizing the phrasing, by using A's recorded clips and just counting through the beats and bars
worked on le chevreuil (one of these days I'll get the spelling right on the first try!!)
leaning more into the instrument to start to get more of the feel of the tune
can follow to the recording for the 1st 2 bars

Bow energy is strong and gaining focus. We're getting there!!

Spent 20 min in afternoon just playing the 2 octave and 3 octave A minor harmonic scale!

starting to get more confidence with the scale but I think I'm rushing :D

Bow energy is shaky to start but gaining stability

I should make sure to acknowledge a very important milestone!!! My first stable 3 octave scale where I shift into positions higher than 3rd!!! I've never really gone past 4th and with this A minor harmonic scale, I'm following up to 4th position and then to 6th with a fourth finger extension! Pretty much on the E string, pretty darn close to the end of the fingerboard!!! I wasn't able to do this previously (back in Meaford in 2020 I was wishing I would be able to do this!) and it's a pretty awesome thing to celebrate!

2023-01-23 - probably 30 min, in two 15 min segments + 5 min mini practice

breaking the practice into a few sections, in between meetings
scales + arpeggios
need to work on A harmonic minor 2 octave scale, and try to figure out 3rd position on this scale.
watched a video about 3 octave A harmonic minor scale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJDSWej5FPY
practiced both 2 octave and 3 octave scale

Morning Bow energy - waiting, expectant. Afternoon Bow energy is sly and slippery, like a shyster. I don't know why I'm so sly but it's a slippery one, this bow. It's the minor scale making me go green.

added a small Chevreuil memory exercise, and review the A harmonic 2 octave scale

Night Bow energy is soft and gentle.

2023-01-22 - about 45 min

Happy Lunar New Year!
Things to work on: 2nd or 3rd position scale on D string in particular. I need to get that into muscle memory for Bandura. There's a shift in that tune that I want to be super smooth so that I can focus my attention on the timing. Right now, I am spending too much brainpower on the shift so I have no brain left for the timing which is more critical to the sound of the tune.
Trying to figure out a way to attend Elise's concert and ceilidh... not sure how cause the timing is hard (I'll need to book an overnight stay somewhere)

What actually happened:

launch of new season of 100daysofpractice!!!!!
Bandura, found out it's the national instrument of Ukraine, it is a lyre shaped string instrument that is plucked, with some kind of gearing to change pitches
the tune I'm playing is called Bandura Waltz
I broke up the slurs and the ties and started to understand more about the timing on that tricky section. OK for today, needs a bit of refinement and to add back in the shift and the tie/slur
I practices some shifting on the D string, and got 3rd position in tune on the D string
The scale is A minor harmonic
Moved to Hardanger fiddle
the tuning stayed consistent!
started with Floteren (great tune! sounds more focused now)
went to Yenten (no double stops yet! just the melody first)
tried some memory exercises with the wedding march, trying to get the double strings harmonizing again. The harmonies are still singing. I have a good place to start from to review and re-energize this tune

Bow & String energy : silvery, the strings are settling in and I'm really getting a resonant tone today. The energy is open and exploratory, wondering where we will go, let's go on a trek to new soundscapes! Drawing new tones and new harmonies!

2023-01-18 - 40 min lesson

illuminating lesson with A
today we worked on timing of a particular phrase in Bandura
it's a combination of a note held long, a pickup note, a grace note/ornamentation, and a shift to 2nd position
all together it was tricky to combine everything
we ended up removing the shift, removing the ornamentation, and just trying the notes as is, with a metronome
I think I understand what needs to happen/what I need to practice
but the timing is tricky
I also need to trust time a bit more.
Could it be HA? A said I'm going both too slow and too fast ...

bow energy: needs trust

2023-01-17 - 20 min, no bow

it's late at night so I didn't practice with bow
did some fingering exercises to get fingering into memory for a couple of older tunes
active listening to Le Chevreuil

bow energy is imaginary thought made real

2023-01-16 - 45 min

started with long bow with mute on: Schadieck IV.1-3, 2 notes per bow to 4 notes per bow
cleaning up the 4th finger+3rd finger and 3rd finger combo across 2 strings
This exercise is really graceful
went through Banduras to get the timing to feel right - it's getting better
went through a couple of standby scottish tunes
went through nopeggios waltz (haven't played that in a while)
went through Deliverance - this tune I'm really starting to get the sound that I want. The timing on the 2nd half I'm being very liberal, but I like my interpretation

Bow energy is gentle and ready. One of the things I need to be is to be gentle to myself, to not be so critical of my own playing, and to know that I am already working on the things I need for my playing and my sound. Don't force the sound, don't push it, the sound is already becoming and I am here to reveal it to myself.

40 min - evening

I started going through some of the old recordings that I had, and I stumbled on the choral version of O Magnum Mysterium. What "mystified" me about the violin transcription score from Lauridsen is that the mood doesn't really fit. The choral version is ethereal, shimmery, heavenly, with well defined phrases. The violin version I think loses a bit of that - the O Magnum's and the Aleluias are mixed in together. I'm not quite sure where one word ends and where the other starts.

I started playing along to the Soprano part of the choral arrangement, and it is actually much simpler in notes, but much more complex in rhythm. The soprano is often going after or picking up before other parts, kind of starting phrases and finished other people's thoughts (and I think that's why the violin transcription isn't continuous matching with wording, because the other parts often have the words and the transcription is roughly following the soprano melody line).

The entire second half of the tune after what Lauridsen describes as "the most important note in the piece" feels qualitatively different. Only by starting back with the choral arrangement can I find out what Lauridsen is actually trying to do.

I also noticed that with choral voicing, there are very long elegant free flowing phrases, followed by very short catch breaths (in choir the director would say "tank up!" followed by staggered breathing amongst the section). In violin it's kind of opposite, the bow can only go for so long, and the catch breaths are a bit longer. To simulate the choral style of breathing (the bow is the breath after all), I'm slowing down my slurred/tied notes (and actually tying much more notes than written on the music, with 10-16 note slurs), followed by very fast bow, very light pressure "catch" breaths to get my bow back for the next phrase. It gives a very ethereal, almost breathless catch note, but I think that fits the mood well.

The final section of the choral arrangement is a series of overlapping aleluia's and each section moves to a different part of the final chord, leading to a contemplative, universal type of chord that shimmers like fireflies let out into the night sky. In the violin arrangement the ending is only prescribed by movement of the melody, so the core of it is a lot stronger. It feels very open, expansive. It feels like a decision that was made as we end the tune.

I almost want to try double stops in the ending section to give back some of the shimmer, but I gotta learn how to crawl first :D

In order to understand the rhythmic flow of this piece I need to integrate both the choral and the transcription scores. That is something to imagine as I move through 2023.

Bow energy: solid, focused, ethereal, shimmering (I know, polar opposites, right?) but tonight is an integration of both kinds of sounds and I really like this energy.

Today is my first ever 2 section breakthrough practice session, totalling about 90 min and I feel pretty good. I made a lot of progress. Love it.

2023-01-15 - 60 min

started with the short bow : Schradieck III.3, IV.1 1-2 notes per bow
my shorter bow has a more refined, softer sound, but has much more range of sounds, but it is quite short
went through Deliverance
went through Phil's Tune - Jenna Reid's advanced arrangement, practice from memory
went through Bandura, getting the timing to feel more intuitively right
went through bars 3-4 of Le Chevreuil - this tune is really really beautiful
Le Chevreuil also fits very well into Phil's Tune! I can imagine a set, starting with Phil's Tune, and that tune ends on a bit of a question, and then going into Le Chevreuil feels just right

Bow energy is soft, delicate, but strong and emotive at the same time.

2023-01-14 - 60 min

Schradieck III.3 - 16 to 32 notes per bow - it's really cool
And moving onward to Schradieck IV.1, starting with 2 notes per bow. This one is a hard exercise but it sounds really cool. Min Jeong Koh posted a video of herself playing through this exercise and it's what initially got me interested in the Schradieck series of exercises
Moved to "Shetland Nights in London" a good tune I've been trying to learn for a long while. I was trying to read the music and realised that the music notation and the as-played tune are quite different. The notation writes out the timing details, but playing by ear has a better feel, so I decided to use ear for the timing, and use the dots for the trickier notes.
Review O Magnum Mysterium, also a tune I've been learning for a few years now. I admit the sound quality isn't there yet, but I'm getting closer every time I review it. I'm trying 2nd position as well to get the right sound.
Review Bandura - I went really slowly (probably 4x - 5x slowdown) and finally got the rhythm
Review the first 2 lines of Le Chevreuil. It's a great tune!
by this time my croissant was ready in the oven so I went to eat some croissant.

energy in bow was medium - I was trying to slow down the bow on purpose for a lot of the Schradieck exercises - I'm getting used to going slower with the bow while going faster with the left hand at the same time. There's a little bit of counter-intuition going on, but I think that means I'm improving my right hand dexterity (more different types of bowing for less boring bow)

TODAY IS A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Hilary Hahn plays Sibelius Violin Concerto

It started so soft and a bit fuzzy, but one or two minutes in she started going higher and higher. more and more solid. the sound became cohesive and she started telling the story Sibelius wanted to to tell us. She left the stage and Sibelius spoke to us, dressed in that shimmering shining dress. She is a rock star. I am in amazement. I need to look up the youtube video mentioned in the program notes:

2023-01-13 - 50 min

First omnibus practice in a long time, maybe 3 months or so?
Started with Schradieck I.1-8 - this time on D string, 32 notes per bow.
It took me about 15 min just to get used to 32 notes per bow. I needed a slow bow speed, but more pressure to add back the sound, but can't use too much pressure because otherwise the sound gets croaky. It's a really enlightening exercise. I've been relying on bow speed to get my sound, and it's good to slow down the bow speed but try using weight and sounding point to get the sound working.
I went to III.1-3, 8 notes per bow. And here is my old childhood friend. III.3 - this is my childhood practice and it's building upon everything that I know, everything I learned since then to make a cracker of an exercise. I have great affinity for III.3. It's a hard feeling to explain. I've been playing that exercise for 15 years since I was a kid, and it's like coming back to an old friend that keeps giving you new ideas.
Practiced the first 2 lines of Bandura, focusing specifically on the timing of the grace note, and the following dotted quarter plus the eighth note - that combo is quirky and I tend to hold it for too long.
Learned to smooth out Deliverance (Befrielsen)
Learned first 2 lines of Le Chevreuil from A's recording
finished with my sunshowers tuning phrase

All in a good practice. Got some good energy flowing through the bow.

2023-01-12 - went to concert

went to Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas' concert!!!
first time hearing them live
Natalie's cello timing is impecable and plays with so much depth. Her compositional powers are also amazing! so many incredible tone pairings
BUT what amazed me the most was Alasdair's fiddle sounds.
it seemed like with every new tune, there is a new flavour of sound coming from Alasdair's fiddle.
it is smooth. it is rought. it is heavy. it is graceful. it is gritty. it is fast. it is slow
so wide a range of sounds, from low volume to high volume as well.
NO BORING BOW indeed. not a single boring bow. His bow hand is always changing
ALSO first time I really heard and identify a folk fiddler using finger positions to alter voice and tone. He'd play in 2nd or 3rd position even if the notes are reachable in 1st just to get that tonality
the fiddle and the cello are so well matched!!
syzygy indeed!
I'll do some better write up about this concert, but these are the initial thoughts I had
I will make it happen. Either Valley of Moon or Sierra.

2023-01-11 - 45 - 60 min

first online class with A of the year!!!
learning new tune, Bandura, a Ukrainian tune!
the strings are really coming into their own. the strings sound silvery, and react well to lower pressures and good amount of bow speed
re-setup the original mic / recording system I used in 2021 and early 2022.

2023-01-10 - 60 + 10 min = 70 min wow practice is getting longer!

30 min of Schradieck I.1-25. (full folio!! 16 notes per bow) AND II.1-12 (1 to 4 notes per bow)!!! I've never done II before and it's all about semitones - 1st, 2nd, and 3 finger natural and sharps, and 4th finger extension, so it builds a chromatic scale of all the semitones. Sounds really weird and really bad (lol) but it is a pretty good exercise.
review Salve!!! I can play to the 60% slowdown version with no problem, 80% holding on, and 100% speed I can play along without ornamentations.
I think this tune I gotta get ornamenations started. I am ok with the double stops, but I really need to get trills and first finger ornamentations started.
full pause for about 20 min while I tuned up the hardanger - which has been in the box for about a month.
it took a long time to retune, and I've lost all my fingering and dexterity on the hardanger. good place to re-start the practice!
all in a good practice, with some nice conversations with my sister

2020-01-09 - 60 min

30-40 min of Schradieck I.1-14
this time extended to other strings, D, G, and E
E string is easiest for some reason!
Getting really in tune, 4th finger is getting stronger
bow control is also getting better, able to do 16 notes per bow consistently and without running out of bow at either end.
went on to do some regular playing of old tunes
mostly to get the strings working so they break in properly
G string is buzzing a bit, but i think it's because of my string winding around the peg
out of shape, a dull pain in the left upper part of stomach sometimes, gotta stop playing before it hurts.

2023-01-08

About 35-40 min of Schradieck I.1-12

This time started connecting the lines, about 16 notes per bow. After the bad sounding scales I started sounding good.

Went to Chan Centre for a sublime performance of Greig, Thaïs, and Mozart, by Henning Kraggerud with the VSO. https://www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/grieg-mozart/

Used Program 3 on hearing aids at -3 volume.

The performers stood for Mozart and it really really helped their tone and it looked like they were having fun.

But the real star of the show was Meditation from Thaïs in a violin/harp duo. it was the best Thaïs I've ever heard.

I also learned that Henning plays on a 1744 Guarneri del Gesù! If this indeed was the instrument on stage, then this would be the first Guarneri del Gesù I've heard. It's really noticibly smooth in the lower end, and on the upper end is sweeter and less upfront on the highs. However, that lower two strings is everything. The best way I can describe it is ... a very smooth, very elegant chest voice. Not a belter, but someone with a lot of control, like a baritone bass operating in the low bass range. It's not gritty at all, but just a smooth sound. When I first heard it I wanted to know what it was, and I think I finally heard what a del Gesù sounds like!

As I was walking out of the concert hall, I thought that if I were to get another violin, that's what I wanted it to sound like, ha!!! talk about aiming high. Maybe in another lifetime.

2023-01-07

String change!!!! Changed all strings at once so I'm just using a full set of Pirastro Passione's (including the E which sounds pretty fine actually)

I did about 40 min of just open strings lol! First time I really did open strings in more than 2 years or so. It was fun! I was laughing at the end of it

seriously though, open strings at the tip and the frog in particular, getting the bow changes all the way from crunchy to smooth, there's so many different sounds bow changes can sound like - with the smooth one, speed up just before change (maybe even decrease pressure while speeding up) and then start the new bow slowly but with low -> increasing pressure. So that gives a very smooth stroke change.

To get the crunch, just make the bow change distinct.

Also tried Schradiek I 1. I know it's the boringest sounding exercise, but there's so much in there - the A string sounds really great!!! I love the sound - the word I'd use to describe this new A is "royal" it sounds royal.

excited to let the string settle in for tomorrow.

2023-01-06 - about 50 min

First real practice of 2023.

Back to Schradieck - I. 1-25. finish the whole folio, still needs a bit of work, but I think this exercise is really good for my pinky tuning.

picked up a new set of Passione strings. Last time I changed them was April 2022, so it's been about 8 months or so.

New Year! 2022 went too fast.

In 2023, I'd like to return to a more structured practice.

I've already booked Blazin' in Beauly 2023 in October so I will use that event as a focal point of my practice.

I'd like to go on one other camp - the choices are to pursue VoM in California, Rollick in Ashokan, Vero Beach FL, or to try for the Quebec fiddle camps (coordinate with A if I'd like to go). There's also the HFAA camp in mid year as well.

Musical goals:

~~get to know my instruments better: my bow, my fiddle, my hardanger. Get to know what they are, how they change, how they sound~~
~~technique rewind/slowdown~~
~~review all reps?~~
~~learn quebecois music~~
~~not sure what else. I'll keep the year open!~~

This January I'm trying a 30 Day Yoga practice called "Center" with "Yoga with Adriene" which is a youtube yoga channel. I'm on day 2 now, and just as I am finishing today's centering exercises, I realized I wanted different goals for this year.

Goal 1: reduce tension before, during, after, in all stages of playing

being able to perform with no anxiety before hand, not worrying about performance afterwards
Less tension during playing. less clenching, less gripping onto the fiddle with either left hand or the bow with the right hand. less clamping with neck
of course, there still needs to be enough strength and weight to support my playing, but I'd like to reduce extra tension in all aspects of playing

Goal 2: produce more colours of sound

I've been into photography for the last year, during my off hours, just going out taking some pictures. I always find something new in my photos afterwards to look into
try to look into my sound the way I look into colours in my photos
investigate and develop how to produce different kinds of sounds, different emotions from my playing
fit that to each tune - what do I want my tunes to sound like?

Goal 3: Find and listen to bow energy

from the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXnioe1dowU - What's it like being Patricia Kopatchinskaja?
She talks about "good energy" and being pure and daring
Every time I play I'm starting to noticing my bow energy. I want to listen to myself more and start to draw closer to what is at my core.
Do I know where am I? Everything is out of my control. I just want to play and have good energy flowing through the bow and the fiddle and my life.