It's Been a Long Time....

Months have passed since my last post, but I have not been entirely inactive! In all truth, once summer break began, I played sporadically, taking a much needed hiatus from everything--including playing the violin! I rested, played, and traveled, and very reluctantly dragged myself back to reality a few months ago. That reality has included entering two Graduate courses and beginning a new job, so in all honesty, playing my violin has taken a back burner--a back burner, but not forgotten!!

So, where am I now in my quest to learn the violin? Well, I have begun my second book, am attending thirty minute lessons on Fridays, and am making small improvements. My dedication to practice has waned somewhat (but that may also be due to my hectic work/school/social life), but I've discovered a few things. First, my frustrations at never hitting the right strings has lessened as I learned that my bridge was cut incorrectly; now, with a new bridge (from a something-thousand dollar German violin, no less) and closer action, I am doing MUCH better. True, I am not hitting the right strings ALL the time, but it is a vast improvement. While the "string issue" has been my biggest victory, I am also pleased to say that I hit the right notes on a more consistent basis and am learning how to "feel" the music--to play it not just to the time, but to the rhythm and emotion.

Next steps: perhaps play in a Christmas concert? To be continued....

Why Do I Love Playing?

Why do I love playing the violin? Today, someone asked me this question and I just realized the answer. After a long day of stress, even when I am exhausted and don't want to practice, I open the case and just feel excitement and joy. As soon as I start playing, all my troubles and headaches fall away and there is nothing but the music, the skill, the challenge. The world disappears and I lose myself. Words can't describe the love, peace, pure joy....

Bowing, Bowing, Bowing...

All I have to say in this post is that bowing may be the death of me. It seems that I just can't quite get the hang of bowing, and keep regressing every time I think I am getting somewhere. Granted, I know that I took about two weeks off for traveling, so I have to rebuild what little skill I had grasped in the month I had been bowing, but oy gevalt! I understand now why people get so extremely frustrated with this instrument. If I didn't love it and get such pure satisfaction and joy from playing and practicing, I would probably chuck the bow out the window. It's amazing how complicated it actually is to apply the right pressure and angles to keep the bow from screeching, hitting the wrong strings, or sliding every where--this will take months to grasp, years to improve, and a lifetime to perfect...

Practice Techniques

Here are some practice techniques that I have found helpful:

•  To help with bowing, I practice sitting in front of a mirror. This helps me make sure that I am holding the bow parallel to the bridge. If you just look down at the bow in your hand, the slant at which you hold the bow and the instrument creates an optical illusion: this makes you think you are holding the bow parallel, but actually, it is bent back toward your shoulder. This causes the bow to screech and slide all over the strings. Even though I still use the mirror, and will for some time, I can already feel my arm and wrist naturally bending to hold the bow parallel to the bridge, but it took hours of simply watching my motions in a mirror:)
• I spent a lot of time simply bowing open strings and running through the scale of the key of D to improve my handle and pressure in using the bow. I practice moving the bow quickly, moderately, slowly, stopping and starting at random to create the strongest, clearest sound I can. I also practice moving across the strings in order, then out of order to make my transitions more smooth. All the while, I am watching myself to make sure I keep the bow straight and move my arm and wrist in the correct way. 
• In addition to using the mirror to make sure I hold the bow straight, I also use it to watch the angles of my arm as I move from string to string, as well as the motion of my wrists. The wrist is meant to arch up when holding the bow closest to the frog and to straighten out as you move it towards to the tip--fluid like the floating jelly fish in Finding Nemo, as my teacher said:) The angles of your arm look like the following: lower and closer to the body for E string and raising ever so slightly higher as you progress along the strings. E is closest to your body, A a little further away, then D and finally G. You are not moving the arm away from the body, but rather simply raising and lowering the lower arm--your upper arm and shoulder don't move. The more I watch myself do this, the more natural the motions become.
• I still practice simply plucking the strings so that I can concentrate on my fingering on the finger board. 

At the moment, these are the rituals and methods I am using, while repeating in my head helpful instructions and tips given by my teacher and viewed on the Internet. They seem to be working so far. And of course, all the while, I am practicing these as I run through little ditties, rounds, and songs that make it all sounds pretty (despite my hair-raising screeching) and make it fun!

Small Steps

It's been five weeks (it would have been six, but for having my wisdom teeth removed) and this is where I am so far: I am still playing in the key of D and am getting more adept at hitting the right notes more often and more accurately; I have learned to play "A" on the D string--fourth finger; and I am doing better with moving the bow from one string to the next, as well as holding it and using it.

I have officially been bowing for about 2 weeks now, and am getting a slightly less squeaky sound. Mind you, my playing still sounds like a dying cat/seagull combination, but as I hear myself playing every day, I can hear the ever-so-subtle improvements. I have to remind myself daily that this is a life-long investment I have made, and that I must relax and enjoy the process. I have a nature that wants to master and perfect everything immediately; this is simply and utterly not going to happen with the violin. However, I am learning to be patient and take it step by step, enjoying the process and trying not to get frustrated. I have learned a lot by watching tutorials and videos on the Internet about bowing, and have tried some practice techniques gleaned both from my teacher and the Internet, which I will share in another post. I suppose the point of this blog is just to say that learning the violin is a journey, and one that will only be enjoyed and achieved by taking it one small step at a time and remembering to enjoy the adventure itself.

The Violin Chronicles Continues...

It's been one week since I have been able to pick up and play my violin. Finally got to start bowing last week, then had to put off playing because of surgery (wisdom teeth out:() When I picked it up again today, I remembered how HARD it is to bow at the beginning...oy!! I practiced open strings, particularly D and A for about an hour, focusing on moving my lower arm/elbow and just getting a feeling for the bow. I spent a few minutes on playing "G" on the D string, but my goodness, this is difficult! I finally had to huff in frustration after an hour, pack it up, and treat myself to some pie and tea!!! But....I still love it and can't wait to beat this bow!

Learning Pains...

     It's time for an update! As of now, things are still going slowly but smoothly, apart from the one tuning incident. I have been practicing my pizzicato and the fingerboard. I have learned the notes for the Key of D, and have spent the last week or so running through scales and simple songs. I still don't always land on the right note, but I can hear and feel myself getting better. Along with this however, come some pains--not all bad, though! My finger tips are becoming calloused, which is good--no more tenderness and pain. My left hand and fingers are also getting stronger and more dexterous as I become more comfortable holding the violin and moving along the fingerboard. However, the first finger on my left hand sustained some sort of absurd tenderness or sprain, making it painful to practice or even use that finger at all for several days. I chalked it up to over use:)
      Along with physical pains have been the tuning pains. After my last lesson, my violin stayed in tune and the pegs stayed put. However, today my G string was just slightly off--and thus ensued thirty minutes of playing with the fine tuners, and occasionally the pegs, to get the strings back into tune; for as all know, as soon as you get one string tuned, another goes off just a little. But at long last, I got them all in tune, and while I don't think I truly understand the tuning process any better, you can only learn by doing, so I gained something in that tonight! Looking forward to my lesson tomorrow...

First Frustration!!

So I thought that I understood tuning, but apparently not. I guess it's just one of those things you have to learn by trial and error. I went to play today, and found that a string was out of tune. For the next thirty minutes I grew more and more frustrated as I tried and tried to tune and re-tune the strings. And just as I was getting there....snap!! That sickening, popping sound you never want to hear when you play a string instrument. My teacher warned me that this happens quite often to beginners learning how to tune; I guess I was just hoping to put it off a little longer. I suppose I should've skipped practicing today, since I wasn't feeling like it anyway ( I had read about giving yourself one day off anyway--more on practicing theories later). I guess I will have to take it off now!:)
Understandably, I was very angry by the time the string popped, and even more so when it did. Not wanting to be defeated however, I am prepared in advance to get it replaced right after school tomorrow so I can practice tomorrow night. I also went online and did a more in-depth search and reading on tuning violins. I think I found a site that will be more helpful, and I plan on making sure I really understand the theory of tuning after my lesson this week. Will let you know how the tuning goes as I progress. I imagine that this is only one of the first major frustrations I will face in learning the violin.....

http://store.musicbasics.com/howtotunviol.html
http://www.get-tuned.com/online_violin_tuner.php

Pizzicato

My first lesson went well. My teacher is my age and an accomplished cello player (among other string instruments), so I hope I will have much to learn from her. She also helps put me at ease, which is essential as I get "stage fright" playing in front of anyone. My first task was to learn to tune my violin, put on the shoulder rest, and hold it appropriately. Sounds ridiculously simple, but you would be surprised! My back, arm, and shoulder muscles positively ache from holding the violin for the past four days, and I have a tender spot on my collar bone and jaw! Not to mention the fingertips of my left hand are tender and raw.
The aches and pains of training one's body to a new instrument aside, I have been given the task of practicing the following things: tuning my instrument (so far a success, for which I am greatly proud as I never could figure out how to tune my guitar in the past!!); keeping time and refreshing my base of music knowledge; and playing the D string (open D, G, F#, and E). I have practiced the simple little ditties in my book over and over again, spending more than an hour each day for the past three days on them. Despite the simplicity of what I am doing, which is called pizzicato (plucking the strings--no bow yet!!), I find that I still really need to practice moving along the D string. I am moving much more smoothly between the notes now (and finding and hitting the right notes first try now!) Even in three days, I can see improvement in my pizz., and am REALLY loving playing. I CAN'T wait to move onto the next step, which will be the A string notes, and soon, very soon, the bow. In the meantime, it is more practice for me, and some bow exercises that will train my hands and arms to handle and maneuver the bow.

Let's start at the very beginning...

I have decided to chronicle my adventures as a beginning (and hopeful) violinist. I can't remember the last time I was this excited about something: I am practically itching to get started! I first wanted to learn the violin when I was in high school, but as my parents had invested years worth of money into piano lessons for me, pursuing a new instrument was not an option. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the hauntingly beautiful music of the violin and have been addicted to the sound of the sweet fiddle ever since. Surprisingly, the idea that I could simply begin learning once I was an adult who could manage my own time and money didn't occur to me until a few weeks ago--and then I had an epiphany. Who says you can't learn something new (albeit challenging) as an adult? Who says everything new and exciting has to be begun as a child or youth!? And so, I purchased a beginner violin and a few accessories. I have had my fiddle for a week now and go for my first lesson tomorrow, but I have not wasted my time waiting for my lesson. True, I don't know how to appropriately tune my violin yet, but I have spent my time practicing my posture, hand positions, and bowing, as well as viewing tutorials and reading articles and blogs on skills and tips for beginning violinists. But now it is time to face the music, so to speak....my first lesson and the true beginning of what I hope to be a life- long, fulfilling adventure.