Violin

Today my teacher proposed we train at playing double sounds. The trick is to play on two strings at once, which is ironic as at the beginning of learning violin you learn exactly how not to do that. 

This time however the point was to play always on some combination of two strings. 

I was surprised to find that it's hard to keep the sound steady when playing like that and that my bow would tremble making it even harder. 

We spend a whole lesson doing the double sounds, but I am still not satisfied so I will continue practicing this precise tune. 

Violin

 At today's violin lesson I played another classical piece, which was a relief after working on jazz music. It is one of the most beautiful tunes I have ever played, but also comes with its challenges.

The main challenge in this one is that it has a large range of notes, from very low to extremely high. The low notes are not the problem, but to get to the highest points I need to reach 5th position, which I haven't done before. It takes me a lot of thought to get those bits right, but the satisfaction I get when I do is definitely worth it!

Violin

 

Today I learned a new piece entitled 'Summertime' by George Gershwin. It is set in E minor and is made mostly of higher notes. It is a jazz piece, so it has a tricky rhythm. It took me a while to get the rhythm jazz-sounding as jazz has little rulers and trying to transfer it into classical music sheets takes something away from it making playing it correctly an even harder job. 

I enjoyed this jazz experience and will for sure come back to it, but after I play a bit of classic tunes as well. 

Violin

 Today's violin lesson wasn't much different from all the other classes. I played a few scales, starting with g minor followed by a minor, and afterward practiced pieces I have already played before. 

It was a usual lesson as I was too tired to dive deeply into anything new. I used it to relax and fly into the world of music and creative thinking, instead of worrying and stress.

Violin

 As today was my last lesson before Christmas, my teacher and I decided to play classic Polish carols, including "Przybieżeli do Betlejem" and "Bóg się rodzi". 

I was surprised at how easy to play carols were for me, as all times that I have played them before I recall them as hard and tricky. This time, however, we managed to do three of them in one lesson, which is showing how non-problematic they were for me. 

With these pieces, I am planning on performing in front of my family on Christmas Eve and giving it a proper musical atmosphere. 

Unfortunately, this lesson like the ones before had to take place online, because of covid and public transport complications. I hope we will get back to having meetings face to face really soon.

Violin

This was the first lesson in December, and to get into the December, Winter, and Christmas spirit, I learned how to play Jingle Bells. 

To properly warm up, I began, of course, by playing a scale, A major, in which the song is set. 

I also did a few finger exercises to further improve my finger work.

I love playing violin and I am glad that I keep having lessons to improve that skill, even if it is just a hobby.

 

Violin

 This time, instead of starting a new piece, like we did last week, we decided to review all that I have played before, so I could see the progress my teacher swears exists. 

Of course, 90min we had did not allow us to go through literally every melody, but we managed to get done quite a few. 

I started by playing the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean, which I remember was hard for me last year. I mastered it, but still after a long break in playing it I expected it to go worse than it actually did. 

The same applies to all other pieces I played. Every single one on the first, or sometimes second try sounded as good as ever. 

It made me really proud and eager to learn even more and further improve my skills. 

The next lesson is in a week. I cannot wait, and will practice in between, if I only find the time. 

Violin

 During this lesson, we decided to revisit a piece I learned a long time ago - Canon in D major. 

As it is a cannon, it is a great opportunity to play together, instead of just solo. Playing in this way is entirely different than just playing alone - you need to better hear tunes, keep the rhythm and you cannot stop, as the other person will not. 

It is a great practice to anything really, and also loads of fun, as the sound of two violins is twice as beautiful as that of one. 

Violin

 Today I attended my violin lesson, thankfully in person. 

This way of having it is better in a way that online learning just does not allow. Thanks to seeing me, and being able to better show me as well as move my hands, my teacher is capable of correcting my posture, more efficiently and with my better understanding of what I should be doing than when we are separated by computer screens.

I really value this kind of experience, as it allows me to better improve myself, which is what I am aiming for afterall.

Violin

 Today I attended my first violin lesson after the holidays. It was supposed to be on Thursday, but my teacher had to cancel and we met today. 

It was so great to see her in person, it is definitely different than seeing her via zoom. She reminded me of correct hand movements and corrected a couple of things I have learned long ago, but that were not noticeable on zoom. 

I have started by playing D major scale, one of the easiest ones and the one in which Canon D is set. Then I practiced the bow movement to this very melody. 

After that, which took most of my lesson I started learning a new song, for which notes I post below. 

It is so great to finally meet for a violin lesson and to do it in person! I cannot wait to see what I am going to learn this year and what challenges it will bring!

Violin

 Today I decided to spend some time revising the tunes I have played last year. I started with Pirates of the Caribbean because I thought they are both beautiful and easy. 

It turns out I was wrong, and the melody has some tricky parts. I spent quite some time making it as perfect as I remember. It was hard work, but so rewarding. I can't wait to meet with my teacher again and continue learning and improving myself.

What is the hardest right now is to find time, not for the lesson itself, but in between. With all the work I have in IB2 it is going to be extremely difficult to practice in my free time as I will hardly have any. 

Violin

 After I came back home one of the first things I did was pick up my violin. 

I haven't played in a while as I wasn't home and I have missed the feeling of the instrument in my hands. 

I started simply by playing scales, then went up to my favourite Disney songs. 

I can hear the difference between my play in late July and now, and it has been only a month. I would not say that my progress disappeared, of course, it didn't. I will just need a week or two to remind my mussels of the way of playing.  

Holiday Creativity

 Today I played violin with the older one of my cousins. She is 7, and I have never before heard her play live, because of the pandemic. 

I was surprised at how well she played although I should have been expecting that. 

I played some of the songs I practiced for her, and also gave her a few tips on how to make violin playing be more fun. 

It is very encouraging to know that I am the reason she chose to learn this skill and it is really rewarding to see the effects. I hope we have more opportunities to play together in the future.

Violin Lesson

 This week I attended another one of my violin lessons. This time we focused mostly on the move of my right hand - the one which holds the bow and did not start any new songs.

I think this kind of work is really important as it improves the quality of sound produced, but it is also so different than just perfecting tunes. 

It was a very productive lesson and I am definitely going to practise the knowledge I gained during the holidays.

Violin Lesson

Today I started my violin lesson by playing the c minor scale in 3rd position. I am happy to say that it is getting easier for me to play minor scales without having to focus this much on the signs they have - it starts to come naturally.

Next I came back to a Dashilla's Sea Shanty, a piece I have not played in a long time but it's in this scale, so my teacher thought it would be a good time to remind it. 

The first time I played it today I was not satisfied with it at all, but the second way around it sounded really great. I just needed that first one to remember it correctly. 

Then, I spend nearly half a lesson mastering the piece described in my previous post. It is extremely hard, I think the hardest I have played this year, but I would say it is going pretty well. 

I am happy with the progress I am making especially that the very act of making music brings me so much joy.  

Violin Lesson

 Today at my violin lesson I started learning the Second Waltz in c minor by D.Shostakovich. 

My teacher says it will be a great challenge for me as the sheets I have are written very high. They will require me to play in 4th and even 5th position. I have never played this high before!

Although demanding, the waltz is really beautiful and it amazes me that I am able to play it in such a short time from first seeing the music sheets. 

I have yet to learn to properly change positions, but I am sure that as I practise it will become only easier for me to hit the right note without much thinking. 

Violin Lesson

Today at my violin lesson I was learning another song from a Disney movie.

It's the one I used to play on the piano many years ago - Tale as Old as Time from Beauty and the Beast. That is one of my favourite Disney cartoons so I was really excited to play it again.

The piece is harder than it looks. The main thing worth focusing on is to maintain the same pulse throughout the entire song. It's a challenge as I tend to shorten the long notes and then can't keep up with the shorter ones. 

This song is really great and it's amazing to play it.

Violin Lesson

 This week I had played violin for many hours and finished it up with an in-person lesson with my teacher. As we did before we used this time to play things I am already good at, focus on something else and play duets. 

The three main pieces we played were Colours of the Wind I started to learn last week, Memory from Cats the Musical, which although short is beautiful. And, finally, Pirates of the Caribbean - the piece which we started in Autumn. 

I haven't played the latter for many weeks and so I was surprised at how well I played it on the first try. After that we played it in duet and it was amazing.

I really like playing together with my teacher, both because it sounds so beautiful and because it gives much more space for improving. It helps with mastering every part of violin playing: maintaining the rhythm, right tones and teaches to listen to someone expect yourself
 while still focusing on your line. 

Violin Lesson

 Today I started to work on the song from Pocahontas, a Disney movie from 1995. It is one of the most popular Disney songs and it's entitled Colours of the Wind. My teacher said she loves when her students play it, as it is one of her favourite songs, so I'm excited to play it. 

Firstly we made few alterations to the sheets we found to make it sound identical as the original version. Then I started to play.

It was an amazing experience, although parts of it are challenging. I love that I get to play a note in a special way in this song. In Polish it's called "flażolet" I don't know the word in English for it. 

I will surely practise this song a lot as I cant wait to master it!

Violin Lesson

 Today I started working on another Sea Shanty, one entitled Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her. It is about a sailor who does not want to say goodbye to his ship, so it is pretty sad. Still, as most Shanty it is really nice to play on violin. 

The challenge I had to face in that piece was that at some moments I had to play two notes at the same time. How it is done? One has to put their bow on two strings at the same time so that they can both be heard. 

It does not sound complicated but when you add the fingers to play another notes, which you have to switch really fast it gets hard and confusing. 

Fortunately that is why I have a teacher, so she can help me in moments like these, as she did. 

I believe the song is very pleasant to hear now, although it wasn't at the beginning.