Day 16

It looks like if I only use the top part of my bow, I do not stress out my elbow and can play pain-free, so let’s do it for now :). I was slowly crawling throw Hanley’s book 2, practicing my vibrato. One thing I notice is that for the perception of correct intonation, you must stay on the same pitch or do perfectly uniform vibrato. If you try to correct your intonation slightly, it sounds even worse than staying on the wrong pitch (but keeping it). The same thing is with vibrato. If you begin to vibrate not from the pitch but above it or below, it gives the impression of incorrect intonation (or if your vibrato is uneven). This is what I am practicing today. Hitting the right pitch (in the third position) and vibrating only if I got it right. Otherwise, I will go back to the previous note. It takes a lot of time, and I go through exercises very slowly :).

Adjustment, I would not do it this way (practicing two skills at once, positions and vibrato). It takes more time, not less. But I want to keep practice short until my elbow is fully recovered. One thing I like about Hanley’s book is that almost all exercises are one-liners and are musical (with simple patterns). I can memorize them quickly and then watch myself in the mirror (or Intonia). I do the first four measures and can usually repeat them almost immediately. Then next four. After that, I only occasionally need to look at the score and can focus on my bowing or my vibrato instead.

So the adjustment is that I first practice tone and intonation (memorizing score in the process), and only after that add vibrato. This is working much better. A note for the future, do not combine two skills at once if you want to improve either of them:))! Anyway, with all juggling and adjustments, I only went as far as exercise no. 7 (but I replayed 1 to 4 too). I do not want to risk playing more (and probably should not play at all).

Meanwhile, my creepy phone obviously reads my mind and gives me tips on practicing violin more efficiently. Some of them are even useful:)). For example, this site: https://www.practizma.com/practizma-journal. It talks about “The discovery practice,” - which is exactly what I was doing! Nothing is new under the moon:).

Reflecting on my practice journal for the past 15 days (half of the month already!)

What were my main objectives?

  1. Better vibrato. Wider, more uniform. I can see some progress in this direction. At least it becomes better in exercises, but I need to be able to incorporate it in pieces too.

  2. Use a full bow and faster speed to produce a better tone. Unfortunately have to put it on hold until my elbow will fully recovers.

  3. Better bow distribution. I understand better how to use a slow bow in one direction and a faster one in the opposite direction. But I am still struggling with saving a bow when I need it.

Where do I want to go next?

  1. Continue to work on vibrato and incorporate it in simple studies and pieces.

  2. Get better intonation in the third position.

  3. I also need to do some shifting exercises.

  4. Begin to work on the fast parts of the Seitz concerto.

  5. Learn “Bolero” by Dancla.

It will be good enough for the next two weeks:)).