Hi Juan.

I just finished your lesson. (grrrrrr.. stuck at my desk play "air violin").  

How kind of you to offer such great assistance. Thank you so much.

I am going to use your video to see if I can work on that.  Also the shift in the beginning of Air. (E string) I also have a shift that I have with the last verse of Sad Romance that I have been working on.. (E string) And I even though the We Wish You a Merry Xmas is over, I'd like to be able to play the higher octave version next year. 

Thanks for your help as a fellow musician and very good friend. 

I will, in summary:

1. Keep my thumb loose and not have any fingers digging in on the notes. LOOSE LOOSE... and I will look for healthy blood flow to my thumb.  (good tip, that was new to me.)

2. I will use the rib as a "guide" for my palm to slightly reach for 3rd position.  I did know this but haven't found it very successfully.

3. I will use open notes to compare.

You are right... shifting feels scary.. as I feel I still an not 100% on first.  But If I wait for 100%, then I will never shift right.  I wish I had never heard of shifting and it was just introduced into my learning. You know... like the little kids.  (the advantage of kids being in the dark.)  

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.  And I watched Pierre's videos on shifting and they make great sense.   I am like "DUH"...  I think I am a super visual person.. so all kinds of angles and teachers help me get a point through my thick head. 

Cheers. Toni.

I am making some progress on this... but I am being patient.  

I am finding 3rd position.. but my hand is not touching the ribs.. so I am concerned about my posture... it seems most say the hand touches.   I am going to go home and work on this some more.    I have an exercise I am working on from an external source... it is 1,2,3 fingers on the a string.. 10 times in first, then shift to 2nd, 10 times, then 3rd and so fourth to seventh position.  It is a challenge to work on it because if you make a mistake on the 10, you have to start over.  ... AYE AYE.. but it helps with  knowing the notes and hearing them. I did not make it through the whole exercise.   But I will today.. (one string, one set)

It continues on to use 2,3,4 finger, then 1,3, 2.. Anyway.. it's pretty hard..