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(6 votes) 
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I made a progress video again. (Well, I say 'progress'...) Twinkle Twinkle is in there because that seems more or less obligatory, but as for the notes in it, it's all just guesswork. 
Any suggestions/critique is welcome!
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
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hi alma! thanks for sharing that vid!
i'm a big sherlock holmes fan as well 
, had the whole collection of the original books, and downloaded the bbc tv series too 
anyways, keep up the good work, try to practice the scales
cheers!
cheers! - ⁰ℨ
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Doing good for your 2nd week Alma !! Listen, one thing I see that I would work on is your right wrist. practice long straight bows and allow your wrist to move keeping the bow straight.
Doing great, keep practicing !!
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
Actually, your intonation on Twinkle, Twinkle, wasn't all that bad, in fact it was pretty good with the exception of a couple notes. I also like the fact that you are using your left pinky. Review your video and you will see when you are playing with your first / index finger, your other finger's move away from the fingerboard and your hand move's to about a 90 degree angle to the fingerboard, when you are using your pinky finger on the strings, your finger's are all running paralell to the fingerboard. This is good.
I won't say too much about your wrist being bent, i'm guilty of that myself, it's just me. Try to concentrate on keeping your left wrist straight. I don't use a shoulder rest and if I try keeping my wrist straight, the violin want's to move away and fall.
Did you learn Twinkle by reading note's or just learned by ear.
Keep it up, you can do it. 
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Hey Alma. That was a nice practice session! As you are a week ahead of me regarding ownership, you have more experience, and it shows! I'm still making horrible squeaks sometimes, but I don't think I heard any at all in your video, so great job!
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Barry said
Doing good for your 2nd week Alma !! Listen, one thing I see that I would work on is your right wrist. practice long straight bows and allow your wrist to move keeping the bow straight.Doing great, keep practicing !!
Thank you! I didn't quite understand about the wrist... do you mean to bend it sideways in relation to how far up I'm taking the bow?
Fiddlestix: Thank you for making me see what my left hand is doing! I'll work on the wrist thing. (And I read the notes for Twinkle, but they're so easy that I just learned it at a glance...)
Oz: Sherlock nerds unite! Also, thanks for your encouragement. As for scales, I haven't gotten that far yet...
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
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CircleTilde said
Hey Alma. That was a nice practice session! As you are a week ahead of me regarding ownership, you have more experience, and it shows! I'm still making horrible squeaks sometimes, but I don't think I heard any at all in your video, so great job!
Hehe! Any horrible squeaks have been edited out, dontcha know! No, seriously, though, it gets better in that area pretty quickly, just hang in there! I like your videos too, keep 'em coming. 
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
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Alma - nice job, seriously; and your personality is so charming. Barry and Ken identified exactly what I was going to mention too. It seems to be a consistent problem with everyone when they first start out; get that bow arm really relaxed and let it move from your elbow (with your shoulder at the right height per string) and let your bow wrist really flex (exaggerate your wrist movement up and down, FM posted a video about just that thing somewhere).
And your intonation,,, not as bad as you think, actually for two weeks it's spectacular. Such a good job!
And Ken - I may have a solution for you not being able to keep your fiddle comfortably in place, there's this great new product called The Slipper, lmao!
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Its hard for me to describe it properly, Im sure theyre a ton of videos on the subject. But if you watch yourself you'll see youre bowing from the shoulder and your wrist isnt flexing which is why your bow dosent track in a straight line.
when you bow arm is all the way down your hand should be bent towards your violin, when at the top of your bow stroke its bent the other way.
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
ftufc said
And Ken - I may have a solution for you not being able to keep your fiddle comfortably in place, there's this great new product called The Slipper, lmao!
LOL, Fred, i'm fully aware of The Slipper, just seem's kinda pricey for somone pushin 70 and doesn't plan on making a career from playing violin or even playing with another person. I know no one who play's anything.
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Haaaaaaa! I know Ken, just yankin your chain, lol. But when you think of it, $99 over your next 30 yrs is only $0.009/day 
And if you'd get to SoCal in Jan, you'll have a dozen or more of the greatest people to play with!!!!!!!!!!!
So sorry to sidetrack your thread Alma with this nonsensical banter, lol. Have you taken a look at the bowing vid of Pierre's yet?
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ftufc said
So sorry to sidetrack your thread Alma with this nonsensical banter, lol. Have you taken a look at the bowing vid of Pierre's yet?
No worries mate, I enjoy your banter. The banter is half of what makes this site awesome. 
The other half is everyone being so supportive and advicey. I'm glowing from your comments on my personality and intonation! 
Yes, I did find a video about wrist movement and went ahead and tried it. But OMG it's hard! It's like driving a car, is this fiddling business – heaps of things to keep track of at once! It'll all fall into place gradually, I'm sure, just as long as I'm aware what it should be like.
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
Almandin said
ftufc said
It'll all fall into place gradually, I'm sure, just as long as I'm aware what it should be like.
Alma, the transition will be so gradual you won't even realize it has taken place, it will just be there one day. And in the near future.
I still can't get the quote thing right........ Grrrrrrrrrr...
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Fiddlestix said
I still can't get the quote thing right........ Grrrrrrrrrr...
Once you've clicked the "Quote" button for what you want to quote, make sure you start typing below the quote, a half-inch or so to the left of it. Otherwise your text will be inside the quote-box. Plus, make sure not to accidentally delete above what you're writing as that will also put your text in the box...
If you want to quote without first having clicked the button, you can click the little " in the blue edit header and copy-paste the quoted text. Then click the " again to get out of the quote-box.
Hope this helps!
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
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Doing very good indeed for second week, Almandin!
I've only been playing a few months myself, so I avoid giving much in the way of critique. But you are doing at least one thing I used to do that I eventually found was better to avoid, so maybe that can be useful.
If you don't let your left wrist bend back quite so far, it makes it more comfortable for the wrist when you play longer periods and it also sort of naturally brings your fingers up a bit more over the strings. That helps make getting those notes with the 3rd and 4th fingers a bit easier later, especially on the G and D strings.
"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
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you are doing very well.. to help with your bowing from the elbow and not the shoulder you might want to try standing next to a wall with your right elbow touching the wall, it will force you to keep your elbow in one place, shoulder movement is for string changes.. Keep up the great work! You are farther than I was in that timeframe..:-)
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Thanks for the post Almandin,
Like others have said, keep your left wrist as straight as possible.
Practice bowing long strokes using your elbow and not your shoulder.
Great job, keep it up.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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What the hell Alma... "mate",,, really, lmao, I thought you were from a civilized country!
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ftufc said
What the hell Alma... "mate",,, really, lmao, I thought you were from a civilized country!
I am! My English is another matter. (Besides, is the US really so much more civilised than Australia?? 
)
Daniel B said
If you don't let your left wrist bend back quite so far, it makes it more comfortable for the wrist when you play longer periods and it also sort of naturally brings your fingers up a bit more over the strings. That helps make getting those notes with the 3rd and 4th fingers a bit easier later, especially on the G and D strings.
Wow, that's a good point! Thank you! Thinking about it, I remember having to stretch my wrist to reach with the pinky. So that's what I should be doing all the time then. 
I'll try to find a wall, but it could be difficult as I live in a tiny flat of 20 square meters! May have to use my bathroom door...
~ Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. ~
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