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The warmup started horribly. My bow was bouncing worse than a kid on a trampoline and then I started shaking and sliding it along the strings almost uncontrollably.
So I quit, put everything down, and walked away for 5 minutes.
Eventually I went back to try again and not expecting much. The only way I can describe what happened is that the draw on the bow felt like silk. Super smooth both up bow and down bow with a minimal bounce. Practice felt strange because of the silky smooth bowing. My fingering was on the mark, the intonation was better than usual, and the tempo and expression was what it should be.
Of course, at about 40 minutes, it all fell to pieces and I started sawing on the strings and bouncing the bow like I'd learned nothing over the past few weeks. Yet those 40 minutes were enough to tell me that somewhere in this exercise, the ordinariness ends and the magic begins.
Bring it on. I'm ready for it.
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ah yes...the bigfoot...or unicorn practice session. magical..then poof. know them well.
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Sometimes, 'tis best to walk away and then come back, for most things.
Learn Violin and Fiddle
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Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum
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@RDP -
I'm very happy for you!
Those little moments keep me going, too. 😊
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Mouse said
Sometimes, 'tis best to walk away and then come back, for most things.
This is something Ive tried to do but havent been very good at. There are times I pick up the violin and its one of those days that things are clicking. Tone is good Im relaxed and just feeling great. Instead of ending on a good note ..I keep going. one thing then another and its fell apart. sloppy..bow sliding all over the place..getting frustrated. Then I decide to quit. I think a better habit to form would be to somehow work on knowing when and what to end practice on. Maybe just always finish on whole note G scales or something. But even that may
be a challenge depending on how im feeling on any day.
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LOL @RDP and - well - no - not actually laughing at your original post (or the comments by others following - NOT AT ALL ! ) - darn it - yeah - I get that (exactly what you say) all the time. You are not alone!!!!!
I'm no great player - and I don't spend much time on "getting to grips" with advanced violin techniques ( I don't need many of them for what I do - sure - some come in to play for "fiddle tunes or covers", but very few). I'm just someone who hopes to be able to drag-out a tune on fiddle, and hope that listeners half-way enjoy it!
Yeah - I find practise somewhat similar - I'll may be working on a tune (new to me - i.e. one I don't currently "have in my head that I can play by ear") - and yes - I'm "on-stream" with all the comments earlier. Sometimes it goes to hell-in-a-handcart - then suddenly - (for me with a gap - I go off and play/work on something else - then come back) - and then - as you say suddenly it "almost" falls into place, and starts to sound as you wanted.... I can't explain it !!!!
Fiddle/violin is NOT easy at the best of times. Yes, once you have something "nailed" - then sure it kind of becomes "Zen-like and automatic" in the playing - but - (certainly for me) - it takes MANY repetitions (once I have mastered a "new-to-me-tune" and brought my own "feel" into it) to even START to feel happy about it ! LOL
Yup, it is a hugely challenging and at the same time, a hugely rewarding instrument !
Best wishes on your violin/fiddle journey @RDP
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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I see I'm not alone in this experience. Which makes me wonder if it's our artificial expectations which get in the way of the magic.
And it was magic. For me at least.
I'm still getting little bits of it during practice sessions. A few bows here, a couple there, dead smooth string changes that work without slurring, the unconscious extra stretch with the 4th finger to land exactly right... Just enough to let me know I wasn't imagining things and that someday I might actually be able to play.
Or maybe I'm just dreaming and fantasizing of things that might never be real.
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RDP said
I see I'm not alone in this experience. Which makes me wonder if it's our artificial expectations which get in the way of the magic.
And it was magic. For me at least.
I'm still getting little bits of it during practice sessions. A few bows here, a couple there, dead smooth string changes that work without slurring, the unconscious extra stretch with the 4th finger to land exactly right... Just enough to let me know I wasn't imagining things and that someday I might actually be able to play.
Or maybe I'm just dreaming and fantasizing of things that might never be real.
not dreaming...ive actually used the same phrase here on the forum before so why i related to it.
theyll come around more and more till its like meh... then something else with learning this thing is magical. then the previous magical thing wont be till you need to conjur it again and its being elusive. kind of a step forward then plateaus maybe a feeling of going backwards on stuff.
so no your not imagining how things feel.
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Mouse
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Fiddlerman