"He who practices improves!"
That's something I'm really starting to understand the more time I spend in the practice room. I'm usually in the practice room no later than 8:00 am during the week. My goal is to try to get a minimum of two hours of practice in before my first class. If I don't get this done, it makes getting a minimum of 5 hours in very difficult. It can be done, but to be honest, after my last class, the odds of me practicing any more are slim to none. When I get home, I'm home. I guess my point is, you have to know your tendencies, know what your habits are, and plan around them. Also, you have to know what your priorities are, if you know what your true priorities then you'll make time for them. No excuses.
I had my lesson with Dr. DeStefano (3D) last Friday. It was a good lesson. Many things were brought to my attention. One being, my left hand frame is vastly improved, but because of my focus exclusively on the LH, my RH hand suffered some. My cole (finger motion), has gotten weak, and I haven't been keep weight in my bow strokes which cuts my sound in half.
I always like to start my practice time with about an hour of technical warm-ups. I work RH technique for about half the hour and LH for the last part of the hour. Usually, I do a couple of Bowing exercises Dr. Carroll taught me, then I get my copy of Sevick Op. 3 out and work right hand that way. However, this apparently hasn't been properly working my RH. So racking my brain back to when I reworked and developed my RH technique back in High School, I've gotten out a few exorcises to rework my muscles. I can tell you, it has been a while. After working a few of these, my RH was more sore than it normally is. So we'll see what doing this for a couple of weeks will produce.
I've also got the go ahead to start working on my next piece, Bach Suit 3, all the while still working on my concerto to continue working intonation and bow stroke. All of this is to prepare me for playing Brahms Viola Sonata No. 2 in Eb Major. So I'm pretty stoked.
I made an exciting discovery this week about my elbow. I know I might have said that I don't have to have my elbow as far under the instrument as I used to, but I found out I'm still having my elbow too far under. I know when I have my elbow in the right place, with no tension, when my pinkie finger no longer feels like I'm trying to rip it off with my teeth. It's a great feeling, the lack of pain. I highly recommend it.
***
I finished "Inheritance" this morning. It made me late for church, haha. Priorities right? It was one of the best books I've read, top 5 probably, in the past year. I would even go so far as to say it's better than the finale of Harry Potter.
As I predicted, I didn't too much writing done on my own book, "Incarnations," but I did write a couple of paragraphs of Ch. 26. Perhaps, while I wait for the next big book, I might get some more written in the following weeks. However, I have decided to continue working through my book shelf.
There was a time where I couldn't help myself, every time I went into a book store, I bought a book. I couldn't read them faster than I bought them. So I decided that I would restrict the amount of books I bought, preferably, none, until I finish my Book Shelf. I also am trying to adopt a practice of between every sci-fi/fantasy novel I read, I read a non-fiction or a book from another genre. I feel sometimes it's easy to become narrow sighted, so this is my attempt to become more "well read." So, following this pattern, I need a non-fiction book. Going to my shelf, I found "The Inner Game of Music." It's not too long, an easy but good read for sure.
Final thought:
"Not only is practice necessary to art, it IS an art."
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
65316.6
It's the end of the week, and the beginning of the next. Some big exciting things happened. One being two earthquakes within 24 hours of each other in my home state of OK. This would happen to me; as soon as I leave, something exciting happens. Story of my life.
In the next week, there are three, count them 3, viola recitals. Looking forward to each one. Also, no school this Friday. So since I have no classes on Thursday, I essentially get a Fall Break. Awesome Opossum.
This week in practice wasn't the greatest for me. I had to get my cable/internet fixed, and that took a huge chunk out of my time, plus I had extra errands to run this week which cut into my practice time considerable, and I'm feeling I want Thanksgiving to get here, so I might have been a little loose on finding alternative practice times. But don't take this to mean I slacked off in any way. I still got some good work done!
Some observations I made about my playing and practice :
-I have a bad habit of relying on watching myself in a mirror or reflective surface while I practice. I like seeing my progression and what I look like when I play, but I've come to rely on that while practicing too much. It's gotten to the point that I think it's affecting my overall playing in front of others when no reflective surface is around. It's become my security blanket. Solution--I don't look at the reflective surfaces anymore and I try to figure out problems by using tactile memory. I ask myself, "How does this feel, what muscles am I using?" I also listen closer for pitch and other funny sounds that I might make. If I'm having trouble resisting the urge to look, or if I'm just have trouble focusing, I close my eyes and practice. I've already noticed a lot of improvement in my consistency by doing this. I'm excited for this "regular" week so I can really see/hear real progress. I also hypothesize that by relying on external forces for my own comfort in playing this only adds to my performance anxiety.
-I have a bad habit of walking while playing. I walk, and I don't practice proper stance and posture. This again, will only encourage trust in myself and my ability. So what is "good posture?" I think of it as feet shoulder width apart with the knees slightly bent. Feet should be mostly flat with 80% of your weight on the backs of your heels. What this does is it lifts your body up and opens it allowing more sound to move through you and the instrument thus increasing resonance and tone. Also, something I'm trying to keep myself from doing is leaning forward, point the scroll of my instrument towards the floor. This is bad posture, and I've been known to do it. It creates tension, inconsistent intonation, and a repulsive tone. It's impossible to work on any of these posture habits if I keep walking in circles playing my rep.
-I'm getting more consistent with finding first finger on any of the strings and have it be in tune. First position mind you. I've learned that if you can't find where to put your first finger, in any position, you're sunk. Making sure your LH frame is set up correctly with proper first finger placement will improve intonation consistency by 90%. I've been working on first position, mainly because I'm working scales and want them to be in tune, and when you start scales you start in first position, duh, lol. By-the-by, for those who might be reading and have no idea what I mean by positions, here's a rough description: on string instruments, there's more than one way to play almost any note. we do this by playing farther away from the scroll in different "positions." When you see a string player moving "up" the finger board, they're changing positions. The lower one is on the finger board, the lower the position, the higher one is, you get the point. Anyways, first finger in first position. I've been working on this by tuning the first finger to the string up above it (E on d-string tuned to open A = Perfect 4th ("Here Comes the Bride")) I might try to find a video to post next time to better explain this. But for now, know I'm making progress!!
Now on to other matters.
I finished writing ch. 25 of my book, "Incarnations: Vol. 0 of the Avatar Chronicles." I'm almost there. I'm almost finished with the first draft. It's been so long, this story going through my head since 5th grade. To see it come to fruition is most exciting.
Some might be wandering why it's vol. 0 and not 1. Well, It's a pseudo-prequel. It's part of the main story, but it's not at the same time. It takes place 20 years before the other books' events. But in order to understand the others, you must read this one first. See my problem? So the solution I came up with was to call it vol. 0, and I think it's appropriate.
Unfortunately, with "Inheritance" coming out this week, my writing will be put on hold.
I was able to finish this book called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. I recommend it to any young man looking to find his wild-side or looking to get reacquainted with that side of yourself. It is considered "Christian Lit." but it doesn't make too many references to the Bible in and off itself, but the information and lessons found within are based upon Eldrege's understanding of the Bible. He also uses a lot of movie quotes, referencing "Gladiator" and "Brave Heart." He uses all of this to challenge the reader to be a true man. Read it!
Final thought:
"Remember remember,
The 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I Know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot."
In the next week, there are three, count them 3, viola recitals. Looking forward to each one. Also, no school this Friday. So since I have no classes on Thursday, I essentially get a Fall Break. Awesome Opossum.
This week in practice wasn't the greatest for me. I had to get my cable/internet fixed, and that took a huge chunk out of my time, plus I had extra errands to run this week which cut into my practice time considerable, and I'm feeling I want Thanksgiving to get here, so I might have been a little loose on finding alternative practice times. But don't take this to mean I slacked off in any way. I still got some good work done!
Some observations I made about my playing and practice :
-I have a bad habit of relying on watching myself in a mirror or reflective surface while I practice. I like seeing my progression and what I look like when I play, but I've come to rely on that while practicing too much. It's gotten to the point that I think it's affecting my overall playing in front of others when no reflective surface is around. It's become my security blanket. Solution--I don't look at the reflective surfaces anymore and I try to figure out problems by using tactile memory. I ask myself, "How does this feel, what muscles am I using?" I also listen closer for pitch and other funny sounds that I might make. If I'm having trouble resisting the urge to look, or if I'm just have trouble focusing, I close my eyes and practice. I've already noticed a lot of improvement in my consistency by doing this. I'm excited for this "regular" week so I can really see/hear real progress. I also hypothesize that by relying on external forces for my own comfort in playing this only adds to my performance anxiety.
-I have a bad habit of walking while playing. I walk, and I don't practice proper stance and posture. This again, will only encourage trust in myself and my ability. So what is "good posture?" I think of it as feet shoulder width apart with the knees slightly bent. Feet should be mostly flat with 80% of your weight on the backs of your heels. What this does is it lifts your body up and opens it allowing more sound to move through you and the instrument thus increasing resonance and tone. Also, something I'm trying to keep myself from doing is leaning forward, point the scroll of my instrument towards the floor. This is bad posture, and I've been known to do it. It creates tension, inconsistent intonation, and a repulsive tone. It's impossible to work on any of these posture habits if I keep walking in circles playing my rep.
-I'm getting more consistent with finding first finger on any of the strings and have it be in tune. First position mind you. I've learned that if you can't find where to put your first finger, in any position, you're sunk. Making sure your LH frame is set up correctly with proper first finger placement will improve intonation consistency by 90%. I've been working on first position, mainly because I'm working scales and want them to be in tune, and when you start scales you start in first position, duh, lol. By-the-by, for those who might be reading and have no idea what I mean by positions, here's a rough description: on string instruments, there's more than one way to play almost any note. we do this by playing farther away from the scroll in different "positions." When you see a string player moving "up" the finger board, they're changing positions. The lower one is on the finger board, the lower the position, the higher one is, you get the point. Anyways, first finger in first position. I've been working on this by tuning the first finger to the string up above it (E on d-string tuned to open A = Perfect 4th ("Here Comes the Bride")) I might try to find a video to post next time to better explain this. But for now, know I'm making progress!!
Now on to other matters.
I finished writing ch. 25 of my book, "Incarnations: Vol. 0 of the Avatar Chronicles." I'm almost there. I'm almost finished with the first draft. It's been so long, this story going through my head since 5th grade. To see it come to fruition is most exciting.
Some might be wandering why it's vol. 0 and not 1. Well, It's a pseudo-prequel. It's part of the main story, but it's not at the same time. It takes place 20 years before the other books' events. But in order to understand the others, you must read this one first. See my problem? So the solution I came up with was to call it vol. 0, and I think it's appropriate.
Unfortunately, with "Inheritance" coming out this week, my writing will be put on hold.
I was able to finish this book called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. I recommend it to any young man looking to find his wild-side or looking to get reacquainted with that side of yourself. It is considered "Christian Lit." but it doesn't make too many references to the Bible in and off itself, but the information and lessons found within are based upon Eldrege's understanding of the Bible. He also uses a lot of movie quotes, referencing "Gladiator" and "Brave Heart." He uses all of this to challenge the reader to be a true man. Read it!
Final thought:
"Remember remember,
The 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I Know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot."
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
65337.7
So I'm not really sure how this works. Just getting my feet wet I guess.
I got the idea for this because I love to practice viola. I am a viola performance major, and it's my first year in the graduate program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), no big deal... Anyways, this blog is supposed to keep me accountable with my progress on the viola. Also, you might find other topics of interest as well. For instance, I am attempting to write a book. You know, when I have spare time...
Well, let's get started then.
I've been playing viola (VEE-OH-LAH) for 13 years. I started in my elementary school's orchestra program, and I haven't looked back. I did my undergraduate work at Wichita State University (WSU), studying with the amazing Catherine Consiglio (CC). I now study at CCM under the amazing guidance of Dr. Catharine Carroll (Dr. C), Mr. Kawasaki (Mr.K), and on occasion I'll have a lesson with Dr. DeStefano (DS). The transition from undergraduate level to graduate level is tough enough, without having to travel five states over where I have/had no contacts what so ever. I had never even been to Cincinnati, let alone Ohio before now.
I have pretty descent training on the viola thus far. I guess you could have considered me one of the better violas at WSU; at least, I was advanced or something of the like. Here at CCM, that's not so much the case. I wouldn't say I'm just flat out bad here because everyone here is good. But I would say I don't shine here as much as I did at WSU. That's why I practice 5-7 hours a day. When I was in my undergrad, I always wanted to go to grad school and not be like certain graduate students (one in particular) who had to overhaul their playing ability and technique. FAIL! There's so much I didn't fix that I'm having to fix now, hence the obscene amount of practicing. Now don't get me wrong, CC has and will always be one of my most influential teachers and mentors. She was great, and in fact says a lot of the same things as Dr. C and Mr. K. However, Dr. C and Mr. K emphasize different areas of my development and work in a different, not better, way than CC.
Now, some of you are still looking back at the obscene amount of practicing. Here's the reasoning behind this. Dorothy DeLay, one of the worlds best violin pedagogues, if not the best, devised a 5 hour practice schedule covering an array of areas from right hand bow technique to working solo Bach. I got a very broad copy of this practice schedule at WSU, but I always found it ridiculous. I HAD to work on my solo pieces more than my left hand technique. There was a tiny flaw in my logic. Now I have added to the number of hours because I now work three hours of technique a day. According to Mr. K, if someone practices consistently for 1-2hours a day 6 days a week, this person will make (-)% progress. If they practice 3-4 hours, 0% progress. Only once 5 hours is reached is progress is made, and I need to make a LOT of progress.
But what's this progress I need to make for? I always tell people the unrealistic dream is to win the ultimate symphony job, like with Chicago, Berlin, London, or maybe New York. The realistic dream is to be a professor, I love pedagogy. To win either of these jobs, you have to be the best performer out of many other candidates. One mistake will send you packing. Unknowingly, I picked the most competitive field that yields the least job security. Go me!...
So, my big issue with my playing, the left hand. Tension, inconsistent intonation, you name I got it. Except I challenge anyone who thinks they have better vibrato than me. I'm serious! Anyways, this has been the area I've been working on. I play on a massive 17" beast of an instrument (yes, that's very large)! And I have midget pinkies, so that makes using my fourth finger difficult (fourth finger = pinkie). To solve this problem CC had me get my left arm as far under the instrument as possible so I could get a "better" angle for my pinkie to be used. This created a lot pain and tension. We could never figure out why this was. Dr. C's method was to push my arm back underneath the instrument and change my LH (left hand) frame in such a way that I could plop my fingers down in any pattern from the base knuckles. By jove, this style works! When I do it right. Not only just by working on this issue has my intonation consistency improved, but there's very little to no pain in my hand! I've been working on this for about 5 weeks now, and there's so much improvement I sometimes forget to keep my excitement in check, haha. I've got almost 4 years of not bad in general, but bad for me LH technique that every professor here at CCM and their dogs are harping on me to fix. So I'm on week 5. I figure it takes 6 weeks to break a habit, and another 6 weeks to form a habit. Only 8 weeks to go! Ugh...
One other item of mention is I need to work on listening to my playing, while I play. I was always told to listen to a drone tone (a note held constantly that is the root of the key of which you are playing) when I practice intonation. It works for some, again not for me. Mr. K is emphasizing "pitch memory," something no one has ever told me how are that I really should practice. Dr. C's given me a way to do this by playing a note, rest and "sing" the next note of the piece in my head, and then play to see if it matches. I got so excited today when I was playing my scale at 24 notes to a bow (fast) and I could tell every single note was in tune, or at least really close. According to Dr. C, Mr. K can hear things dogs can't even hear. Well if this is true, and this is how they want me to practice, then by golly I'm gonna do it!
So that's basically it in the music world.
In other news, "Inheritance" comes out next week!!!! Finally Christopher! Also, I've maid some headway into ch.25 of my book. I guess I should explain this.
I love sci-fi and fantasy. I've always liked creating stories since I can remember. And so I decided as a way to unwind when I don't have a book to read, I'll write my own. It's called "Incarnations: vol. 0 of the Avatar Chronicles." I've been working on it for a while. It's in the style of LOTR and WoT. Basic good vs. evil, light against shadow (my two deities, I couldn't come up with better names, haha). I got a lot of my inspiration from the Bible and my faith. So there are some of my personal views on religion in here, but don't let that deter you should I get it published. And trust, it's not an exact copy of the Bible anyway, totally new story. I might post a sample chapter at some point, who knows. But that's just a side project of mine. Epic nerd I be.
Anyways, I got to get to class! Before I go, let me leave you with this final thought of the day:
"The Pope may be French, but Jesus is English"
I got the idea for this because I love to practice viola. I am a viola performance major, and it's my first year in the graduate program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), no big deal... Anyways, this blog is supposed to keep me accountable with my progress on the viola. Also, you might find other topics of interest as well. For instance, I am attempting to write a book. You know, when I have spare time...
Well, let's get started then.
I've been playing viola (VEE-OH-LAH) for 13 years. I started in my elementary school's orchestra program, and I haven't looked back. I did my undergraduate work at Wichita State University (WSU), studying with the amazing Catherine Consiglio (CC). I now study at CCM under the amazing guidance of Dr. Catharine Carroll (Dr. C), Mr. Kawasaki (Mr.K), and on occasion I'll have a lesson with Dr. DeStefano (DS). The transition from undergraduate level to graduate level is tough enough, without having to travel five states over where I have/had no contacts what so ever. I had never even been to Cincinnati, let alone Ohio before now.
I have pretty descent training on the viola thus far. I guess you could have considered me one of the better violas at WSU; at least, I was advanced or something of the like. Here at CCM, that's not so much the case. I wouldn't say I'm just flat out bad here because everyone here is good. But I would say I don't shine here as much as I did at WSU. That's why I practice 5-7 hours a day. When I was in my undergrad, I always wanted to go to grad school and not be like certain graduate students (one in particular) who had to overhaul their playing ability and technique. FAIL! There's so much I didn't fix that I'm having to fix now, hence the obscene amount of practicing. Now don't get me wrong, CC has and will always be one of my most influential teachers and mentors. She was great, and in fact says a lot of the same things as Dr. C and Mr. K. However, Dr. C and Mr. K emphasize different areas of my development and work in a different, not better, way than CC.
Now, some of you are still looking back at the obscene amount of practicing. Here's the reasoning behind this. Dorothy DeLay, one of the worlds best violin pedagogues, if not the best, devised a 5 hour practice schedule covering an array of areas from right hand bow technique to working solo Bach. I got a very broad copy of this practice schedule at WSU, but I always found it ridiculous. I HAD to work on my solo pieces more than my left hand technique. There was a tiny flaw in my logic. Now I have added to the number of hours because I now work three hours of technique a day. According to Mr. K, if someone practices consistently for 1-2hours a day 6 days a week, this person will make (-)% progress. If they practice 3-4 hours, 0% progress. Only once 5 hours is reached is progress is made, and I need to make a LOT of progress.
But what's this progress I need to make for? I always tell people the unrealistic dream is to win the ultimate symphony job, like with Chicago, Berlin, London, or maybe New York. The realistic dream is to be a professor, I love pedagogy. To win either of these jobs, you have to be the best performer out of many other candidates. One mistake will send you packing. Unknowingly, I picked the most competitive field that yields the least job security. Go me!...
So, my big issue with my playing, the left hand. Tension, inconsistent intonation, you name I got it. Except I challenge anyone who thinks they have better vibrato than me. I'm serious! Anyways, this has been the area I've been working on. I play on a massive 17" beast of an instrument (yes, that's very large)! And I have midget pinkies, so that makes using my fourth finger difficult (fourth finger = pinkie). To solve this problem CC had me get my left arm as far under the instrument as possible so I could get a "better" angle for my pinkie to be used. This created a lot pain and tension. We could never figure out why this was. Dr. C's method was to push my arm back underneath the instrument and change my LH (left hand) frame in such a way that I could plop my fingers down in any pattern from the base knuckles. By jove, this style works! When I do it right. Not only just by working on this issue has my intonation consistency improved, but there's very little to no pain in my hand! I've been working on this for about 5 weeks now, and there's so much improvement I sometimes forget to keep my excitement in check, haha. I've got almost 4 years of not bad in general, but bad for me LH technique that every professor here at CCM and their dogs are harping on me to fix. So I'm on week 5. I figure it takes 6 weeks to break a habit, and another 6 weeks to form a habit. Only 8 weeks to go! Ugh...
One other item of mention is I need to work on listening to my playing, while I play. I was always told to listen to a drone tone (a note held constantly that is the root of the key of which you are playing) when I practice intonation. It works for some, again not for me. Mr. K is emphasizing "pitch memory," something no one has ever told me how are that I really should practice. Dr. C's given me a way to do this by playing a note, rest and "sing" the next note of the piece in my head, and then play to see if it matches. I got so excited today when I was playing my scale at 24 notes to a bow (fast) and I could tell every single note was in tune, or at least really close. According to Dr. C, Mr. K can hear things dogs can't even hear. Well if this is true, and this is how they want me to practice, then by golly I'm gonna do it!
So that's basically it in the music world.
In other news, "Inheritance" comes out next week!!!! Finally Christopher! Also, I've maid some headway into ch.25 of my book. I guess I should explain this.
I love sci-fi and fantasy. I've always liked creating stories since I can remember. And so I decided as a way to unwind when I don't have a book to read, I'll write my own. It's called "Incarnations: vol. 0 of the Avatar Chronicles." I've been working on it for a while. It's in the style of LOTR and WoT. Basic good vs. evil, light against shadow (my two deities, I couldn't come up with better names, haha). I got a lot of my inspiration from the Bible and my faith. So there are some of my personal views on religion in here, but don't let that deter you should I get it published. And trust, it's not an exact copy of the Bible anyway, totally new story. I might post a sample chapter at some point, who knows. But that's just a side project of mine. Epic nerd I be.
Anyways, I got to get to class! Before I go, let me leave you with this final thought of the day:
"The Pope may be French, but Jesus is English"
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