I'm listening to a recording of a live performance of the Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor on our local classical station KING FM from the Olympic Music Festival. We've really enjoyed heading out to Quilcene and listening to music in the barn. The donkeys that live on the farm are very nice too! The quartet is one of my favorite chamber music pieces. I do love so much of his music. Our chamber group read through this quartet a few months ago. Sightreading it on the piano wasn't a whole lot of fun, but I have to say that it was a good thing it wasn't his Piano Quintet. The Brahms Piano Quintet was originally written as a string quintet; then he changed it into a sonata for 2 pianos, 4 hands. I think Brahms thought he still had 2 pianos when he changed it into the quintet as we know it today. With cello, travel, and work I don't have a lot of time to practice the piano. Sigh. Wish I did - there's so much great chamber music that I'd play better if I actually had some time to practice.
On the cello front my husband commented that he could hear my vibrato smoothing out. Yay, progress!! He normally only notices big macro changes over a few months, so I was pretty excited when he said that my vibrato had gotten much steadier. I am continuing to work trying to control the speed as I move from finger to finger. The other thing my teacher is having me do this week is really concentrate on keeping the bow steady. Those 2 things are all I'm thinking about during practice this week and I can already hear the difference. My revelation for the week was that I don't have to try as hard as I thought I did to make a decent sound!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Figure Eights, Not Fish
Continuing on a break from all of the rhythm practice, I decided to spend some time smoothing out my bowing. One thing that has bothered me ever since I started playing is the gap in sound that I hear when I switch strings and bow direction.
I went back to an exercise that I had worked on previously. There were quite a few weeks worth of lessons where we'd attach a laser pointer to my bow. The laser pointer was perpendicular to the bow so that I could track my bow motion by looking at the laser light. What a revelation! For one, just playing on an open string, I could see how uneven my bowing was - I could see the laser light bouncing along, instead of being a straight line.
The real test was a simple string crossing pattern -- alternating between 2 strings, for instance the D and G string, playing (D G) (D G) (D G) etc with the (D G) on one bow stroke. When done well the pattern looks like a figure eight. Not mine. It looked like a fish. This week I went back to thinking and practicing figure eights, not fish.
Fish is one of my favorite foods. In fact it's a family joke about ordering a fish (whole fish, steamed! Yum!) every time we go out for Chinese food. I had one waiter trained at one of my favorite restaurants to go find the nicest fish for me as soon as we showed up.
Too bad that fish don't have any place in cello playing!
I went back to an exercise that I had worked on previously. There were quite a few weeks worth of lessons where we'd attach a laser pointer to my bow. The laser pointer was perpendicular to the bow so that I could track my bow motion by looking at the laser light. What a revelation! For one, just playing on an open string, I could see how uneven my bowing was - I could see the laser light bouncing along, instead of being a straight line.
The real test was a simple string crossing pattern -- alternating between 2 strings, for instance the D and G string, playing (D G) (D G) (D G) etc with the (D G) on one bow stroke. When done well the pattern looks like a figure eight. Not mine. It looked like a fish. This week I went back to thinking and practicing figure eights, not fish.
Fish is one of my favorite foods. In fact it's a family joke about ordering a fish (whole fish, steamed! Yum!) every time we go out for Chinese food. I had one waiter trained at one of my favorite restaurants to go find the nicest fish for me as soon as we showed up.
Too bad that fish don't have any place in cello playing!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Vibrato, Naturally
This week I'm easing up on the rhythm practice - I did have a breakthrough -still working on the Sevcik exercise of straight eighth notes (includes over 200 variations of bowing!) I put the metronome on 40 to cover 2 beats (4 notes) and then played around with moving the metronome beat to different parts of the measure. The breakthrough was being able to play steadily with the metronome beat on the 4th and 8th eighth notes in the measure, or with it on the 2nd and 6th eighth notes of the measure. I wanted to put the metronome on the 'and' to see if I could hold a steady rhythm. Finally, after a few weeks, I can! I couldn't do this when I started working on this exercise.
A while ago my teacher mentioned that my vibrato changed speeds as I moved from finger to finger, so I decided that this week I would try to do something about that. I needed to work on something else! So, this week I've been spending a lot of time doing vibrato to a rhythm (guess I couldn't really get away from the rhythm exercises!) seeing if I could make the vibrato 2 to a pulse, 3 to a pulse, 4, 6, and 8, and move from finger to finger keeping the same pulse as whatever I was doing previously. Half of the battle seems to be keeping each finger steady (story of my ongoing rhythm battles) but I hope the side benefit is improvement of tone overall and more control over my vibrato.
A while ago my teacher mentioned that my vibrato changed speeds as I moved from finger to finger, so I decided that this week I would try to do something about that. I needed to work on something else! So, this week I've been spending a lot of time doing vibrato to a rhythm (guess I couldn't really get away from the rhythm exercises!) seeing if I could make the vibrato 2 to a pulse, 3 to a pulse, 4, 6, and 8, and move from finger to finger keeping the same pulse as whatever I was doing previously. Half of the battle seems to be keeping each finger steady (story of my ongoing rhythm battles) but I hope the side benefit is improvement of tone overall and more control over my vibrato.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Recording, Track 2
It was really fun today to be part of the studio orchestra recording music for 4 films. The film scores were composed by students from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. The founder and director of the program, Hummie Mann, conducted. The music was the culmination of a 2-year program for the students. We were allowed to give feedback; for most of the students it was the first time they had written something for an orchestra. A friend of mine from orchestra composed one of the pieces we played and right before we played it she said she was terrified to hear it for the first time.
We were in a full studio - during one of the breaks I wandered into the soundroom to watch and hear one of the pieces we had just recorded, and it was amazing how good the orchestra sounded! With a headset over one ear to hear the click track and sitting in the middle of a section, and playing, it was impossible to really hear the music. Getting to hear and see what we had recorded along with the film was pretty cool.
It was an exhausting day. We started at 10am and finished at 6pm with 10-minute breaks each hour and an hour break for lunch. By the last 2 hours it was really hard to concentrate and play with the same energy as in the morning. We would run through and rehearse a piece a few times, then we recorded it twice. The first film had a jazz soundtrack, and the other 3 were animated films, one with more of a cartoony feel to the music, and others much more dreamy/sweet music. I loved the first animated film we recorded - it was a story set in New York's Central Park about 2 old women. They competed with each other to feed the birds that had gathered around them. There was one scene where they were feeding the birds so much that the birds were visibly getting fatter (I was sitting where I could see the monitor that Hummie was using to watch while conducting) and you could hear the birds getting heavier in the music - it was hilarious. I would love to see that film when it is finished.
At the end of the day, I was brain dead. Needless to say practicing is going to wait until tomorrow.
We were in a full studio - during one of the breaks I wandered into the soundroom to watch and hear one of the pieces we had just recorded, and it was amazing how good the orchestra sounded! With a headset over one ear to hear the click track and sitting in the middle of a section, and playing, it was impossible to really hear the music. Getting to hear and see what we had recorded along with the film was pretty cool.
It was an exhausting day. We started at 10am and finished at 6pm with 10-minute breaks each hour and an hour break for lunch. By the last 2 hours it was really hard to concentrate and play with the same energy as in the morning. We would run through and rehearse a piece a few times, then we recorded it twice. The first film had a jazz soundtrack, and the other 3 were animated films, one with more of a cartoony feel to the music, and others much more dreamy/sweet music. I loved the first animated film we recorded - it was a story set in New York's Central Park about 2 old women. They competed with each other to feed the birds that had gathered around them. There was one scene where they were feeding the birds so much that the birds were visibly getting fatter (I was sitting where I could see the monitor that Hummie was using to watch while conducting) and you could hear the birds getting heavier in the music - it was hilarious. I would love to see that film when it is finished.
At the end of the day, I was brain dead. Needless to say practicing is going to wait until tomorrow.
Recording, Track 1
At first my teacher wasn't going to record me - I'm still sick with that sore throat - cold thing that is going around (exacerbated by my flying ordeal this week) and he thought I wouldn't be at my best. True enough, but he did end up recording me anyway.
We went through my rhythm exercises. This time he had a drum track where the drum pattern would shift by an eighth of a beat every two measures, so that the pulse of the beat would be on the beat for 2 measures, then on the off beat. I played exercise No. 6 of the Sevcik bowing exercises (just straight eighth notes) while the audio track shifted while I was playing. The purpose was to see if I could hold steady while the pulse was shifting. The first time I couldn't do it, but by the next time and subsequent times I was able to lock into a steady rhythm even as pulse was shifting. One time my teacher recorded me playing without anything else, to see how steady I was - it was actually pretty good!
Then since we were already set up, he asked me to play something "more lyrical" to get recorded. I chose to play Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, mostly because we had recorded it previously. I was really pleased to listen to the recording - especially after we listened to the last recording I did from June of last year. I could definitely hear the difference in the amount of control I have now vs. 1 year ago. What I could hear that needs to improve is shaping the overall volume and feel of phrases - taking more time for the crescendos and decrescendos.
Today will be a fun day, and I'll write about it later today. I've volunteered to be part of the studio orchestra for the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program and we will be recording the soundtracks for about 5 student films today.
We went through my rhythm exercises. This time he had a drum track where the drum pattern would shift by an eighth of a beat every two measures, so that the pulse of the beat would be on the beat for 2 measures, then on the off beat. I played exercise No. 6 of the Sevcik bowing exercises (just straight eighth notes) while the audio track shifted while I was playing. The purpose was to see if I could hold steady while the pulse was shifting. The first time I couldn't do it, but by the next time and subsequent times I was able to lock into a steady rhythm even as pulse was shifting. One time my teacher recorded me playing without anything else, to see how steady I was - it was actually pretty good!
Then since we were already set up, he asked me to play something "more lyrical" to get recorded. I chose to play Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, mostly because we had recorded it previously. I was really pleased to listen to the recording - especially after we listened to the last recording I did from June of last year. I could definitely hear the difference in the amount of control I have now vs. 1 year ago. What I could hear that needs to improve is shaping the overall volume and feel of phrases - taking more time for the crescendos and decrescendos.
Today will be a fun day, and I'll write about it later today. I've volunteered to be part of the studio orchestra for the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program and we will be recording the soundtracks for about 5 student films today.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Glad to Be Home
Whew! What an ordeal getting home! about 30 minutes into the flight (only supposed to be 1.5 hours), the pilot announced that because of mechanical problems and bad weather in Seattle, we couldn't land in Seattle, and that we were getting diverted back to...Oakland. After 1 1/2 hours in the air, we landed all of 50 miles away from San Jose. I could have driven there faster. Or were we just connecting through Oakland to get to Seattle?
Anyway, the first plane was completely packed -- I got put on another flight from Oakland to Seattle and finally got home late last night after spending 5 hours in planes. I was starving, unless you count the little bag of pretzels as a full meal.
I am really looking forward to being able to practice tonight!
Anyway, the first plane was completely packed -- I got put on another flight from Oakland to Seattle and finally got home late last night after spending 5 hours in planes. I was starving, unless you count the little bag of pretzels as a full meal.
I am really looking forward to being able to practice tonight!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Musings from the San Jose airport
I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight home. I had every intention of practicing while I was here, but with a sore throat that threatens to turn into the cold my husband brought back from Ireland, it just didn't work out. I just crashed last night, and this morning my day started pretty early, so no time in this morning to practice. I didn't even do the rhythm exercises that I've been trying to work on. I did play around with holding a pen with the modified bow hold that I've been working on and I can really feel the difference in how much control I feel that I have with my hand.
I was noticing the difference on Sunday when I played with the Sunday chamber group - a fuller, louder tone than I've had before and more control while crossing strings. We played one of the Brandenburg concertos - it was my first time playing through it and I know that there were passages that a year ago I would not have been able to play on a first reading.
One of the things I've tried to do on a periodic basis is to go back and play pieces that I played months ago or a year or so ago, to measure my progress. Progress for me seems to come in little bursts, where for weeks or months it seems like nothing is happening, and then seemingly out of the blue I notice a large improvement. It's nice to go back and play pieces I've played a while ago and to find that they're much easier to play now! And I sound better!
aargh - the flight is going to be late again. I take these flights enough that I know many of the other regular commuters who do the Seattle-Bay Area thing, many of the flight attendants, and have my favorite car rental return agent at Hertz. It's nice to chat with everyone but I'm not sure this familiarity is a good thing.
I was noticing the difference on Sunday when I played with the Sunday chamber group - a fuller, louder tone than I've had before and more control while crossing strings. We played one of the Brandenburg concertos - it was my first time playing through it and I know that there were passages that a year ago I would not have been able to play on a first reading.
One of the things I've tried to do on a periodic basis is to go back and play pieces that I played months ago or a year or so ago, to measure my progress. Progress for me seems to come in little bursts, where for weeks or months it seems like nothing is happening, and then seemingly out of the blue I notice a large improvement. It's nice to go back and play pieces I've played a while ago and to find that they're much easier to play now! And I sound better!
aargh - the flight is going to be late again. I take these flights enough that I know many of the other regular commuters who do the Seattle-Bay Area thing, many of the flight attendants, and have my favorite car rental return agent at Hertz. It's nice to chat with everyone but I'm not sure this familiarity is a good thing.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Meeting Mick Lavelle
While we were in Ireland we visited Matt Molloy's bar in Westport, County Galway. Matt Molloy is the flautist for the Chieftains and his bar is famous, with music every night. We were waiting in the bar for the doors to open up for the band that night when an 80-year old gentleman sat down next to us. We started chatting, and pretty soon he joined us at our table and began to sing. Really well. He claimed that he knew a thousand songs and I believe him. He would start singing and got everyone in the bar to sing along. In between he told a few off-color jokes. He mentioned something about pictures with him in it, but we had no idea what he was talking about and just let that comment slide by. It was extraordinary sitting with him.
The next day we were in Roundstone, checking out the bodhrans. We took a look at the posters and there was one called "Irish Pubs", with pictures of about 20 pubs. Naturally we had to look for Matt Molloy's. There it was...and there was Mick Lavelle in the picture! He is holding a fiddle. We had no idea!
Later, when I got home, I googled Mick Lavelle. He's something of a local celebrity, and also is the singer of a track on the CD "Music from Matt Molloy's". Unbelieveable.
The group we saw at Matt Molloy's was great, too. It was a memorable night.
The next day we were in Roundstone, checking out the bodhrans. We took a look at the posters and there was one called "Irish Pubs", with pictures of about 20 pubs. Naturally we had to look for Matt Molloy's. There it was...and there was Mick Lavelle in the picture! He is holding a fiddle. We had no idea!
Later, when I got home, I googled Mick Lavelle. He's something of a local celebrity, and also is the singer of a track on the CD "Music from Matt Molloy's". Unbelieveable.
The group we saw at Matt Molloy's was great, too. It was a memorable night.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Awake and Alert, Finally
I'm finally feeling semi-normal after flying on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had a rough time travelling back from Ireland on Monday. There were thunderstorms in Chicago so our plane got diverted to Milwaukee, where we had to sit on the tarmac for 3 hours before being allowed to fly back to Chicago. By then it was so late that we ended up sleeping at O'Hare while waiting for our flight early Tuesday morning. It's been a long time since I've slept (or tried to) at an airport. Then on Wednesday it was back to work and on a plane. The silver lining about being awake for most of 2 days was that I adjusted back to Pacific time very quickly.
When I finally tried to play the cello on Tuesday it was pathetic. I think I was too tired to play. All I remember was that I felt terrible, my playing felt terrible, and finally I just quit. Then on Friday, before my lesson, I played a little and lo and behold, my tone sounded better than it ever has before! Go figure. I think the adjustments I made to my bow hold a few months ago are finally starting to feel natural and are paying off in much better tone quality.
My lesson was more rhythm work - my teacher set the metronome to 40 and had me play quarter notes, eighth, or triplets on that slow beat, with the goal of making my sound change exactly with the beat. It is surprisingly hard to do when the beat is that slow. When I switched between eighth or triplets on that beat I would either be a tiny fraction too slow or too fast, and it would take me a few measures adjust my playing to lock into the beat. Well, guess what I'm working on for my next lesson!
Music is just like my swimming - it goes away fast and comes back slowly. In the case of swimming it is speed that goes fast and is really hard to get back. I could feel that I had lost ground on the cello by not playing for about 2 weeks. But on the other hand, even playing today I could hear a difference in tone - so the break wasn't all bad!
My Saturday chamber group was just our first violinist and me. She brought a lot of violin music and I played the piano. After not playing the piano for 3 weeks my fingers felt stiff. I had to warm up with the Franck violin sonata - not the easiest piece for stiff fingers! We played a movement of Frank Martin's violin sonata, a Bach violin concerto, and finished up with Beethoven's violin sonata No. 4. We'd never played that one before and it was lovely - written just before the "Spring" Sonata and very different.
When I finally tried to play the cello on Tuesday it was pathetic. I think I was too tired to play. All I remember was that I felt terrible, my playing felt terrible, and finally I just quit. Then on Friday, before my lesson, I played a little and lo and behold, my tone sounded better than it ever has before! Go figure. I think the adjustments I made to my bow hold a few months ago are finally starting to feel natural and are paying off in much better tone quality.
My lesson was more rhythm work - my teacher set the metronome to 40 and had me play quarter notes, eighth, or triplets on that slow beat, with the goal of making my sound change exactly with the beat. It is surprisingly hard to do when the beat is that slow. When I switched between eighth or triplets on that beat I would either be a tiny fraction too slow or too fast, and it would take me a few measures adjust my playing to lock into the beat. Well, guess what I'm working on for my next lesson!
Music is just like my swimming - it goes away fast and comes back slowly. In the case of swimming it is speed that goes fast and is really hard to get back. I could feel that I had lost ground on the cello by not playing for about 2 weeks. But on the other hand, even playing today I could hear a difference in tone - so the break wasn't all bad!
My Saturday chamber group was just our first violinist and me. She brought a lot of violin music and I played the piano. After not playing the piano for 3 weeks my fingers felt stiff. I had to warm up with the Franck violin sonata - not the easiest piece for stiff fingers! We played a movement of Frank Martin's violin sonata, a Bach violin concerto, and finished up with Beethoven's violin sonata No. 4. We'd never played that one before and it was lovely - written just before the "Spring" Sonata and very different.
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