Today was really eventful... my self-confidence is still a bit shaky, but it's improving & my technique is getting closer to where it should be, which is absolutely great... I miss Ostrofsky quite a bit & I can't wait to get back to school and have regular lessons...
So anyway, I had my usual chamber rehearsals, but a million masterclasses/events in between... it basically went:
Haydn
Haimovitz Masterclass (I only got to stay for one piece - next year, I'll have to make sure that rehearsal doesn't interfere)
Harspichord Masterclass at Westchester Conservatory
Aaron Rosand Video
Concert (was a bunch of chamber music, all the ensembles had cello ... Nathaniel Rosen is not just an amazing cellist, but also an amazing communicator)
The Haimovitz Masterclass was really cool & he wish I could have stayed for all of it/that he didn't have to leave right after it... I'll post notes for it, probably at the end of the week
The Harpsichord Class was also really cool - it has such a beautiful sound & we talked about early/baroque music & basso continuo & improvisation ... the presenter, Jean Newton, mentioned a lot of Early Music texts that I've seen cited before... I think I'm going to check them out sometime in the future...
The Rosand Video, I didn't find too interesting & talking to him afterwards, I noticed the same thing that I've noticed of other teachers his age... his mind is unorganized (except for his method of teaching, in which case, it's rigidly structured) & he can not synthesize information from others very well ... also, he was so negative, it was really uninspiring ...
The concert was amazing, though I wish I hadn't got to stage manage... but hey, apparently Tchaicovsky can write something cool... his trio op. 50 in A minor... tomorrow's concert should be super-amazing... I need to go practice now & then I really need to get to sleep...
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Summit Days 6-8
I don't have time for a proper post, so all I'm gonna say for now is that depression is a great motivator & I get to see Matt Haimovitz play in a few minutes... can't wait!!
Edit:
Ok, so now for a full post:
At this point, I've forgotten Friday... I think the gyst of it was something like this: 2 chamber rehearsals, then work...
Saturday, similar idea, except I got to watch the concert instead & there was a cello masterclass...
Concert:The first half was the junior orchestra, which played the best student orchestra performance I've ever seen... almost makes me excited to see what the senior orchestra will do... It made me miss being in orchestra in high school... it's so communal. The second half I got to hear a Brahms Quintet & Barber's Adagio for strings... I think the adagio maybe could have been done better, but it was pretty cool...
The Masterclass was with Bongshin Ko ... I really didn't get too much from it... she talks about stuff I already know and doesn't seem to speak about the mechanics of playing, which I don't think is a very good quality in a teacher... (In other words, she might say "this sections needs to be lighter" without actually explaining how to (physically) make it lighter
Sunday I wasn't there at all...
So, that brings us to today - 2 chamber reherasals:
Haydn - boring, but we got work done... I really don't find that trio inspiring at all... I also don't think we work as well as a group as we could... there's a bit more that I want to say, but won't since this is a public journal...
Emil Paul - Awesome piece, by awesome composer. The other two members of my ensemble are way better than me. One on hand, this is really inspiring... on the other, it's kind of depressing. Before, when I encountered people who were good technically, their playing usually lacked soul ... In this group (and at the festival in general), the opposite is true. It's good for me, because I've grown so much from working with them, especially the pianist, Katherine Harris, she has a very good training/understanding of things... I think she'll make a good teacher some day...
But anyway, after that rehersal, I was more than a bit depressed b/c I feel like I hold the group back & I feel like I can't progress at the rate I need to in order to work with them ... very frustrating... so that led me to practice & I had a couple of breakthroughs...
1. Every note has a shape
2. For fast passages, I need to keep my middle two fingers flexible...
I didn't care so much for the student recital, which was all violin/piano (I find it's very rare that the violin can actually inspire me - at least in classical)
I got to see Matt Haimovitz play though, which was absolutely amazing ... the printed program was completely screwed up, which I found really funny.... Anyway, he played the 3rd bach suite & he played the way I feel it should be played (by that I don't mean that I had the same interpretation, but he played it freely and in an improvisatory fashion, similar to the way Casals or Greenhouse or Mr. O [My first teacher] might approach it) ... After that it was two original works that he had commissioned some composers for... "Mark Twain Sez", which had quotes from Mark Twain in btwn. movements & "After Reading Shakespeare". I'm going to try and get a copy of the music ... anyway, it was really cool... he talked between pieces & even let his baby cry in the middle of the concert & I got to talk to him after for a bit... very neat...
His masterclass is tomorrow, so i've got a bunch of questions for him, and I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot.... can't wait... anyway, I have to get those irritating fast passages in shape...
Edit:
Ok, so now for a full post:
At this point, I've forgotten Friday... I think the gyst of it was something like this: 2 chamber rehearsals, then work...
Saturday, similar idea, except I got to watch the concert instead & there was a cello masterclass...
Concert:The first half was the junior orchestra, which played the best student orchestra performance I've ever seen... almost makes me excited to see what the senior orchestra will do... It made me miss being in orchestra in high school... it's so communal. The second half I got to hear a Brahms Quintet & Barber's Adagio for strings... I think the adagio maybe could have been done better, but it was pretty cool...
The Masterclass was with Bongshin Ko ... I really didn't get too much from it... she talks about stuff I already know and doesn't seem to speak about the mechanics of playing, which I don't think is a very good quality in a teacher... (In other words, she might say "this sections needs to be lighter" without actually explaining how to (physically) make it lighter
Sunday I wasn't there at all...
So, that brings us to today - 2 chamber reherasals:
Haydn - boring, but we got work done... I really don't find that trio inspiring at all... I also don't think we work as well as a group as we could... there's a bit more that I want to say, but won't since this is a public journal...
Emil Paul - Awesome piece, by awesome composer. The other two members of my ensemble are way better than me. One on hand, this is really inspiring... on the other, it's kind of depressing. Before, when I encountered people who were good technically, their playing usually lacked soul ... In this group (and at the festival in general), the opposite is true. It's good for me, because I've grown so much from working with them, especially the pianist, Katherine Harris, she has a very good training/understanding of things... I think she'll make a good teacher some day...
But anyway, after that rehersal, I was more than a bit depressed b/c I feel like I hold the group back & I feel like I can't progress at the rate I need to in order to work with them ... very frustrating... so that led me to practice & I had a couple of breakthroughs...
1. Every note has a shape
2. For fast passages, I need to keep my middle two fingers flexible...
I didn't care so much for the student recital, which was all violin/piano (I find it's very rare that the violin can actually inspire me - at least in classical)
I got to see Matt Haimovitz play though, which was absolutely amazing ... the printed program was completely screwed up, which I found really funny.... Anyway, he played the 3rd bach suite & he played the way I feel it should be played (by that I don't mean that I had the same interpretation, but he played it freely and in an improvisatory fashion, similar to the way Casals or Greenhouse or Mr. O [My first teacher] might approach it) ... After that it was two original works that he had commissioned some composers for... "Mark Twain Sez", which had quotes from Mark Twain in btwn. movements & "After Reading Shakespeare". I'm going to try and get a copy of the music ... anyway, it was really cool... he talked between pieces & even let his baby cry in the middle of the concert & I got to talk to him after for a bit... very neat...
His masterclass is tomorrow, so i've got a bunch of questions for him, and I'm sure I'll learn a whole lot.... can't wait... anyway, I have to get those irritating fast passages in shape...
Friday, August 3, 2007
Summit Music Festival Days 4 & 5
Didn't get a chance to post yesterday because there was so much going on here...
Day 4
The day started with breakfast. I ate w/ the girl I met the other day & then with my armenian friend... cool company in both cases... it's interesting how I seem to have connected more with the younger crowd (high school age) than the older crowd (college age). But that doesn't surprise me much... all the college kids are super-busy working on stuff and probably keep the themselves a lot (I guess I kind of do the same thing...)
So anyway, at 1:00 I got to watch the masterclass with Nathaniel Rosen... that was amazing!! Here's my notes from it:
Lalo:
-Lift the bow to avoid hearing extra notes
-Control width of vibrato to match the feeling you're trying to create
-to narrow vibrato, touch the thumb lightly to the neck
-you have to control it w/ your ear
Shostakovitch Concerto 1 Mov. 2:
-Floating the bow on top of the string = waste of resources. Remove the word floating from your vocabulary [side note: for me, this was the most powerful thing he said in the whole class]
The Bow has 3 axes:
1 - Vertical Pressure (z)
2 - Proximity to the bridge (y)
3 - Speed (x)
[I added the variables in, but that's basically what he was saying]
-Think of the number of beats for each bow (Budget the bow)
-"Imagination is one of the ways you increase your technique"
-The closer you are to the bridge, the more slowly your bow drags [more friction, resulting from increased tension]
-Bow speed can replace increased force in heavier sections.
Schumann:
-Change bow before "A" harmonic to avoid slop ..
[I didn't write anything else down for that one...]
Tchaikovsky Rococco Variations:
Beginning - While listening to piano introduction, do nothing. Then as it finishes, take your time ... you want to send the message 'this is easy' to the audience. [Interestingly enough, Stephen Isserlis made this exact same point when I saw him give a masterclass... he's going to give a masterclass next week, as well as Matt Haimovitz...]
-Fast vibrato + lifted bow gives the note a "ring"
-Don't go structurally out of tune from E to G# (this is in 4th position on the A string)
-More bow on repeated "ups" removes "icks" from the sound
-Practice String crossings as double stops
Haydn C 1st mov.:
Do the sextuplets/triplets in the middle of the bow... just let it bounce (flat hair, find balance point) [this was referring to the fast section in the third page, but probably also applies to the fast section in the development...]
-loosen bow grip
-it's as if you're playing timpany
-For the C to D/E trill on the A string consider this fingering: C1 D/E24 D/E13
-This avoids the slide from C to D [Personally I really like to play it with the slide]
-In the opening phrase, lift the bow to get the ringing sound.
-For double stops, you don't have to roll them if you play closer to the fingerboard, just use more speed [Essentially the idea was to play on the middle string and allow the sympathetic vibrations to do the rest of the trick... I personally don't really like this approach, but the player was also using two downbows, while I prefer up down]
-Have fun! [his point was that there are of course a lot of lighter and ornamental parts in Haydn]
-You can't bounce the bow at the frog
-For the cadenza-like passage in the development, playing the triplets closer to the fingerboard gives it a nice, darker sound [just something I observed... not sure if I'd play it like that...]
---------------------
The Student Gala Concert at 5:30 was a real treat... over half the program was cellists and for the first time, I was pretty impressed by a violinist at the very end...
The cello pieces were:
Krumb Mov. II & III
M. de Falla Popular Spanish Songs
Shostakovitch 1 Mov. I
Haydn D Mov. 1
The violin piece was Maurice Ravel's Tzigane played by Yuuki Wong ... was absolutely amazing...
---------------------
The 8:00 concert was a little less interesting for me, but I think that's just because I was really tired out between all the practicing and watching... anyway, it was basically a Milkis family concert:
Nina Koga - piano (wife)
Daniel Milkis - violin (son)
Julian Milkis - clarinet (father)
Igor Raykelson - piano/compose
The 2 really impressive things about the concert were the playing of 14 yr.; old Daniel Milkis & his father's playing (I've never heard a clarinetist who can project and match with piano and violin, let along drown them out)...
the first mostly featured daniel playing Dvorak, Prokofiev & Kriesler. His father played Hasse & the three played together Gershwin's Ballade for violin, clarinet & piano, in which the clarinet player drowned them out at the end... it was nuts...
the second half, the played pieces by the pianist (Raykhelson) ... guy's got a very cool background... did classical and jazz... I might try to find his cello sonata at some point...
Day 5...
Had breakfast again w/ Georgina (this is the nightwish girl) ... found out that she's actually 14 yrs. old (I thought she was 17) & that she wants to be an orchestral musician (which is the exact thing I don't want to do...)
Other than that, I've got rehearsal in 15 minutes for Haydn & the coach got switched (it's a cellist instead) & then rehearsal for Emil Paul at 2... plus I have to write an email to the president of my college, and I have work later... a little nervous about the rehearsals... wish I could stay for the concert tonight, but even if I could, it costs $30 b/c it's a benefit....
Day 4
The day started with breakfast. I ate w/ the girl I met the other day & then with my armenian friend... cool company in both cases... it's interesting how I seem to have connected more with the younger crowd (high school age) than the older crowd (college age). But that doesn't surprise me much... all the college kids are super-busy working on stuff and probably keep the themselves a lot (I guess I kind of do the same thing...)
So anyway, at 1:00 I got to watch the masterclass with Nathaniel Rosen... that was amazing!! Here's my notes from it:
Lalo:
-Lift the bow to avoid hearing extra notes
-Control width of vibrato to match the feeling you're trying to create
-to narrow vibrato, touch the thumb lightly to the neck
-you have to control it w/ your ear
Shostakovitch Concerto 1 Mov. 2:
-Floating the bow on top of the string = waste of resources. Remove the word floating from your vocabulary [side note: for me, this was the most powerful thing he said in the whole class]
The Bow has 3 axes:
1 - Vertical Pressure (z)
2 - Proximity to the bridge (y)
3 - Speed (x)
[I added the variables in, but that's basically what he was saying]
-Think of the number of beats for each bow (Budget the bow)
-"Imagination is one of the ways you increase your technique"
-The closer you are to the bridge, the more slowly your bow drags [more friction, resulting from increased tension]
-Bow speed can replace increased force in heavier sections.
Schumann:
-Change bow before "A" harmonic to avoid slop ..
[I didn't write anything else down for that one...]
Tchaikovsky Rococco Variations:
Beginning - While listening to piano introduction, do nothing. Then as it finishes, take your time ... you want to send the message 'this is easy' to the audience. [Interestingly enough, Stephen Isserlis made this exact same point when I saw him give a masterclass... he's going to give a masterclass next week, as well as Matt Haimovitz...]
-Fast vibrato + lifted bow gives the note a "ring"
-Don't go structurally out of tune from E to G# (this is in 4th position on the A string)
-More bow on repeated "ups" removes "icks" from the sound
-Practice String crossings as double stops
Haydn C 1st mov.:
Do the sextuplets/triplets in the middle of the bow... just let it bounce (flat hair, find balance point) [this was referring to the fast section in the third page, but probably also applies to the fast section in the development...]
-loosen bow grip
-it's as if you're playing timpany
-For the C to D/E trill on the A string consider this fingering: C1 D/E24 D/E13
-This avoids the slide from C to D [Personally I really like to play it with the slide]
-In the opening phrase, lift the bow to get the ringing sound.
-For double stops, you don't have to roll them if you play closer to the fingerboard, just use more speed [Essentially the idea was to play on the middle string and allow the sympathetic vibrations to do the rest of the trick... I personally don't really like this approach, but the player was also using two downbows, while I prefer up down]
-Have fun! [his point was that there are of course a lot of lighter and ornamental parts in Haydn]
-You can't bounce the bow at the frog
-For the cadenza-like passage in the development, playing the triplets closer to the fingerboard gives it a nice, darker sound [just something I observed... not sure if I'd play it like that...]
---------------------
The Student Gala Concert at 5:30 was a real treat... over half the program was cellists and for the first time, I was pretty impressed by a violinist at the very end...
The cello pieces were:
Krumb Mov. II & III
M. de Falla Popular Spanish Songs
Shostakovitch 1 Mov. I
Haydn D Mov. 1
The violin piece was Maurice Ravel's Tzigane played by Yuuki Wong ... was absolutely amazing...
---------------------
The 8:00 concert was a little less interesting for me, but I think that's just because I was really tired out between all the practicing and watching... anyway, it was basically a Milkis family concert:
Nina Koga - piano (wife)
Daniel Milkis - violin (son)
Julian Milkis - clarinet (father)
Igor Raykelson - piano/compose
The 2 really impressive things about the concert were the playing of 14 yr.; old Daniel Milkis & his father's playing (I've never heard a clarinetist who can project and match with piano and violin, let along drown them out)...
the first mostly featured daniel playing Dvorak, Prokofiev & Kriesler. His father played Hasse & the three played together Gershwin's Ballade for violin, clarinet & piano, in which the clarinet player drowned them out at the end... it was nuts...
the second half, the played pieces by the pianist (Raykhelson) ... guy's got a very cool background... did classical and jazz... I might try to find his cello sonata at some point...
Day 5...
Had breakfast again w/ Georgina (this is the nightwish girl) ... found out that she's actually 14 yrs. old (I thought she was 17) & that she wants to be an orchestral musician (which is the exact thing I don't want to do...)
Other than that, I've got rehearsal in 15 minutes for Haydn & the coach got switched (it's a cellist instead) & then rehearsal for Emil Paul at 2... plus I have to write an email to the president of my college, and I have work later... a little nervous about the rehearsals... wish I could stay for the concert tonight, but even if I could, it costs $30 b/c it's a benefit....
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Music Festival Day 3
Last night's concert was amazing... the violinists were kind of boring, the I discovered yet again that Ernest Bloch is an amazingly cool composer... but anyway, Emmanuel Gruber & Riko Higuma played Beethoven's Sonata for Cello & Piano in g minor... it was a pretty quirky piece - I guess since it's one of his earlier ones but man, I've never seen such raw emotion and energy in a classical performance before... it was great... probably the best classical performance I've ever seen... I told the pianist that I'm not usually moved by classical performances, but that I was really amazed...
In other news, I've met a bunch of really cool people here & gotten a pretty strong insight into what the life of a commuter is like... really wish I had had the money to board b/c I'm missing out on meeting so many people & then I could get free (well pre-paid) meals... either way, it's a really exciting place to be.
I asked Mr. Krieger (the head Director guy) if I could maybe sign up for one of the master classes next week. He said that if there was room he'd let me (It's supposed to only be for students who are there for the whole program - I'm just there for chamber) ...
Anyway, tonight I get to stage manage for a bit... should be interesting... tomorrow, Nathaniel Rosen gives a masterclass ... can't wait to watch...
I should probably get the email addresses of the people I meet here before I go...
In other news, I've met a bunch of really cool people here & gotten a pretty strong insight into what the life of a commuter is like... really wish I had had the money to board b/c I'm missing out on meeting so many people & then I could get free (well pre-paid) meals... either way, it's a really exciting place to be.
I asked Mr. Krieger (the head Director guy) if I could maybe sign up for one of the master classes next week. He said that if there was room he'd let me (It's supposed to only be for students who are there for the whole program - I'm just there for chamber) ...
Anyway, tonight I get to stage manage for a bit... should be interesting... tomorrow, Nathaniel Rosen gives a masterclass ... can't wait to watch...
I should probably get the email addresses of the people I meet here before I go...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Music Festival Day 2
Alright, so Day 2 of this music festival is significantly cooler than Day 1... had 2 chamber groups ... one w/ a teacher I've already studied with and playing Haydn. It's a boring piece, but the violinist is pretty cool... a kid named "Marti" who happens to be Armenian & is into rock music...
The second is w/ a teacher who's name I didn't catch, but the other 2 kids in it were way better than me, so I'm like super-intimidated & have a crazy amount of practicing to do... I know I've gotten better already just from the work I've done up here so far... and the teacher was actually able to talk about bowing during our session - it's exciting to get coached by a string teacher...
Plus, on my way out, I met a girl who was wearing a nightwish shirt... super cool!!
I tried to get into Orchestra, but they had way too many cellists... oh well.
Alright... gonna waste some time on the internet & then I've got loads of practicing to do...
The second is w/ a teacher who's name I didn't catch, but the other 2 kids in it were way better than me, so I'm like super-intimidated & have a crazy amount of practicing to do... I know I've gotten better already just from the work I've done up here so far... and the teacher was actually able to talk about bowing during our session - it's exciting to get coached by a string teacher...
Plus, on my way out, I met a girl who was wearing a nightwish shirt... super cool!!
I tried to get into Orchestra, but they had way too many cellists... oh well.
Alright... gonna waste some time on the internet & then I've got loads of practicing to do...
Monday, July 30, 2007
Summit Music Festival
Just started the summit festival today... don't really have much to do as of just now, my rehearsals seem to be on Tuesdays and Fridays and I may have to be here some of the other days of the week, but otherwise, it looks like I have an almost light schedule, but lots of practicing...
I'm thinking of joining the orchestra here, but think I'm gonna skip so that I can have a lighter schedule, b/c I kind of need one right now...
Dunno will figure it out one way or the other... gonna go get breakfast...
I'm thinking of joining the orchestra here, but think I'm gonna skip so that I can have a lighter schedule, b/c I kind of need one right now...
Dunno will figure it out one way or the other... gonna go get breakfast...
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Parallels
alright... so now that I haven't practiced in about a week and a half, I'm back into the swing of things!
First thing I've noticed: I'm less out of shape than I expected, which means that routine I was working on is gold, because that's about the only thing I've worked on in the last few weeks & it's kept me where I am ... which has led me to a revelation that my technique is sorely lacking in the fundamentals and that this is holding me back tremendously...
but anyway, I called the post parallels, and there's 2 reasons for this:
1. Technique first, expression afterwards - I came across this in Emily Wright's blog (Stark Raving Cello):
They are both adult beginners, and have trusted me with my policy of Technique First, Sound Second. Of course, a week into this new bow grip, their sound caught up with them, and is more radiant and polished than it ever was before. Just like mine was when Ron Leonard unceremoniously dumped my bow grip and gave me a new one...on our first lesson. It took me about 2 months to regain my sound, but he is directly responsible for my current approach, and my faith in technique uber alles.
I then came across the exact same sentiment/idea in the essays here (a must read for anyone in volved the arts by the way, amateur or pro...): http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Best_of_ARC/best1.asp?forumID=18
2. In an interview w/ JK Rowling (which I can't link to because mugglenet is down due to the release of the movie today), she mentions that when she writes she doesn't share it with anybody until it's finished because the energy dissipates, then I come across this interview with Jordan Rudess (http://www.tokafi.com/15questions/interview-with-jordan-rudess/view), where he says the following:
It is very important to be very involved personally. It is also very hard, I think, for many people these days to balance business and family and art. You know, it's the challenge of modern life. For me, it's hard, especially with email and all that, it's really tempting and interesting to go and look and see what the communications are - you can kind of get a lot of things going and a lot of relationships, and I enjoy that. For instance, what happens with me, when I was creating this solo album that has yet to come out, it's called "The Road Home", and I guess we'll talk about that a little later, you know I have to stop the world a bit.
Anyway, I think those are both amazing points & one of the things I've been doing lately, that parallels with this, is spending less time on the computer ... it's a great tool, but it takes up so much of my energy at the same time...
Now, back to the music stuff.... A few insights I gained while practicing today:
1. Intonation: When doing 5th double stops, always secure the root & then the 5th will follow
2. Bowing: Initiate the bow stroke w/ the middle 2 fingers - this seems to reduce gripping with the thumb
3. LH: Move as a unit. All motions come from the back
4. Slow is the foundation for good technique
5. Thumb Position: If you can play a good note with your thumb down, you can play a good harmonic. Not the other way around (In doing scales, I was leaving the thumb up whenever I got to the harmonic A on the A string... I feel like doing so is essentially handicapping myself)
I think I might make a small modification or two to the daily routine, but otherwise, I'm pretty set with it & working on actually getting through all of it cleanly. Also, I'm implementing it on keyboard... man is my keyboard technique a mess!!
Now, keeping in line with the 2nd principle up there, I'm gonna get off the internet now...
First thing I've noticed: I'm less out of shape than I expected, which means that routine I was working on is gold, because that's about the only thing I've worked on in the last few weeks & it's kept me where I am ... which has led me to a revelation that my technique is sorely lacking in the fundamentals and that this is holding me back tremendously...
but anyway, I called the post parallels, and there's 2 reasons for this:
1. Technique first, expression afterwards - I came across this in Emily Wright's blog (Stark Raving Cello):
They are both adult beginners, and have trusted me with my policy of Technique First, Sound Second. Of course, a week into this new bow grip, their sound caught up with them, and is more radiant and polished than it ever was before. Just like mine was when Ron Leonard unceremoniously dumped my bow grip and gave me a new one...on our first lesson. It took me about 2 months to regain my sound, but he is directly responsible for my current approach, and my faith in technique uber alles.
I then came across the exact same sentiment/idea in the essays here (a must read for anyone in volved the arts by the way, amateur or pro...): http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Best_of_ARC/best1.asp?forumID=18
2. In an interview w/ JK Rowling (which I can't link to because mugglenet is down due to the release of the movie today), she mentions that when she writes she doesn't share it with anybody until it's finished because the energy dissipates, then I come across this interview with Jordan Rudess (http://www.tokafi.com/15questions/interview-with-jordan-rudess/view), where he says the following:
It is very important to be very involved personally. It is also very hard, I think, for many people these days to balance business and family and art. You know, it's the challenge of modern life. For me, it's hard, especially with email and all that, it's really tempting and interesting to go and look and see what the communications are - you can kind of get a lot of things going and a lot of relationships, and I enjoy that. For instance, what happens with me, when I was creating this solo album that has yet to come out, it's called "The Road Home", and I guess we'll talk about that a little later, you know I have to stop the world a bit.
Anyway, I think those are both amazing points & one of the things I've been doing lately, that parallels with this, is spending less time on the computer ... it's a great tool, but it takes up so much of my energy at the same time...
Now, back to the music stuff.... A few insights I gained while practicing today:
1. Intonation: When doing 5th double stops, always secure the root & then the 5th will follow
2. Bowing: Initiate the bow stroke w/ the middle 2 fingers - this seems to reduce gripping with the thumb
3. LH: Move as a unit. All motions come from the back
4. Slow is the foundation for good technique
5. Thumb Position: If you can play a good note with your thumb down, you can play a good harmonic. Not the other way around (In doing scales, I was leaving the thumb up whenever I got to the harmonic A on the A string... I feel like doing so is essentially handicapping myself)
I think I might make a small modification or two to the daily routine, but otherwise, I'm pretty set with it & working on actually getting through all of it cleanly. Also, I'm implementing it on keyboard... man is my keyboard technique a mess!!
Now, keeping in line with the 2nd principle up there, I'm gonna get off the internet now...
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