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It has been a while, so here are a couple of videos.
So, it is a granddaughter's birthday. I recorded Happy Birthday for her on my violin and, what will be my bow. I did it twice. The first is on the A and E strings. Then I did it again on the D and A strings.
Happy Birthday D and A Strings
Happy Birthday A and E Strings
I am not looking for any assistance with these, this is just a share. I made them, so I figured I might as well post them for a little while.
These videos will be removed in a couple of weeks. So, if you see this thread and the videos are not available, I removed them from my site.
Edit 6/24/2022 - Videos have been removed.
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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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I know I posted the above videos just for sharing. But I do have a question.
How do you keep intonation consistent? I am terribly inconsistent, starting and in the middle of playing. Why is it so hard to have consistent intonation?
My intonation in these, from my hearing, is not too bad. The D and A version was not as good as the A and E version. By the time I decided to record this for my grandchild, I had been playing for at least an hour. I was getting pretty consistent with the intonation and decided it was time to do it, so I swapped an ugly t-shirt for a blouse.
I did the A and E strings first. Because a camera is an audience, it took a while. Then I continued recording when I finished the A and E version that was acceptable in the video above, and switched to D and A. I edited to make two separate videos.
That said, I should be able to do that and be consistent with the notes. But, I can't remain consistent. The D and A version seems more off than the A and E version. My grandchildren won't notice. But, I do.
I have been doing scales all week, exercises and etudes from books that have been mentioned in the forum. I went through my Suzuki, Hal Leonard Essentials and another series. I picked out a few pieces that I thought gave me good bowing, string crossing, etc workouts, that coincided with the level of the exercises. I also, swayed from the normal D and G keys. I wrote this information down to create a lesson plan.
I have had, as usual, issues with consistent intonation. Sometimes, I have to stop and find the neighborhood on the fingerboard, itself, again. Meaning, where the first finger is to be in first position. Then I work up to the third finger. I just get lost on the fingerboard and need to get my starting point again. It is so annoying. I can lose it in the middle of a song. If I can leave a finger down, I do, ie if I can leave the 3rd finger on D on the A string and play the next note, I do that, when it makes sense. It helps, but I do get lost and have to stop and find the neighborhood again.
How do you keep consistency in intonation when you start to play and while playing? If I have to move from string to string much, I lose the intonation. I have to stop and find the first position spots again. I am reluctant to do much with bowing technique until after I can get my intonation consistent. I can't do both.
Thanks. I did not do these videos to get help, so the fingering is not that visible. It was Grandmama playing for my grandkiddos.
In general, how do you maintain good intonation from beginning to end?
I believe that I know the answer, just keep doing it, right? I just needed to vent my frustration. The more I watch the videos, the more frustrated it gets me. So, I guess I am not really asking, just frustrated.
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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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@Mouse
When I click on your links to go to the videos, I get a Google login screen, not videos.
But without seeing your vids, to answer your question:
Mouse said
. . .
How do you keep consistency in intonation when you start to play and while playing? If I have to move from string to string much, I lose the intonation. I have to stop and find the first position spots again. I am reluctant to do much with bowing technique until after I can get my intonation consistent. I can't do both. In general, how do you maintain good intonation from beginning to end?
It does take time, and practice. But more specifically, focus. Focus on isolating finger patterns that are giving you problems, and then finding an effect way to fix it so that you play it correctly. Once you have it correct, then you practice that correct way—many times. You have to reinforce the right way; and sometimes, you may have been reinforcing a wrong way, and that takes time to correct, too.
That may sound obvious, but they are specific steps.
If you identify in a particular song/etude in which you usually get a passage wrong (e.g., moving to another string where you find your fingers kind of get “lost”), go to that specific spot (i.e., where you transition from one note to the one where things start to go wrong. Practice that transition. And practice it again—maybe slow it down, if needed. As a rule, I’ll generally practice a trouble thing at least 5 times (5 times correctly) in a row before I go on.
Once you have that two note transition, incorporate some notes around the transition—maybe the whole measure. Same thing—5 times correctly. Then start at the measure before the trouble measure—5 times correctly. Then start two measures before, or add the following measure, etc.,
Time consuming? Yes—but an effective way to practice.
Sometime, I find I can do a practice session this way, and still feel like I haven’t gotten it. But then the next day/next practice session, I’ll start again, & will see the improvement—like the improvement needed to “age” overnight or something.
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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@SharonC
Thanks.
Apparently, Google Drive has been having issues. Sometimes the videos will play, other times it is like. screenshot of the first frame. I am going to have to redo it in YouTube. It has been working today. I Googled it and found many with that issue starting June 9. I will call them up into YouTube and redo the links. Thanks.
I have re-uploaded the videos and they seem to be working now. If they don't work this time, I will just forget it. No biggy.
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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I thought the a and e was very good to be honest, the d and a wasnt far out, I think that you are over thinking it, I was told by someone else that the way to get any tune consistent is to play each note very slowly making sure it is perfect before moving on to the next note, very time consuming but I am assured this is the secret to good and steady intonation, not that my own intonation is any good, but thats how I do it with every tune I learn now, in the past I only made half hearted attempts, but now stick to this simple rule for learning anything. I was also told by the same person that its better to play a simple tune well, rather than a difficult tune badly.
A great way of practicing scales, is to play them in double stops, which sounds tricky but isnt once you get into it, for instance, play the g and d strings together open, then on the g hold down the note a and play that whilst also playing open d, then same with b and c, or play the g and d open then hold down the e on the d string then f ssharp then g, in this way you can hear quite plainly if they are in tune and your fingers remember, also good double stop practice, dont know if all that is any use to you
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Thanks Stringy.
I think that if I tried it with double stops, I would be lost. I can't do double stops on my instruments. My cello is difficult to do it on, also. That being the case, I would have to be paying too much to learning that, which means paying too much attention to something other than simple bowing.
If it were specific strings and fingering, I could just do that over and over again, but it is sporadic. I can be playing and right in the middle of a piece, I am lost on the fingerboard, it isn 't necessarily the same place each time. That makes it difficult.
I can usually spot when I am on the C, G, D and A with the 3 third finger properly when I start searching for my way back, but has nothing to do with the note I am on, so basically, the piece has come to a halt. Part of it may be a bit of "panic" for lack of a better word.
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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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