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The Old Guy Re-Entering the String World
A personal view of the start of a journey into music and the viola.
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (393 votes) 
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JohnG
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May 2, 2021 - 6:12 pm
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Only 40 minutes, yard work did me in! lol Ode to Joy, Fre're Jacques, Lightly Row, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, French Folk Song, Sailor's Song, Banana Boat Song, Firoliralera, Jingli Nona, Scales, Sound of Silence.

Some new ones and dropped off a few. Essentials Elements Interactive gave me a "sticker" and a "You practiced every day this week! Good Job" and did a total of 5 and half hours.

The old curmudgeon!

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ELCBK
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May 2, 2021 - 8:29 pm
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You know you can split that time up during the day - still counts.😄

Keeping your viola handy on your new hook? 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/9b/84/8c9b847fd02a4e6d122a08d1f1216657.gif

 

You're doing great!

- Emily

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JohnG
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May 3, 2021 - 12:05 am
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ELCBK said
You know you can split that time up during the day - still counts.😄

Keeping your viola handy on your new hook? 

You're doing great!

- Emily

  

Yes, I know, and I have done so a few times. Just too beat to try again, plus tonight was a Destiny 2 night (I have two per week) on my Xbox!

No hook yet, as my 3D printer needs some work since I changed nozzle from .4 to .2 mm so I can do finer work for my HO railroad and it doesn't like the way I installed it (or my settings are wrong for that size). Hopefully I can get that taken care of tomorrow!

And thanks for the encouragement!

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 3, 2021 - 10:20 pm
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Only a half hour tonight. Waited too late and coupled with working in the yard again, my arms and shoulders just plain quivered too much to make it worthwhile. One new one though in the song list. Did Ode to Joy, Fre're Jacques, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, Lightly Row, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, Scales.

If I work in the yard, I better practice first! lol

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 4, 2021 - 3:59 pm
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Got an hour in so far today and got up to 37 seconds on the Eddy Chen bow exercise 2!

Played through all of the list shown below at least twice, plus some improv to just, hopefully, become more fluid in my playing.

Today's list, Michael Row, Ode to Joy, Fre're Jacques, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, Lightly Row, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, French Folk Song, Sailor's Song, Banana Boat Song, Firoliralera, Jingli Nona, Eddy Chen Bow.

The old curmudgeon!

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Mouse
May 4, 2021 - 6:25 pm
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OOO, I love to play Jingli Nina on my cello. So much fun to do, for me for aime reason. I like the Firoloralera, also.

The Bumblebee Flies!

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JohnG
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May 4, 2021 - 8:52 pm
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Mouse said
OOO, I love to play Jingli Nina on my cello. So much fun to do, for me for aime reason. I like the Firoloralera, also.

  

I have to admit I'm having trouble with both of them and I think it is because I'm not familiar with the tune. With something I know, my fingers seem to anticipate where they must go next! Hope it gets better soon.

The old curmudgeon!

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Mouse
May 4, 2021 - 9:22 pm
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I listened to them first, a few times.

I know what you mean about fingering being easier or more natural when the path they are walking on on the fingerboard is familiar.

The Bumblebee Flies!

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JohnG
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May 4, 2021 - 9:35 pm
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Mouse said
I listened to them first, a few times.

I know what you mean about fingering being easier or more natural when the path they are walking on on the fingerboard is familiar.

  

Actually not the muscle memory as much as if the tune in my head (if I know it) helps me know which "direction" my fingers need to move. Of course, once learned, the muscle memory, plus tune anticipation, and reading the notes better, all contribute to better results.

These are simple versions as found in Book One of the Essentials Elements.

On a different note (no pun intended), I got my 3D printer working again and will start printing the wall bracket tomorrow, since I won't let it run while unattended/sleeping! One portion will require 11+ hours, the other 6 1/2 hours.

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 5, 2021 - 4:41 pm
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Got another hour in today and got up to 34 seconds on the Eddy Chen bow exercise 2.

Played through all of the list shown below at least twice, plus some improv and scales.

Today's list, Michael Row, Ode to Joy, Fre're Jacques, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, Lightly Row, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, French Folk Song, Sailor's Song, Banana Boat Song, Firoliralera, Jingli Nona, Eddy Chen Bow, Sound of Silence.

First part of viola wall bracket printing now, should be done around 11:00pm CDT.

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 5, 2021 - 11:54 pm
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And yet another 30 minutes of practice. Decided I needed to print out and practice "Amazing Grace". Didn't want it in the key of C Maj and there were a couple of phrases I didn't like, so imported the pdf to MuseScore, transposed it G Maj and tried it out. That's when I discovered the phrases I didn't like, went back to MuseScore and fixed the phrases and printed out the revision. Much better now, even though I still can't play it well.

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 7, 2021 - 12:21 am
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Another 60 minutes with the same repertoire as last night including Sound of Silence and Amazing Grace.

On a different note, finished printing my viola bracket, although some cleanup is still needed on the peg. Then it will be glued together and mounted on the wall.

LvQj7R2.jpgImage Enlarger

The old curmudgeon!

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Mouse
May 7, 2021 - 7:25 am
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Interesting.

The Bumblebee Flies!

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JohnG
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May 7, 2021 - 10:15 pm
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Had to force myself to practice after mowing the yard (first time this year!) but still got an hour in. Played Michael Row, Ode to Joy, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, Banana Boat Song, Firoliralera, Jingli Nona, Eddy Chen Bow 1, Amazing Grace, Sound of Silence, Scales, Improv. 

So, not a bad night!

The old curmudgeon!

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JohnG
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May 8, 2021 - 10:48 pm
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Another good practice tonight, but have to see if I can increase my total time for the day as I don't think I'm going to get much better without it. One of the reasons I'm trying to do improv every session is to concentrate on sound and music memory instead of trying to read notes. I think it is helping but only time will tell.

Don't have my viola bracket up yet as I still need to get anchors as the the wall I'm putting it on does not have a stud in the proper location. Once I get it up, I'm going to check on adding lighting to the location so I can leave a music stand up right there and not have to set up each time.

Finding that the shoulder rest is finally adjusted better for me and I can put the viola into position easier.

One hour of practice and played Michael Row, Ode to Joy, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, Can-Can, Baa Baa, This Old Man, Banana Boat Song, Firoliralera, Jingli Nona, Eddy Chen Bow 1, Amazing Grace, Sound of Silence, Scales, Improv.

The old curmudgeon!

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Mouse
May 9, 2021 - 7:12 am
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I have a battery powered clip on orchestra light attached to my music stand. 

Another good practice tonight, but have to see if I can increase my total time for the day as I don't think I'm going to get much better without it.

It sounds like you don't think you are progressing or progressing quickly enough. I was wondering, are you working on too many songs at a time? This could prevent you from really honing the skills because you never get to where you are comfortable with a song and be able to relax and concentrate on fingering, bowing and intonation because a new song is constantly being learned. That is the way it is for me, anyway. You and others may be different.

Also, I am not turning your blog into a normal thread with replies and comments, I just noticed the comment in your last post, and thought I would mention what I was thinking about that comment. I just can't pay attention to bowing, intonation, etc if the song is new. I have to get familiar and comfortable with it first. Like I said, it could just be my learning method. I work on a song for a long time before moving on and maybe have one that I am familiar with and comfortable with to hone in on the fingering, bowing, etc. I will then use that as a break away when I move on to a new song that has a little more challenge. The new song will be my main practice session and use the song I just figured out as a release song to just play.

I can loosen up with a release song that I am not having issues with, and then get back to working in the new, more challenging song. I will using have two to loosen with and one I am using as a lesson song. That lesson song will usually take 1-2 weeks or more. But, again, you method may work for you, I was just thunking about your comment. 

If you want me to delete this from your blog so it remains just your thoughts, please, post a reply requesting it, or email me, That is definitely not a problem. 😊

The Bumblebee Flies!

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JohnG
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May 9, 2021 - 11:07 am
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@Mouse - Please leave it in this blog! Suggestions like these are as much (or more) about my development as the record of practice sessions and memories that has been my desire with this.

I've been using the the multitude of songs partially as warm up and have not been adding many more. The two primary ones I'm attempting to learn are The Sound of Silence and Amazing Grace. Roughly first 15 minutes is setting up, tuning, and quick run thru of other songs. Next 15 minutes is The Sound of Silence and then 15 on Amazing Grace. Last 15 is for improv and scales where I can concentrate on pitch, tone, and bowing. I don't know if this is the best or not, but it keeps my interest (which has been known to be fleeting).

I appreciate your (and other) comments and will keep them in mind as I "Improvise, Adapt and Overcome".

The old curmudgeon!

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Mouse
May 9, 2021 - 11:13 am
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👍

The Bumblebee Flies!

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stringy
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I thin k you are absolutely 100 per cent correct mouse, quality rather than quantity. Its easy to add tunes once the intonation sinks in, very,very good advice. I personally would practice just a couple of tunes, both very slowly and paying complete attention to intonation. The rest of the practice would be scales and bow exercises. or better stll get the string builder books by Applebaum, they are excellent, and very cheap, they take You through everything, give exercises and tunes as you progress, I have them all ,worth there weight in gold in my opinion.

Bit more, bit more, snap #*÷?×[email protected]?#[email protected]

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JohnG
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The devil made me do it! Only got a half hour in tonight since a good portion of the day was spent with combination Mothers' Day (moms) and our 8 year old grandson's birthday. As a result, I focused on Amazing Grace and Sound of Silence, but then added a transposed version of Song from a Magic Garden 'cause I wanted to see what it sounded like! Plus a few scales.

The more I use MuseScore, the more I'm impressed. Converted from violin by changing clef and then transposing down an octave. In this case, since it was in E flat major, I then transposed to C major, which I can play (kinda). It's also pretty good at importing from PDF scores using the MuseScore dot COM experimental process. A little cumbersome, but effective.

The old curmudgeon!

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