Chinese Proverb

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I'll understand." - Chinese Proverb.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Lesson #75 (6/29/2012): Musette & Spiritoso


We went over 2 out of the 3 pieces that I’ll be playing at the workshop during this lesson. 

Musette

We recorded this piece and it seems to be the easiest of the three and is in G Major but with some accidentals (C#) and hooked bowing.

This wasn't too bad after practicing this for a couple of days after my lesson. I definitely scared myself when I looked at this piece. Although I don't think I would have been able to play this without a recording. I really should learn how to read rhythms better.

Spiritoso

This one is tough! It’s in F Major but with a lot of accidentals (C#, B naturals & F#s). Actually I think Adam mentioned this was D Minor, since the first note started on D and the last note was an A. 
Adam mentioned that accidentals only apply to a specific measure and then go back to what was originally indicated. I can't seem to get them straight so I ended up just entering the fingerings for all of them.
And half step to B flat…ugh…

Shifting all over the place is really making my intonation bad on this piece too, and I can't figure out how to get back after I lose my placement/intonation. 
I’ve also discovered that extensions are fine as long as my first finger can hold my place, but if there’s an open string note first before an extension with my pinky, than I’m more accurate if I just shift a half step for me. I wonder why that is?

So far the most difficult part of this piece, sections 93, 94, 97 & 98. I can’t seem to make my fingers move faster. I can move my fingers faster if I’m in first position, but moving to half step to B flat first makes my fingers slow and sluggish.  

I'm cello number 5 in the cello choir (page 1 of 2 shown below), and I'm not sure how many cellos are in this piece. Hopefully, there are a lot more so I can fake my bowing and fingering!


Chant & Fugue

We didn’t get to this piece during this lesson, but Adam sent me a recording of it to work on a couple of days later. Since we didn’t cover this during the lessons, I attempted to put in my own fingers, so they're probably a little wonky. I like the sound of this piece, but I don't know if I'll be able to play it! ;)




I'm going to take a few more lessons before the workshop so I can get comfortable with these pieces. 

I have a few concerns:

1) I may not be able to get "comfortable" playing these pieces by the time the workshop rolls around; i.e. I won't be able to listen to anyone else if I'm concentrating too much on my bowing and fingering, and I'm only able to listen to other people if I know the piece fairly well. 

2) I get confused easily when I play with other people! If I hear something different than what I'm accustomed to, I automatically think it's my fault and have a mini-freak out and loose my rhythm, bowing or fingering! ;).

3) I don't want to hold anyone back and am afraid that I'll be the "weakest link," which is fine, but I don't want that to affect anyone else's playing. 


This is supposed to be FUN, but I think I'm stressing out on it, and only 17 more days! 



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