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The tutorial broke this piece up into 3 parts. This is the 1st part up until the pause in bar 20. The lesson is about Spicatto.
A week ago I couldn't play this without getting absolutely frustrated over not being able to figure out the tempo and fingering. I'm positive that I'm not fingering it correctly because I'm not fingering or bowing according to the score, although I am on the correct bow stroke when the notation calls for it. What I'm doing is adding slurs where there aren't any notations for them in order to get the music to sound similar to the Suzuki CD. That's not simple at all.
It's VERY difficult to not try to play this too fast (or ending up playing it too slow either). I also changed the way I'm practicing because I found out that doing the way I was doing it, resulted in learning the first part of a piece but not being able to learn the subsequent parts because the first part was "over learned/practiced." The correct way to learn is to break up the piece into phrases and learn each phrase to the point you can play them all equally poorly then put it together and learn the entire piece. No phrase lags behind that way.
I had to choke up on the bow in order to have any control over it. Worse, the mantra that goes through my head is "bow control, bow control, bow control..." For those who wonder if repeating that, while playing, helps to keep the bow under control - the truth is, it doesn't. I'm double stopping and bouncing the bow as well as barely kissing the string with it on occasion when doing the spicatto. It's not as easy as it looks. I AM improving though.
Anyway, here's the video. It's very short since it's only part of the piece.
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I am very busy at the moment and intended leaving commenting on this forum alone for a few months at least, but Still have time to read this and saw your post, and felt I have to congratulate you on the improvement which is about 5oo per cent since your last vid.
you are starting to get it now, said it before, and you are doing it now, but try even more to make your elbow looser than it is, its much better, but believe me when I tell you, relaxation is everything, ( along with a straight bow which is part of relaxing) I struggle with it, its hard but thats the secret, if there is one. Move your elbow like its on a ball bearing thats oiled, the best advice I can offer is watch some of the better teachers on this subject on you tube, like the russian woman, cant remember her name at the moment my mind is going, lol.
I try all the time to make my arm loose its really hard,the movement at the start of the stroke comes from the elbow only, but the wrist comes into play higher up, arm movement is everything in creating good tone, but is very difficult, dont be too hard on yourself, playing other instruments like guitar really is childs play compared to this, you are doing great, and I dont say things I dont mean.
Bit more, bit more, snap #*÷?×[email protected]?#[email protected]
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You have done a lot of work and it shows. For some reason, I find this song has tricky finger fingering, but it is fun to play. You hard work and tenacity is paying off.
🐭
The Bumblebee Flies!
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A big jump in tone and playing there @RDP . congrats on the progress and your practice is showing. Forget about the harmonica.. youre doing just fine with the violin.
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@stringy I'm working on my bowing. In addition to lots of scales and arpeggios I'm doing a ton of straight bowing trying to relax my bow hand, I've got too much tension in it. The video also shows that my fingering has regressed to pre-intonation exercises/practice. There are a couple places where you can see that my pinky falls short of the tape for the 4th finger. There are a couple of 3rd finger placements that are also short of the finger tape. And that last bow stroke - just shoot me... 
@Mouse Most of it is string crossings during runs that make it so difficult to finger. Awkward is about the best I can call it. I had to resort to slurs to make the runs at tempo and keep the rhythm. Doing that worked though. Hours of practicing 4 note runs got my fingers faster too.
@ABitRusty Instead of harmonicas I've been looking at pianos lately. Locally there's a Yamaha CVP-65 Clavinova for a giveaway price. I'm not positive but I think my violin's been watching over my shoulder as I browse the ads.
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@RDP Nice progress! All the practice time is paying off-- 
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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@RDP said.."Instead of harmonicas I've been looking at pianos lately. Locally there's a Yamaha CVP-65 Clavinova for a giveaway price. I'm not positive but I think my violin's been watching over my shoulder as I browse the ads."
haha.. just say its a new friend for it.
i like having a keyboard. im NOT a piano player..😐 but they can be handy when learning music. obviously they dont do a thing for bowing instruction though.
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Great progress well done 👏👏👏
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@RDP -
I think you're doing GREAT!
Your intonation is good, just need a lttle attention to come to 'grips' with your bow - like stringy mentioned, the elbow.
Btw, aren't you about at the end of your 1st year?
🎃•💀•🎃•💀•🎃
CONGATULATIONS!
You should be VERY HAPPY that people can recognize anything you are playing at this point! 🤗
...you already know my feelings about a good foundation in bowing mechanics.
These videos may be of help.
If you slow Kevin Yen's video down to .25 speed... you can easily see how his elbow acts like a pendulum swinging - his shoulder only moves slightly when changing to a new string.
Also watch his bowing hand & grip at this speed. 1st finger curls around the stick lightly, middle 2 fingers further down on the side of the frog give stability - so the pinky can relax.
Choking up on the bow is not good for long bow strokes - and this tune has long bow strokes used in it. Just remember that most others have taken the time to learn to control their bow at the frog - so you CAN do it, too.
I recently had to fix my bow grip - and it has paid off, but it's not easy to keep in focus.
It's hard to isolate movements.
I like the idea of using aids, like standing with the upper bowing arm next to a wall or the upper arm deliberately held next to your side, even a piece of string or bright ribbon tied around areas you want to move - or have someone lightly touch those spots for you while you play. All very helpful for a short period to make a connection with what it feels like to isolate those specific areas you want to focus on.
- Emily
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@ELCBK I joined the forum a year ago (plus a couple of days) but I only started playing after I got my violin in early November. So, yeah, I'm about a year into this madness.
Playing the violin isn't easy, and I'm never going to be more than just someone who plays for themselves, but I do understand how far I've come in past year since when I started I couldn't read music or understand musical terms/notations. The accomplishment is very satisfying.
On the other hand, playing the violin is also frustrating. You know what you're supposed to do but you can't seem to make your body do that and instead it does something else. In that it's like golf only worse because, unlike on the golf course, there are no twigs and leaves and things like that getting between you and the violin.
I'm hoping that in the next year I can develop enough skills to sound like I know what I'm doing. I don't know if I'll continue to move on with the books or not. It all depends on where I'm at next summer when I get to the end of Book 2.
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