So everyone always says that you need to warm up before you play and all this stuff, and most people seem to suggest that scales and other exercises are the way to go ... I think that's ignorant, and a bad idea ...
Warming up is getting the blood flowing through the body, stretching out & loosening up the tendons, and raising your level of focus to the appropriate level
So far I've come up with the following warmups that I find very effective:
1. Stretching (particulary the touch the floor w/ your fingertips stretch)
2. Double stop Glissandi - go as slowly as you can (without interrupting the flow) all the way down & up the fingerboard w/ 1/2 2/3 & 3/4 ... maybe even other combinations ... apply the same concept to the bow, but change bow as needed ... this gets your lower back rotating & opens up a lot of the larger muscle groups in your back, which consequently leads your arms to have an easier time (after all, they are connected to your upper & lower back, and there should be a flow of power from one to the other)
3. Pick a chord any chord - pick a chord shape on the finger board w/ your left hand & hold it ... go through each string crossing in different rhythms/combinations of slurs ... eventually you want to cross all 4 strings in one bow - this loosens up your right shoulder a lot ... hanging on to the chord w/ your left hand should force you to relax it after a bit & let it hang into the fingerboard
4. 1 finger scales - Do it on the C string, b/c this is the thickets, and will build up your callouses the most (maybe even do it in double stops) ... hold each note for 4 beats & gliss. into each next new note ... whole bow per note ... this eventually reinforces proper shifting and it loosens you up (I find)
If anyone's got comments or further ideas on this, let me know ...
btw, for those of you who followed what I wrote during Summit & left comments, thx! Glad to know that my posts were of interest ...
Also, in new news, I have another student, and may have a 5th soon (really exciting!)
School starts in 2 days, and I have a recording to do the monday after it starts (lots of very good reason to practice a lot!)
So many things to look forward to...
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Right Feel
So,
I've been battling w/ this Elgar melody & trying to figure out what wasn't making it work/what makes it work ...
I learned a few things:
1. Vibrato varies a bit
2. Rhythm - I wasn't always holding the quarter long enough
3. Tempo - After Rosen's masterclass, I've been trying to do it at 66 ... I'm sorry, it just doesn't work there... back to 50 ... that's what DuPre does ... and more importantly, that's where it feels (and sounds) right to me
4. The bow has to always be moving & the phrase is actually in 9/8, meaning the bow
I've also been watching DuPre's video very closely, and it's incredibly exciting/surprising to see a lot of the technical things she does (fingering and bow choices)
My goal is to copy and ingrain as much of it as I can (not for the sake of just copying her, but for the sake of truly understanding it and what made her performance so amazing & using that as a foundation & springboard for mine - it's sort of like using a certain performance edition, except that you can see what the editor actually meant/did ...
I've been battling w/ this Elgar melody & trying to figure out what wasn't making it work/what makes it work ...
I learned a few things:
1. Vibrato varies a bit
2. Rhythm - I wasn't always holding the quarter long enough
3. Tempo - After Rosen's masterclass, I've been trying to do it at 66 ... I'm sorry, it just doesn't work there... back to 50 ... that's what DuPre does ... and more importantly, that's where it feels (and sounds) right to me
4. The bow has to always be moving & the phrase is actually in 9/8, meaning the bow
I've also been watching DuPre's video very closely, and it's incredibly exciting/surprising to see a lot of the technical things she does (fingering and bow choices)
My goal is to copy and ingrain as much of it as I can (not for the sake of just copying her, but for the sake of truly understanding it and what made her performance so amazing & using that as a foundation & springboard for mine - it's sort of like using a certain performance edition, except that you can see what the editor actually meant/did ...
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Power of Video
So,
Practicing Elgar, I decided to record myself, b/c I was getting frustrated that I couldn't seem to figure out what to do ... I noticed 2 things (that somehow I don't notice while watching in the mirror:
1. I have the same elbow problem w/ my bow arm
2. I'm still killing the sound at the end of down bows...
what does this mean, I'm not paying attention properly or listening well enough ... I have a strong concept of what I want this to be, but I need to hear what I'm actually doing...
I worry about using recording technology - will it prevent or enhance my ability to listen well ... I think it will enhance it (I hope), but it almost feels like cheating ... Jackie didn't have it when she was developing her technique ...
I think that's always going to be my standard - is it as good as Jackie ... so far, the answer is not even close...
Practicing Elgar, I decided to record myself, b/c I was getting frustrated that I couldn't seem to figure out what to do ... I noticed 2 things (that somehow I don't notice while watching in the mirror:
1. I have the same elbow problem w/ my bow arm
2. I'm still killing the sound at the end of down bows...
what does this mean, I'm not paying attention properly or listening well enough ... I have a strong concept of what I want this to be, but I need to hear what I'm actually doing...
I worry about using recording technology - will it prevent or enhance my ability to listen well ... I think it will enhance it (I hope), but it almost feels like cheating ... Jackie didn't have it when she was developing her technique ...
I think that's always going to be my standard - is it as good as Jackie ... so far, the answer is not even close...
Summit People!!
Just like last year, I'm gonna go through as many of the people as I can remember from Summit ...
Facebook will help tremendously with this...
In no particular order...
Matan Talmi - cool kid ... don't remember where I met him, but he was responsible for the Jam sessions that happened.. very cool & generally fun to chill with ... from Israel
david krieger - I studied with him this year ... he's much very structured, and also was very busy, but gave me lessons as much as he could, while I don't think I'll do things exactly the way we worked on them, I've definitely already begun to incorporate what I've learned from him into both my music making and practicing
Yoni Krieger - cool kid/david's older son ... he thinks Thor is cooler than Loki, but w/e
Benny Krieger - David's younger son, also a cool kid ...
Laura Kimble - the main administrative person, very easy to work with & was very appreciative whenever I helped w/ things
Brittney Ramirez - another very cool & nice administrative person - pleasure to meet ... she finally joined the Summit group on facebook after all was over...
Cassandra Rondinelli - awesome flute player, I love her tone and the feeling in her playing & she really did well w/ everything she performed ... I don't remember exactly where we met, probably in the office or something ...
Chuck - I can't remember chuck's last name, but he was an engineer who was studying violin (if I got that right) ... he was only there for week 1 & studied w/ Elliot (Magaziner) ... very nice guy ... treated us all to lunch at the end...
Andy Qian - So at the end of week 1, there was a night I couldn't be there to do lights ... I told people this many times, nothing got done ... so finally, this kid ended up taking over on his own ... together we mapped out the light system, and basically did about 90% of the lighting work ... fun kid... a lot of energy/intelligence for someone who's only 16 ... also, a very awesome pianist
Jade Conlee - didn't get to know her that well, but she's an amazing pianist & her performance at one of the Student Galas was literally one of the most beautiful things I've heard come out of a piano
Sarah Toy - A very cool and interesting violist, who I wish I had gotten to know much earlier ... she got involved w/ the festival b/c of Richard Clarke, and had positive things to say about it as compared to other festivals... She was also one of the other double orchestra people
Eric Lam - my very awesome stand partner & yet another double orchestra person ... very fun guy to be around, and he let me try out his Coda Bow for a bit ... I got a very positive impression, and was surprised that it was in fact lighter than mine ... I think it will be very beneficial to get one, whenever that actually happens...
Mitsu - Eric's friend, and a very cool/funny kid ... lots of talking about music & lots of fun to be around ... he was a cellist as well
Charles Kim - very awesome kid ... 15 I think ... played the cello, and reminded me a lot of Christian ... I told him at one point that I wanted him to go to every single masterclass ... he was fun to jam & hang w/ and hopefully I'll see him next year
Jenny Kim - Charles' sister... I think she also played cello, and I was surprised to learn she was 19 ) I thought she was younger) ... which led me to realize that I have trouble telling ages between 18-21 ...
Tina Ronkins - the other person who's age I mixed up ... I thought she was older than she was (18 vs. 20) ... I think she was a pianist, and was very interesting to talk to ... from Israel, and had actually heard of Blackfield/Aviv Geffen
Francesca - One of Matan's friends, very nice person...
Jeff Solow - So glad to have met him - one of the cello faculty of course - he was such a pleasure to get to know, and shares his knowledge and stories constantly ... his teaching is amazing & I wish I could be around him all the time, b/c he's such a stimulating & knowledgeable person ... I'm definitely going to request him as my teacher for next year...
Inna Nasidze - another awesome cello faculty, and lots of fun - her & her students were great to meet/get to know ...
Cyntia Peres - I hope I spelled her name right ... one of Inna's students, and my stand partner ... very nice girl
Luis Barajas - Luis was a great person to talk w/ & had a nice, big sound on cello ... I meant to get his email address before I left, but it didn't happen :( Hopefully I'll get in touch w/ him somehow...
Diego - violinist - that kid was just weird, but very entertaining to all ... didn't know him that well...
Matthieu - one of the regulars, chill guy, and great to hang around w/
Rob Buxton - again, one of the regulars ... also, seriously amazing pianist ... I learned that he hadn't started college yet (was very surprised...) & I also managed to catch his comedy routine this time, it was fucking awesome
Elliot Mallard - a cool cellist & student of Jeff Solow's, he's starting at Julliard in the fall ... very awesome to meet, we had some great conversations about music in general...
Sean - again, one of the regulars ... fun kid ...
Poly - Nice to see her again ... I learned that she played Guitar & Piano, and we hung around w/ a lot of the same people
Eugene Osadchy - very cool Russian cello professor who now teaches in Texas ... he was great to talk with, and his playing reminded me in some ways of Mr. O's...
Jasmine Chang - sometimes my stand partner, and also incredibly talented ... she's been playing for 6 years, and has tackled Hindemith's sonata ... um, wow!
Rita Darling - didn't know her well, but jewish violinist who seemed fairly nice
Warren Chan - pianist from Brooklyn - cool kid...
Stephen Duran - really cool cellist from North Carolina, and working on the Kodaly Sonata ... I never got the chance to hear him play it though :(
Anna Marie & Jose Torres - the Dorm Supervisors, and very awesome/nice people
Caity Chenault - interesting girl who played the cello, and was also working on Elgar ...
Eva Dove - very nice girl who played the violin ... reminded me a lot of Katie Coleman in that she always put on a happy face...
Hannah Santisi - very energetic/excitable violist and friend of eva's ... her and eva saved me on the lights one night when I had to leave campus...
I know I'm definitely forgetting people ....
but it means I'm finally done w/ all the writing about Summit!! Now time to chill, and I can finally go practice!!
Facebook will help tremendously with this...
In no particular order...
Matan Talmi - cool kid ... don't remember where I met him, but he was responsible for the Jam sessions that happened.. very cool & generally fun to chill with ... from Israel
david krieger - I studied with him this year ... he's much very structured, and also was very busy, but gave me lessons as much as he could, while I don't think I'll do things exactly the way we worked on them, I've definitely already begun to incorporate what I've learned from him into both my music making and practicing
Yoni Krieger - cool kid/david's older son ... he thinks Thor is cooler than Loki, but w/e
Benny Krieger - David's younger son, also a cool kid ...
Laura Kimble - the main administrative person, very easy to work with & was very appreciative whenever I helped w/ things
Brittney Ramirez - another very cool & nice administrative person - pleasure to meet ... she finally joined the Summit group on facebook after all was over...
Cassandra Rondinelli - awesome flute player, I love her tone and the feeling in her playing & she really did well w/ everything she performed ... I don't remember exactly where we met, probably in the office or something ...
Chuck - I can't remember chuck's last name, but he was an engineer who was studying violin (if I got that right) ... he was only there for week 1 & studied w/ Elliot (Magaziner) ... very nice guy ... treated us all to lunch at the end...
Andy Qian - So at the end of week 1, there was a night I couldn't be there to do lights ... I told people this many times, nothing got done ... so finally, this kid ended up taking over on his own ... together we mapped out the light system, and basically did about 90% of the lighting work ... fun kid... a lot of energy/intelligence for someone who's only 16 ... also, a very awesome pianist
Jade Conlee - didn't get to know her that well, but she's an amazing pianist & her performance at one of the Student Galas was literally one of the most beautiful things I've heard come out of a piano
Sarah Toy - A very cool and interesting violist, who I wish I had gotten to know much earlier ... she got involved w/ the festival b/c of Richard Clarke, and had positive things to say about it as compared to other festivals... She was also one of the other double orchestra people
Eric Lam - my very awesome stand partner & yet another double orchestra person ... very fun guy to be around, and he let me try out his Coda Bow for a bit ... I got a very positive impression, and was surprised that it was in fact lighter than mine ... I think it will be very beneficial to get one, whenever that actually happens...
Mitsu - Eric's friend, and a very cool/funny kid ... lots of talking about music & lots of fun to be around ... he was a cellist as well
Charles Kim - very awesome kid ... 15 I think ... played the cello, and reminded me a lot of Christian ... I told him at one point that I wanted him to go to every single masterclass ... he was fun to jam & hang w/ and hopefully I'll see him next year
Jenny Kim - Charles' sister... I think she also played cello, and I was surprised to learn she was 19 ) I thought she was younger) ... which led me to realize that I have trouble telling ages between 18-21 ...
Tina Ronkins - the other person who's age I mixed up ... I thought she was older than she was (18 vs. 20) ... I think she was a pianist, and was very interesting to talk to ... from Israel, and had actually heard of Blackfield/Aviv Geffen
Francesca - One of Matan's friends, very nice person...
Jeff Solow - So glad to have met him - one of the cello faculty of course - he was such a pleasure to get to know, and shares his knowledge and stories constantly ... his teaching is amazing & I wish I could be around him all the time, b/c he's such a stimulating & knowledgeable person ... I'm definitely going to request him as my teacher for next year...
Inna Nasidze - another awesome cello faculty, and lots of fun - her & her students were great to meet/get to know ...
Cyntia Peres - I hope I spelled her name right ... one of Inna's students, and my stand partner ... very nice girl
Luis Barajas - Luis was a great person to talk w/ & had a nice, big sound on cello ... I meant to get his email address before I left, but it didn't happen :( Hopefully I'll get in touch w/ him somehow...
Diego - violinist - that kid was just weird, but very entertaining to all ... didn't know him that well...
Matthieu - one of the regulars, chill guy, and great to hang around w/
Rob Buxton - again, one of the regulars ... also, seriously amazing pianist ... I learned that he hadn't started college yet (was very surprised...) & I also managed to catch his comedy routine this time, it was fucking awesome
Elliot Mallard - a cool cellist & student of Jeff Solow's, he's starting at Julliard in the fall ... very awesome to meet, we had some great conversations about music in general...
Sean - again, one of the regulars ... fun kid ...
Poly - Nice to see her again ... I learned that she played Guitar & Piano, and we hung around w/ a lot of the same people
Eugene Osadchy - very cool Russian cello professor who now teaches in Texas ... he was great to talk with, and his playing reminded me in some ways of Mr. O's...
Jasmine Chang - sometimes my stand partner, and also incredibly talented ... she's been playing for 6 years, and has tackled Hindemith's sonata ... um, wow!
Rita Darling - didn't know her well, but jewish violinist who seemed fairly nice
Warren Chan - pianist from Brooklyn - cool kid...
Stephen Duran - really cool cellist from North Carolina, and working on the Kodaly Sonata ... I never got the chance to hear him play it though :(
Anna Marie & Jose Torres - the Dorm Supervisors, and very awesome/nice people
Caity Chenault - interesting girl who played the cello, and was also working on Elgar ...
Eva Dove - very nice girl who played the violin ... reminded me a lot of Katie Coleman in that she always put on a happy face...
Hannah Santisi - very energetic/excitable violist and friend of eva's ... her and eva saved me on the lights one night when I had to leave campus...
I know I'm definitely forgetting people ....
but it means I'm finally done w/ all the writing about Summit!! Now time to chill, and I can finally go practice!!
Summit Recap Post 8 - End of Festival Performances & Ensembles
Weber Piano Trio:
did the Scherzo & finale ... We did a good job with both for where we were ... definitely made music out of it, but there was a level of detail that was just never there ... and it was really frustrating, b/c being on the concert with the other groups, it was clear that we hadn't reached their level ... I think that all comes down to devotion ... in the future, when I work on parts, my goal will be to have learned the music well by the first rehearsal & then to continue to improve it ... with this, I came in & knew the part fairly well & then it just got worse & worse for a while, then started to get better ... relates to orchestra too...
Jr. Orchestra:
There were good & bad things about this, but basically it was an often frustrating experience with a mediocre end-product ... I mean, we didn't sound horrible, but we didn't sound great either ... I feel like I've worked with better conductors/like the conductor for this orchestra really didn't hold us to a high standard, and just accepted almost anything we did, but I learned a lot from it, and got to play some cool music ... particularly Barber ... I also met some cool people ...
Our program was: Some mendelssohn symphony, Purcell Chaccone arr. by Britten, Some Barber piece that was awesome, Mozart Violin Concerto 4, Dvorak Rumanian Dances (I actually played these w/ St. Thomas ... it was very different ... less overwhelming this time, which means I've improved) ... I was more focused/played better at the concert than I expected
Sr. Orchestra:
This was just an amazing experience ... Richard Clark is just an amazing person to work with, in terms of his expectations & his communication. He has a lot of great, relevant advice & expects you to do your best at every moment/for every detail. He ranted a lot about lazy music making & orchestras getting too comfortable, and so producing crap (but he did this all w/ a very positive bent to it most of the time) ... it's incredibly clear that he's really passionate about music - 100%, and if I had done nothing else at Summit besides work with him, it would have been worth it...
Our program was amazing ... it sounded amazing, it felt amazing ... it was just on that level ... personally, I could have been better ... I should have known my part, and risen to that level, but I didn't get there ... I know what to do now in the future though ... I have a very clear idea of it, as opposed to just a general impression ...
Program was:
Arensky - Variations on a Tchaicovsky Theme
Mozart Violin Concert 5
Bartok - Divertimento for Strings - this is one of the most amazing/beautiful/progressive pieces written for string orchestra ever...
In general, being in 2 orchestras simultaneously was frustrating (this meant 9-1 every day, and really cut into my practice time), but I guess was worth it... Certainly, the Sr. Concert really made it worth it...
did the Scherzo & finale ... We did a good job with both for where we were ... definitely made music out of it, but there was a level of detail that was just never there ... and it was really frustrating, b/c being on the concert with the other groups, it was clear that we hadn't reached their level ... I think that all comes down to devotion ... in the future, when I work on parts, my goal will be to have learned the music well by the first rehearsal & then to continue to improve it ... with this, I came in & knew the part fairly well & then it just got worse & worse for a while, then started to get better ... relates to orchestra too...
Jr. Orchestra:
There were good & bad things about this, but basically it was an often frustrating experience with a mediocre end-product ... I mean, we didn't sound horrible, but we didn't sound great either ... I feel like I've worked with better conductors/like the conductor for this orchestra really didn't hold us to a high standard, and just accepted almost anything we did, but I learned a lot from it, and got to play some cool music ... particularly Barber ... I also met some cool people ...
Our program was: Some mendelssohn symphony, Purcell Chaccone arr. by Britten, Some Barber piece that was awesome, Mozart Violin Concerto 4, Dvorak Rumanian Dances (I actually played these w/ St. Thomas ... it was very different ... less overwhelming this time, which means I've improved) ... I was more focused/played better at the concert than I expected
Sr. Orchestra:
This was just an amazing experience ... Richard Clark is just an amazing person to work with, in terms of his expectations & his communication. He has a lot of great, relevant advice & expects you to do your best at every moment/for every detail. He ranted a lot about lazy music making & orchestras getting too comfortable, and so producing crap (but he did this all w/ a very positive bent to it most of the time) ... it's incredibly clear that he's really passionate about music - 100%, and if I had done nothing else at Summit besides work with him, it would have been worth it...
Our program was amazing ... it sounded amazing, it felt amazing ... it was just on that level ... personally, I could have been better ... I should have known my part, and risen to that level, but I didn't get there ... I know what to do now in the future though ... I have a very clear idea of it, as opposed to just a general impression ...
Program was:
Arensky - Variations on a Tchaicovsky Theme
Mozart Violin Concert 5
Bartok - Divertimento for Strings - this is one of the most amazing/beautiful/progressive pieces written for string orchestra ever...
In general, being in 2 orchestras simultaneously was frustrating (this meant 9-1 every day, and really cut into my practice time), but I guess was worth it... Certainly, the Sr. Concert really made it worth it...
Summit Recap Post 7 - Trout Quintet
This was one of the other great concert highlights ... I had found out that Jeff Solow was playing in it (which alone is enough to make me want to check it out) ...
Anyway, I was surprised to find during the performance that I remembered a lot more of the piece than I thought I did ... it's really got such a cool character and liveliness to it ... the performance was very great ... it reminded me a lot of watching the documentary w/ DuPre & Barenboim & Zukerman & Perlman & Mehta ...
It didn't quite have that level/spirit, but was still really amazing ... and it was so cool to watch it w/ the Double Bass ... that really was a privilege ... I've gotten into the bassier sounds a lot from listening to Metallica, and I've done various chamber music, but never with bass ... it's just such a cool difference/addition...
I'm very lucky to ahve gotten to see this...
Anyway, I was surprised to find during the performance that I remembered a lot more of the piece than I thought I did ... it's really got such a cool character and liveliness to it ... the performance was very great ... it reminded me a lot of watching the documentary w/ DuPre & Barenboim & Zukerman & Perlman & Mehta ...
It didn't quite have that level/spirit, but was still really amazing ... and it was so cool to watch it w/ the Double Bass ... that really was a privilege ... I've gotten into the bassier sounds a lot from listening to Metallica, and I've done various chamber music, but never with bass ... it's just such a cool difference/addition...
I'm very lucky to ahve gotten to see this...
Summit Recap Post 6 - Medelssohn Octet
This was literally one of the coolest classical things I've ever been to...
8 people on stage - 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos...
It was really like a giant aural dance between all the different instruments & how they came together & complimented each other ... so cool, and so easy to get visual w/ while listening...
It was really just a very alive experience, and the players sync'd with each other so well ... I feel like I should write more about it, but I can't think of what to write really ... I wish there was a way to transfer sensations & sounds and images from my brain into writing/the computer...
8 people on stage - 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos...
It was really like a giant aural dance between all the different instruments & how they came together & complimented each other ... so cool, and so easy to get visual w/ while listening...
It was really just a very alive experience, and the players sync'd with each other so well ... I feel like I should write more about it, but I can't think of what to write really ... I wish there was a way to transfer sensations & sounds and images from my brain into writing/the computer...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)