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Well, not exactly. I got bored with "Greensleeves" and decided I wanted to learn "Red River Valley." As it turns out, it is not so hard of a song! After playing it through several times, I could pretty much play without looking at the music.
I know, you are thinking there is no way I could learn a song in an hour or so. I couldn't believe it either. So here is a video. I only peeked once, but I still missed a note. I am sure by tomorrow I will have forgotten it anyway. Enjoy!
That was pretty nice !
I liked your intonation up until you got a little scared 
.
It is not bad to look at the music. Even FM does that sometimes
I do it most of the time. 
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Not scared - discouraged because I missed a note 
... that I missed several times already and had told myself I would NOT miss this time.
Also for some reason I have a terrible time keeping my wrist straight when playing on the A string.
I can't see how the camera is aimed, so I didn't know my left hand was out of the frame or I may have worried about it less.
At any rate, I no longer despair that I will never manage to commit a song to memory!
[or is that Moo-mory? 
]
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dionysia said
Not scared - discouraged because I missed a note
That's the sure-fire way to miss the note. 
I figure what happens is that I start to focus too much on the note and tense up when I get to that point.
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Sounding good! You are getting a good feel going on the piece.
A trick I use for memorizing songs and taming spots where I keep missing a note is to break the song down into smaller parts. Like when it is a song where there are lyrics you can think of when playing, do one line or one breath's worth at a time. Some parts will come easy, which is fine. On spots where I tend to miss notes or where I want it smoother, I can go over that short bit several times until it is the way I want it. Focusing on a trouble spot like that lets you get in a lot of practice on the spot that is giving you trouble while not using up a lot of your practice time. Once the fingers get used to making it through that spot ok, then go back to playing the whole piece and usually it will all go better.
Now about that one note.. Ok, so you missed a note. What I would like to suggest is that you look at it another way. There were I think 39 notes (if I counted right) in what you played right there. You may have missed one, but you got 38 out of 39 right. If you were grading that even as if it were a math test or something, that would work out to a "grade" of 97, and that would be an "A" grade for sure. If somebody gets a 97 on a test, that certainly is nothing to be discouraged about. It is more like a good reason to go and get some ice cream or something.
97%!!!! The crowd goes wild.. 
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
WTG, di.... Much improvement, did you tie the children in the other room?
If you are going to play the song by ear, you should play it at least 40-50 time's using the sheet music and then try playing without the music. Twice in the song you played double stop's, the same place each time, were they intentional or just something that happened, I liked em.
A lot of emphasis is put on keeping the left wrist straight. Here is a video of "Jay Ungar" playing. He is the founder of the "Ashokan Fiddle Camp" in Ashokan, NY., watch his left wrist and left hand how he cradle's the violin neck. I know it's not right, but it work's for him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....&NR=1
Keep the progress coming.
The video need's to be opened in a different window.
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cant wait to get home from work tonight and listen to you playing this.
Can't access You-Tube at work for some reason haha!
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
Really nice work!
Your bowing seems to be better. Don't forget to work on bow hold though!
Thank You for the video.
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Great progress. And learning pieces quickly is always a great sign.
I would like to see you lead more with your arm and allow the hand to follow. Watch my finger flexibility video. Also, sorry to point this out, try to learn to get your pinky up on the stick if possible, it will make playing so much easier in the future.
Very impressive improvement Denise 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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OMG Didi! You made huge progress compared to the last video 
I'm super proud of you, did you had more time for practice or did something suddenly unlocked? Or maybe you did not forget to leave treats for the fiddle fairies?
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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Love it Di, you've made a stepped improvement. I still wonder about your bow hold though. Still, one thing to think about at a time, it's the sound that counts and in rhat department you've taken a 
leap.
We need another project to start working on.
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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DanielB said
You may have missed one, but you got 38 out of 39 right. If you were grading that even as if it were a math test or something, that would work out to a "grade" of 97, and that would be an "A" grade for sure. If somebody gets a 97 on a test, that certainly is nothing to be discouraged about.
Ha ha ha ha! A 97 on a math test would have had me seriously stressed! While very forgiving with those around me, I expect perfection from myself in all areas where I should be capable of it. Conversely, I also know when to admit defeat and to accept "good enough." So far I haven't reached that point with the fiddle. 
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Fiddlestix said
WTG, di.... Much improvement, did you tie the children in the other room?
LOL, no that's part of the problem - I was trying to finish while I could!
If you are going to play the song by ear, you should play it at least 40-50 time's using the sheet music and then try playing without the music.
I didn't set out to memorize this song, it just sorta happened while I was playing.
Twice in the song you played double stop's, the same place each time, were they intentional or just something that happened, I liked em.
Yeah, I kept doing that while practicing too. I tried playing with drones, but there were a couple spots that it didn't sound quite right. Once I get the song down a little better, I am going to try to add in some double stops. This song seems to be begging for them.
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Great job, D! You've made a lot of progress.
Even though I think it's important to be able to read music, and going through the sheet music is a great way to get started on a song, I also think that memorizing a song frees you up to work on your technique. You can always go back to the sheet music to work on timing, etc. later.
That's my two cents, anyway.
I love that song, BTW.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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Sounding good. Thanks for sharing another video!
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VERY Nice, Di!!! Well Done!!! 
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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WOW the smile! Didi your smile is amazing it brighten everything I found myself smiling back at the video hehee. Very well done and from memory too! I still need the comfort of my music sheets lol (ok not for Twinkle). 
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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