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Violin Lesson 090711.12

Posted by Tom on the 11th of July, 2009, at 11:42 am.

Began with scale.

1. I played D Major, and he suggested I play d minor instead, while I'm playing these Bach partita movements. I forgot to ask which minor; I'll email him about that.
2. After playing a second time with more emphasis on using the weight of the arm and bow for stronger tone, he told me to play a third time with that same strength, but to refine the connections between notes. Particularly, He said that there should not be a gradient of pressure (less at bow ends; more in MB), but a steadier pressure throughout each stroke.

Progressed to the Sarabande of Bach's Partita No. 2.

1. Measure 1: End the D and F at the same time. Ideally, have little or no break before the second chord. The third note, as a pick-up to the second measure, should be smoothly connected to the fourth note, with no lift of bow.
2. Measure 2: Don't try to fix the dissonance of the 2^nd, or it will be wrong.
3. Measure 4: Trill should be quick, in both duration and oscillation.
4. Measure 5: Transition from m. 4 to this chord should be smooth. Use the rolling motion of the chord to achieve this, but don't spend too long on the bottom notes, as the top Bb is the melody at this point (this also applies to the opening chords).
5. Measure 9: Timing between the dotted-eighth and the pair of sixteenths.
6. Measure 12: Similar to m. 9.
7. Measure 14: C-D transition needs to be smooth, despite the G below.
8. Measure 16: There needs to be a break between the long low G and the following line beginning with a higher G, since the first is part of a bass line, and the second is a melody line.
9. Measure 19: Two misconceptions: G#, not A, and don't play the last four notes at half-speed.
10. Measure 20: Don't be too heavy-handed with the phrasing.
11. Measure 21: Bow distribution—leave enough for the top two notes of both chords
12. Measure 22: Bow distribution—however, use phrasing to do so.
13. Measure 23: This applies to other parts as well—Though it seems to be a relatively easy part, be careful of intonation and tone.
14. Measures 26 and 27: Like 22, use phrasing to control bow distribution, and, like 23, be careful of intonation and tone since it's an easy place to get them right.
15. Measures 28-30: Also like 23.

In the Gigue, we worked more broadly.