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Gordon Bennett
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Gordon Shumway
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April 29, 2024 - 1:35 pm
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ELCBK said
@Gordon Shumway -

Can you tell us a few specific things that the Simon Fischer "Basics" book helped you with? 

  

Not really. Mainly it corroborates what my teacher says. For instance she says I must intonate using my fingers, not my hand (e.g. I tend to use hand vibrato to initiate an intonation correction) - otherwise you come out of position - and Fischer says the same thing when he has "square" and "extended" finger shapes. Or in the "knitting" in Beethoven's Spring Sonata, she is worried about the angle the bow makes on my D string swinging too far from the G string (usually it's the opposite - one plays the G string way too far from the D string). Fischer deals with this in what he says about pivoting. I aim to use Fischer to supplement and speed up what I learn from my teacher, so that we get out of the remedial zone asap.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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Gordon Shumway said

...she says I must intonate using my fingers, not my hand (e.g. I tend to use hand vibrato to initiate an intonation correction) - otherwise you come out of position - and Fischer says the same thing [on the page where he discusses]... "square" and "extended" finger shapes....

  

In other words, position is not about which finger you use to play the F on the D string (2? 1?), it's literally about the position of your hand so that a square finger will play one note (without your having to think about it) and the extended finger will play the semitone above.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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May 30, 2024 - 7:25 am
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Couple of things.

Someone (a long time ago) posted a video telling you that parallel bowing is bad.

Someone else (a long time ago) asked how to play louder.

I'm off the bow-per-note Corelli and onto Elgar's Salut d'Amour for the purposes of bow control exercise. So I've been working a lot on parallel bowing this year but also now learning how to play quieter.

There's no point in rejecting parallel bowing if you can't parallel bow in the first place. That video was basically aimed at advanced violinists.

To play quietly you don't rely on the fingerboard. That's mainly for special effects. The temptation there is always to use too little RH index pressure and thus whisper. My teacher wants my pianos and pianissimos to sound MEATY. The way to do that is continue to parallel bow but reduce bow speed, keeping up RH index pressure. Part of the problem is playing a pianissimo that can be heard in the distance. It's too easy to hear one when it's next to your ear, so you feel that anything goes.

Basically a pianissimo needs to be relative to the rest of the music. It can be as loud as you like as long as the audience reaction is "aah!" and not "woah!"

There's a Pablo Casals quote "mezzo-forte ranges from quite loud to really quite quiet, and mezzo-piano ranges from quite quiet to really quite loud"

Check your strings for rosin. If it reaches halfway down the fingerboard, you need to learn how to parallel bow.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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June 30, 2024 - 4:27 pm
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I've applied to join the Dulwich Symphony Orchestra in September.

One of our intermediate cellists was saying how she'd joined and was grade 6 and struggling. When I said I was thinking of joining, she smirked "Do you think they'll take you?" (my new teacher has kept me on grade 8 material, at least). Her response pissed me off, so I applied.

I was expecting to be given access to the members' section of the website so I could download next season's music (with bowings) to practise over the summer, but it seems I accidentally found that a couple of years ago and shouldn't have!

I'm not really looking forward to being out of doors in London on dark winter evenings, though.

Andrew

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stringy
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Hope you make it, I wouldn't take any notice of haters to be honest.

For myself, I am not a great believer in grading systems anyway, I just try to play anything that I do attempt to the best of my ability, I now have the opportunity of a teacher if I want one  but the price puts me off, in saying that though, I have no orchestral ambitions, Was thinking of doing a bit of busking in Manchester for the experience that's as far as my ambitions go really.

Hope it goes well for you, keep us updated and take no notice of others opinions, (or lack of), haters hate covers their own shortcomings.

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Gordon Shumway
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I don't regard the woman as a hater, just a bit of a twerp.

Andrew

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ELCBK
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@Gordon Shumway -

Sounds exciting! 

So, when do you audition? 

What will you practice for it?

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Gordon Shumway
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July 1, 2024 - 2:49 pm
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No auditions, I just turn up in September, and if I don't stand out (for the wrong reasons) I don't get kicked out.

Thanks for reminding me. I must see what their Christmas concert is and get the music from  imslp to practise.

 

30th Nov: -

Fanny Mendelssohn Overture in C
Brahms Schiksalslied (Song of Destiny)
Beethoven Choral Fantasy Op 80
Fauré Requiem

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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September 12, 2024 - 5:29 pm
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https://www.dulwichsymphonyorc.....g.uk/index

Two more gigs have been added, I've just noticed.

First rehearsal on Tuesday.

Had a good lesson today. We are aiming at ARSM diploma standard in a year's time, when we'll also have got over the remedial technical work, so I should be OK for next year's orchestra membership as long as I can keep my head above water this year.

I'll work out how to record myself again and find something suitable.

The only problem this August was there was too much to practise : - scales, Bach D minor Allemanda, Massenet Méditation, and four orchestra pieces.

Andrew

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Thats amazing news going for an advanced level violin ticket well done, Dont think I will ever get that good myself, well done

If you are looking for pieces to record, there are some crackers in baroque book 4, I have been practicing a couple but am nowhere near the skill level unfortunately, i am maybe grade 1 or 2 but they are a good workout anyway, corrente is a good one in the book I mention, if you decide to record any of them, would be great if you posted one, well done again and good luck with the orchestra.

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Gordon Shumway
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Gordon Shumway said
https://www.dulwichsymphonyorc.....g.uk/index

Two more gigs have been added, I've just noticed.

First rehearsal on Tuesday.

Had a good lesson today. We are aiming at ARSM diploma standard in a year's time, when we'll also have got over the remedial technical work, so I should be OK for next year's orchestra membership as long as I can keep my head above water this year.

I'll work out how to record myself again and find something suitable.

The only problem this August was there was too much to practise : - scales, Bach D minor Allemanda, Massenet Méditation, and four orchestra pieces.

  

First rehearsal was last night - Brahms and Beethoven. It went better than expected, although that was mainly because I couldn't be heard. But I was sight-reading the Beethoven because I hadn't spotted where the difficultes were, so I hadn't practised it.

When I got there, they said do you want to play in firsts or seconds, and I said, I didn't expect to be given a choice, and they said, when it's a non-auditioning orchestra, you can sit anywhere you like. I decided to sit in seconds for a year, then promote myself next year, lol. I fancy promotion in my string orchestra too.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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September 26, 2024 - 8:58 am
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Hallelujah!

Yesterday I finally found a comfortable shape for my BonMusica!

My Wolf Forte Secondo wasn't long enough I felt, but when I straightened out the rear extension of the BM and also extended the length, it felt just the way I wanted the WFS to feel. The BM is not really violin-friendly, but that's a cross I will bear. Today I had a lesson, and the teacher said she had felt that the Wolf was too short rearwards. So that's sorted.

Also, interestingly, she said I should only rosin my bow once or twice a week - she wants to hear the string more and the surface noise less.

Andrew

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September 26, 2024 - 9:03 am
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These are good tips. I was also wondering about rosining too much. Is a gritty sound a sign of that?

I have switched back to my Bon Musica. Still fiddling with it. So, you eliminated some of the hook over the shoulder? 

🐭

The Bumblebee Flies!

Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.

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Gordon Shumway
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Mouse said
These are good tips. I was also wondering about rosining too much. Is a gritty sound a sign of that?

Yes, typically, but I didn't realise I was making that kind of sound.

But we've been making a big effort for me to play in the string with more pressure, more right arm weight (centre of bow, not tip) and more index finger pressure, so it all goes together. I've got to find some strings I don't crunch, though, although playing closer to the bridge is the main solution to that problem, since she and I are both using Vision Solos at the moment.

I have switched back to my Bon Musica. Still fiddling with it. So, you eliminated some of the hook over the shoulder?

  

Yes, the hook I found like being strapped into a robot, or deep-sea diver's exo-suit!

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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September 26, 2024 - 10:48 am
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Colin (@Retired) posted one of these Red Desert videos, but there's a series of three on the BM.

I didn't shorten the shoulder screw - I just screwed it in as far as it would go, keeping the black plastic cap on it, then bent everything else as far as the screws would allow. I didn't reach the gouging stage.

The swivel is also important.

And the ominously titled: -

If you buy a Korfker it comes with a training video, so all this stuff on the BM is not really OTT.

devil-violin

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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Unfortunately the BM doesn't fit in my violin case, so I'm forced to rethink what luggage I schlepp around with me when I play. Maybe there's a bag I can attach to my violin case.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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I feel as though I'm run off my feet!

I was looking forward to the Tuesday night orchestra so that the week was divided in half between the two orchestras, the other being Friday lunchtime.

But the time flies so fast, and I have violin lessons every other Thursday and 10 pieces of music to practise.

When I get home on Tuesdays I only have time to eat before going to orchestra. Wednesday I have time to practise Friday's pieces, assuming I don't have to go to the launderette. Thursday I can practise, assuming I don't have a violin lesson, then Friday it's back out again to orchestra and then the gf's house, giving me Saturday, Sunday and Monday to practise Tuesday's pieces if I'm given permission -  I'm in the doghouse because I accidentally practised for three hours last Saturday, so I was rationed to one hour on Sunday and Monday.

If I had violin lessons every Thursday, I'm not sure I could cope.

If I had drive I could cope easily, but unfortunately ADD drives me to do other things, such as read Latin and Greek and French and German and Spanish and Italian. (I spent 5 hours reading Latin this morning, but the internet is an infernal distraction)

And now Thursday is over but I've practised for Tuesday instead of for tomorrow.

(We're doing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik tomorrow. It's tricky, and I've taken the 1st and 2nd violin parts, as if one weren't enough) And my Tuesday orchestra is doing Peter and the Wolf, but it's on Saturdays, which I can't make, sniff.

Andrew

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ELCBK
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@Gordon Shumway -

Are you getting an additional workload from your lessons - or, can you work it out to have your lessons focus on pieces you are currently playing in orchestra?

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Gordon Shumway
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ELCBK said
@Gordon Shumway -

Are you getting an additional workload from your lessons - or, can you work it out to have your lessons focus on pieces you are currently playing in orchestra?

  

Two of the ten pieces are for lessons, and we're working on technique in them, rather than interpretation. In the case of the orchestras, it's less important to work on those pieces in lessons, as the main aim is just to keep my head down and blend in. Also, for me to improve, the difficulty level has to be judged correctly, whereas the difficulty level in the orchestral music is all over the place.

Andrew

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Gordon Shumway
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Warning about the Bon Musica (and a lot of other shoulder rests, probably)

As I was putting it on the violin yesterday, some of the rubber from one of the feet tore off, so I'll have to repair that, or the unprotected metal foot might scratch the violin.

Andrew

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