New week, new tip; Well, it seems I am progressing nicely. This is preferrable to regressing nicely IMO. All the above still applys and I am currently working out the bowing kinks in my head. I have mastered the slurred bowings but now I have separate staccattos to play and my brain wants to hook bow them. Im gonna have to somehow set up partitions in my brain and not let the diff parts talk to each other, ha ha! I am also focusing on using the fourth finger more and have some scalular exercises to use to do this. My knee jerk reaction has been to do the open string when playing and training this reaction out of my habits is also proving difficult. Now, he wants me to bring non suzuki sheet music in that I want to learn to have more variety and alternate sources to practice these new skills. In comes the classic wedding tunes starting with Canon! (can I get a woot woot!) Sorry its not more contemporary but I want to eventually play in a wedding string ensemble and the Theme from Titanic might not be top of the list in repetoir. There is about 8 different classic tunes including Jesu, Joy of mans desiring among others. I also told him I was interested in learning movie themes, Schindlers List, The Promentory from Last of the Mohicans, etc. oh, the tip

So I'm dynamically moving from F to P and when playing P my tone suffers. I have to find the balance of pressure and bow speed that provides the audible P with that beautiful clarity of Tone that we all love so much. I'm working on it. Pfish.

yeah, I forgot to mention the playing closer to the fingerboard part! lol. alot of little nuances!

Had my lesson for this week and I still didnt play my assignment well enough. Its in the second Suzuki book, song two; Musette by Bach. The slur arrangement makes the bowings tricky for me but I'm getting on top of it. The major hang up is that danged fourth finger of mine! I did peek at my hand this week while playing which is why I did so much better, lol. I feel like I cheated a bit. So, as instructed I brought some non-Suzuki music to add to the variety. I figured since we were having it as a group project, I took him the arrangement I have of Canon in D, which oddly enough is in G maj. lol. I didn't look at it before hand and it has lots of 4th fingerings and slurs! Rats! I thought my teacher would oppose the piece since it represents the quintessential dread of overplayed repertoire and experienced person tends to avoid. He was fine with it, I love this music so I'm down with learning it.

- whats the tip? keep at it again! lol, there has been no advancement on the technique front so its practice, practice and practice somemore. I do have to add that I am trying to play with dynamics. This adds another layer to the difficulty cake for me.

- I used to think I was really good at this, self delusional or deluted not sure which. Then I started trying to record myself and eventually I felt like I was really good at that. Not so much. Then I started playing with others....you get the drift! Self re-visualization is a (begins with b)! Ah well, I am still having fun, I am still learning and hopefully you can avoid some of the pitfalls and do-overs that I am going through. Pfish.

@RosinedUp- yes, my version has alot of 4th finger oppourtunities! Slurred, tied and hooked notes and plenty of dynamic changes. Just cant get away from it, seems like more and more music is using these characteristics, very frustrating and challenging at the same time.

@Mt Fiddler- I am doing better than I was because my technique defficiencies have been thus far identified and I can isolate and improve. This was something I was not able to self discover as it were. And I am learning the subtleties of techniques like staccato, staccato slur, accented notes etc. These are not so easy to differentiate audibly since they sound so danged similar.

@Tyberius- The thing is surprisingly simple. My teacher has identified the areas that need to improve and until I improve he wont try to add to the burden. I am getting the hang of it, it just takes me longer. But I also am finding that it is taking alot of practice to make the improvements so I dont want to underemphasize the need for that. I also saw what you did there at the end of your comment, very pithy. bravo - pfish.

I hear your cries for some new information and am answering your call....or something dramatic like that.

I paid attention in class today, I should everyday but Im gonna blame the ADD on that. So I am finding that we are playing a passage and my mind will all of a sudden go blank. I thought I was having a stroke to be honest, it was freaky cause everything else but the bowing would continue. And then quick as a wink Id snap out of it and know where I had messed up. lol. And repeat...

Today we sat down as we played, of course I had to pretend from the waist up I was standing. I was hoping to show how well I played resting my left elbow on my leg or in the reclining posistion. No slacking today.

So everytime I play (I being we) it is a performance. I had heard that before, it was his way of saying Im not Performing the pieces but going through the motions. I was playing average, he was not amused. I straightened up.

When I perform a piece for him he expects it to be full speed and perfect. When we play the piece together its always super slow. Why? From what I can tell, he's able to see all the parts of my playing as they fit together when I move slower. When I practice these songs super slow and then perform them at full speed, guess what? Thats right, I do a better job, am more in tune, in other words I improve.

Theres your tip - Practice all day everyday as much as you can, as slow as you can and get it perfect. Then when you perform you will be improved. Also, practicing slow means pay attention to your form and fingerings! No sense practicing poorly expecting performance perfection....Pfish.