Violin Position

My son's been struggling with keeping his violin up. Every time he tries to correct intonation or play fortessimo, his violin goes down.... His teacher repeatedly remind us that he needs to keep his violin up, but so far we are getting nowhere. I keep reminding him during his practice whenever I am present, but he seems to be very irritated. I understand why. I bud in every second. Then it escalate to an argument. I am so tired.... I told him he needs to come up with something so I don't have to keep telling him. Usually he sits down to practice. That doesn't help either, but his legs get tired standing up for a long time, so he alternate standing and sitting. I thought of something last night and suggested him this morning that he can sit right by our upholstered chair so the scroll of the violin will be just above the highest part of the back of the chair. That way every time his violin droops down it will touch the chair and instantly remind him and since it is not hard object, it doesn't scratch the violin. It seems to be working, thank goodness!!! Hopefully, if he continues with this for awhile, it might correct the problem. We shall see.

New Year 2010

Happy New Year!!!
2009 just came and went. However, I feel my son accomplished a lot in spite of the not-so-ideal circumstances. Due to geographical problem, he can only take a lesson once a month. The violin issue was some how worked out. Then again we don't know how long he can keep the current one with him. He managed to win a small competition with that cheap Chinese violin. He made a semi-final for another competition that is coming up soon. He will enter another one in the late January, and he is going to take a break from this competition thing. To be honest, I am exhausted. He is a 13-year-old boy who has a lot of interests. I understand that, but I also understand that you need to put extra effort in order to produce some result in the competitions. He is not there yet mentally. I have to tell him to practice most of the time. I have to tell him where needs to be fixed. Well, he knows most of the time, but let it slide sometimes.
So in a way, I am relieved that I don't have to be in that situation anymore 'cause it's not fun to argue with a 13-year-old at all. I really didn't want him to enter the competition because we had a similar thing last year, but my husband and my son rallied around me and told me that he really wanted to try it. I told them over and over that I didn't want to go through the same thing again. It is not fair that I become a "Bad Guy". They assured me it wouldn't happen again. But, nooooooo....... it did!

After the competition is over early this year, we are going to focus on developing my son's repertoire. I am so excited!!!! Mr. K gave me the list of the pieces he has in mind which includes Ysaye No 3, Bach Sonata No.1 and Tzigane (of course this will be a year to a year & 1/2 away) among others.

And my new year's resolutions is..... to write my blog more often:)

It Is So Hard!!!!

Well, again, I haven't posted in awhile. A lot had been going on in violin study and our daily life. Anyway, my son unexpectedly found a new teacher after the summer. It is fortunate for us to encounter such a great teacher for him. He demands preciseness and articulation in every area of violin playing which my son desperately needed. Since last year was somewhat unstable in terms of lessons because of his teacher's schedule and so on, his intonation suffered tremendously. His practice was pretty much playing through the pieces he was working on and never really took time to go deeper into details. Now his teacher, Mr. K, makes him think on his own and gives him a feed back on it. I think my son is intimidated a little since he's never really thought about why this phrase needs to be like this or that, etc., but I think he'll get the hang of it soon. I'm sure he will grow into a musician:)
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, 1st mvnt he played before needed to be looked at since he's playing with a local orchestra in about two weeks. The first page was OK, but Mr. K was somewhat disappointed the rest of the movement wasn't the same. My son took it hard cause he thought he was getting there. Now, he is going to have to practice section by section very slowly and fix intonation, articulation, sound and dynamics. I know he needs to do this, but he has hard time understanding that slow practice makes it better faster. Typical pre-teen doesn't want to listen to Mommy!!!! I'm pulling my hair out and wondering when he is going to grow up. I think I am going to save his lesson detail until next time cause I need some sleep:)

Practicing With a Pianist

Well, my son hadn't had a lesson for over a month. His teacher moved back to Florida and his new teacher can't teach him until her students' recital is over this weekend. So he's been practicing by himself. This gets old if you know what I mean. Especially when he is eleven, he doesn't know what needs to be done a lot of times. This week we arranged with the pianist who he worked with before to go through Mozart No. 4 he's been practicing. It is just refreshing to practice with an accompanist. You can't be selfish and speed up or down according to your agenda. You have to collaborate. And reality check..... Why is Mozart so difficult? Well, first of all, not that I am making excuse for my son, but the last time he had a lesson was the first time he was given this piece and they pretty much spent the whole lesson adjusting fingering and bowing. Tonight, the pianist gave him some pointers which he always welcomes. This concerto (1st movement), I realized that it is almost a conversation (chatting) between the violin and the orchestra (in this case, the piano). If you get into it, you get the hang of it. I was going to tape this and use it as a submission for his summer music camp. (They require a CD or tape to determining the placement of suitable orchestra) But I said at the end, "Let's not use No. 4. He is not ready. We'll do Mendelssohn and tape it next week." That's OK. We'll take time and make it better. On the fun side, my son's been practicing "Meditation from Thais" by Massenet. We asked the pianist to play along with him. Well, we worked on a few times. Around the fifth time we decided to tape it. It wasn't too bad for the first time playing with piano after practicing for a week. Of course at some point, we'll need to ask his teacher to teach him this piece. But it is a beautiful piece. I love it. My son enjoyed playing with the pianist today. We'll probably do it again maybe a couple times a month or so. I am so tired... from keeping our younger children quiet during taping. I think I am going to fall asleep in one, two, three......seconds:)

Two Days Till Competition

Well, we finally received the time allotted for my son's competition. Mar. 8th Sat. at 1:30 pm. I was very nervous because we were supposed to hear from the competition coordinator by Monday, but didn't received the confirmation email until Tuesday. I thought he didn't make it. Now, I know he is supposed to be practicing, but how much? His pianist said to him he probably shouldn't over play it and become so automatic. So for the last week or so, he's been playing through once or twice a day. (Of course, he's been practicing scales and etudes on top of it.) I think it is coming along. The audition should not exceed 15 minutes, so the first movement of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64 will barely fit in, I assume. Last time he played at the recital, it was a little over 13 minutes cutting the pianist's part at the end a little. It might fit even if he played the whole ending.
I know a lot of people who enter into competition really focus and put other things aside a few weeks before competition, but my son had a gig at the NBA basketball game last night. Being the basketball fan, he couldn't pass this one. He and his peers at the youth orchestra he belongs to played a couple of pieces. He was just excited to see all these professional players passing by and even saying "Hi" to him. So he didn't get to practice much yesterday. He did some scales in the morning before he went to school and that's pretty much it. By the time we came home, he was too tired to do anything and fell right in to bed. Now it is a crunch time. He will have to focus and just keep the momentum going and play the heck out of Mendelssohn on Saturday!

Two Weeks Till the Competition

Now, a little less than two Weeks left till the local competition. This is a county wide, so I don't know how many will audition for it. In the requirement and explanation of the competition, it states they will choose three or less winners. For the last three weeks, my son's been polishing up on his Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, 1st movement. It is almost like a magic every time he comes back from his lesson. Something is improving for sure. His teacher worked on phrasing, vibrato, bow control and sound production, etc., just to name a few. Unfortunately, his teacher will be out of town next week. He won't see my son until after the competition. I hope he will keep this momentum going. He seems very comfortable now with the piece, but I don't want him to just play automatically. Yesterday, he had a rehearsal with a pianist. He noticed the improvement, too. My son is the type of person who thrive on compliment. I think the comment from the pianist gave him an extra boost he needs right now. All I can do is hope and pray he soaked in everything his teacher told him at the last lesson and keep going. We will see how it turns out on March 8.

Can You See the Music?

My son's teacher told me this story during his lesson the other day. There are three different way of memorizing a piece. One is to memorize melody and play through. Two, memorising the notes and the last is to memorize what's written on the score. Only then, you can see the music in your head as you are playing it. He told us the instance when he was studying with Galina Barinova at Moscow Conservatory. She asked him "Are you looking at your music?" He replied "Of course, I am." Then she asked him "When you walked in to this building how many windows did you see?" He was totally confused thinking 'Where is this lady going with this?' Reluctantly he said, "No." Then she explained. "See, I know you watching where you going. Otherwise you'll bump into a wall. What I'm saying is you come here everyday and you don't know how many windows there are in front of the building. You are seeing it, but you are not looking at it! You become so automatic and missing all these things in detail. Same with music. When you start seeing all these details, then you'll see the music in your heart." He said that was the light bulb moment for him. You think you know a piece upside down, but is it becoming automatic that you don't see what's right in front of you all these time. I know my son doesn't get it yet. Hopefully, there will be a light bulb moment for him some day.

Image Training

Yes, image training. Do you ever make up a story when you play a piece of music? I watched Maxim Vengerov giving a master class on TV. He comes up with all sorts of stories according to the pieces the students are playing. I think it is very useful and effective especially for young violinists (or older students as well). For example, for Kreisler's Tambourin Chinois, he tell a student to imagine a fat Chinese chef cooking in a busy kitchen, then off to bicycle in the streets of china and the falling from the great wall of china with an umbrella. What a story! I've been telling my son to create his own story when he plays a piece ever since he started playing violin. Part of it is because it is hard for a grown-up to explain to a small child a subtle nuance in melody, but if you tell him in a story, it's easier to relate. There are so many different kinds of sad feelings. Sometimes, it is frustrating sad, almost mad sad, regretting sad, etc. When you have a story in mind according to the piece you are playing, it create a totally different sound. All of the sudden, the melody comes alive. Like Maxim Vengerov, it doesn't always have to be the same story... I wonder what kind of story my son will have for his new piece, Wieniawski's Legende?

A Happy New Year From Violinomama

A Happy New Year!!!! I can't believe we entered into 2008. Usually, I make a New Year's resolution, such as losing 20 lb., or something like that, but this year, I decided not to put myself on the spot and make myself feel guilty when I can't accomplish it. One thing I decided is fairly easy one, "Smile more". It's not that I don't smile, but I think I can let some small stuff slide in my life rather than getting all concerned.
Well, my son seemed to have made some kind of resolution for the new year. I was still in bed and suddently I heard him practice scale even before he grabbed his breakfast. I couldn't believe my ears. What's got into him??? Nonetheless, I chuckled with joy. When he came to the kitchen, he had smile on his face. He didn't say anything, but I know he felt good, too. Hope he keeps at it. I want to be useless soon when it comes to his practice. I want him to be able to make his own practice routine without being told. I think and hope he is on his way soon......

Establishing Practice Routine

My son's practicing time seemed to be somewhat disorganized. He's been practicing between three to four hours for the last year or so. The more he gets older, the more things were added to his routine. Even the scale seemed to be getting longer since he had to learn new bowing in addition to legato, such as martale, staccato, spicatto, etc. Then his piece, Bach Partita and etude books. He would practice in one hour increment, practices for one hour and take a break, eat or whatever. But within that hour he would do bits and pieces of everything. I thought it would be more productive if he dedicate each hour for one exercise. But seems like he gets bored doing one hour of scale, one hour of etude and so on. I consulted his teacher and he wrote down my son the written practice schedule he's been using for over forty years, and it was like this.

1. Scales (25-40 minutes)

a) single notes - by one, slurs, by two - nine, spicatto, staccatto, etc.

b) double notes - same (slurs until 4 notes)

c) arpegios

Rest

2. Capriccios or etudes - (40-60 minutes)

Kreutzer, Mazas, etc.

Rest

3. Solo Concertos - Sonatas - Bach (S & P) - (1-1&1/2 hours)

So far it seems to be working great. (He tends to listen to teacher more than mom) He also suggested that working on the small area at a time instead of playing through a piece which my son was doing. Now, organization in place, hopefully his practice will be more time efficient.