Preparatory violin study, complete with heart-attack inducing examination.
Lucia, my violin teacher, who I had not seen in months, approached me online in the spring of 2020 when we were all hunkering down for what would be a couple of years, though none of us knew that then. She suggested I start up my violin lessons again on zoom. Lacking distractions from work (in my home office), I thought, “why not?” But this time I would take a more systematic approach. I would take David’s advice and follow the RCM program. Lucia thought this was a super idea, and so I bought the RCM Preparatory Violin books: technical study and repertoire, keen to crank up again on a clearly defined path. Looking through the books, though, I became fearful: this was preparatory? It was hard! Worse still, the preparatory technique book spanned from preparatory to grade four, so sneaking a peak ahead was the stuff of nightmares: notes all over the place, doodads over the notes, fancy scales under long phrase lines and all nature of scary stuff. I should come clean and admit that I studied piano as a child (early Pleistocene era), so I was not musically illiterate. The six years I spent learning to play the piano with French Canadian nuns (tough task masters) included theory and, helpfully, solfège, which I was to meet again, unexpectedly, in fiddle class a little further down the track. But the system at Notre Dame D’Acadie was organized differently from RCM programs so I could not say what grade I reached. Nonetheless, not having to learn theory and sight reading from a standing start was helpful: the cognitive load in reading music and playing it at the same time is significant and should not be underestimated. All the same, I had to see the notes on the page as points on a violin string. This was new. I could picture, say middle C (along with the scales, arpeggios, etc.) on a piano but I had to find it on the violin and hear it and feel it in my hand, so I wasn’t (desperately and unrecognizably) off pitch. Preparatory began sensibly with the A major scale, the most basic scale on a violin, played on the easiest string to reach. This was friendly. I knew what a major scale should sound like, so I could practice towards it sounding right. I could reach these notes, though they were kind of pesky to find. With the A major scale, I had the A major arpeggio over one octave. I had single bows only: one note, one bow. I could do this!!! I graduated to the D major scale. So exciting! By now I could reach the D string but going from the A string to the D string was harder than the other way around. And then, the D arpeggio. I was rocking. The études were another matter. On the first page was one in sixteenth notes going up the D scale but it had accented quarter notes in it and dynamic shifts, and… harmonics? What the hell? Where did these come from? My violin teacher admitted that she favoured the Suzuki approach to the RCM program, as RCM tended to erratic étude and repertoire choices and levels of difficulty varied even within a single level. But Suzuki was for children, I thought. Well, she explained, adults do it, too. It is oriented to ear-training. The downside is that Suzuki learners are not as strong at sight reading as RCM learners. I had already made this choice, so I would continue along the RCM path. I bypassed the “difficult” étude and learned a number of others, choosing a fiddle tune that I liked that was played on three strings: E, A and D. This would be my exam study. Mind you, hitting that low E was kind of hit or miss. My daily practice was thus organized around a linear read of the technique and étude book, followed by my big moment: my repertoire pieces. Two! I felt practically ready for Carnegie Hall in comparison to where I was with Twinkle, twinkle little star a year ago. And as such, my practice was shaped as a daily scrum with my violin, progressing through each section of the preparatory course that I would have to perform for my examination, though the sightreading selections came later, as did the ear training. Ear tests I got from David, whose musical knowledge was immense and patience, even more so. Most of the repertoire selections were sensibly scored in the keys of A and D but some joker had put in two pieces in the key of C major, which is NOT a friendly key on the violin. At least, not at this level. The pieces had names like Playing ball and Pony trot, which felt a little undignified for a mature woman. Nonetheless, I tried as many as I could manage and settled on a pretty lullaby called, evocatively, Song, and another rather quirky piece that was quite dramatic in character, called, The old jalopy, which had a cute slide down from C sharp at the end of it. I practiced these pieces till my fingers were raw, so keen was I not to make a total fool of myself on my debut examination. David and I practiced together once a week, he on the piano part provided in the repertoire book. From this, I got the bright idea to tape his part, so I could play along to it during my practice. The exemplars provided by RCM were all too fast, plus they were played by professional musicians with beautiful tone, vibrato, perfect intonation. Impossible models… When Lucia thought I was ready for the examination, about 6 months in, I nervously opened the appropriate account on RCM and applied for an examination date and time, choosing a time when my playing would not disrupt any of David’s regularly scheduled musical activities and he could accompany me on the two repertoire pieces. I chose 9:30 am, giving me enough time to wake up, eat, warm up, and—recommended by Lucia—retune my violin to the conditions of the basement where the zoom exam would be held. For a week prior to the exam, I had such nerves that I could barely sleep. Rory, the bass player, over to play in the Wednesday jazz trio at our place, asked whether I had ever played in front of an audience, incredulous that I would be doing a violin exam. Well, my in-laws, I said shakily, and I am a professor with a lifetime of public speaking behind me. Yeah, well this is different, he said, looking at me with concerned amazement. This was not confidence inspiring. David warned, just wait – it will be a life-changing experience. Preparatory violin exam, life-changing? Surely, this could not compare with, say, passing a PhD oral examination, or making tenure or full professor, which required an international panel raking your work over the intellectual coals. But I was nervous. I went over my selections in my head repeatedly. I dreamt the damn pieces. I could barely eat on the morning of the exam. My fingers were shaking (oh oh, bouncy bow), sweating (NOT helpful for manoeuvering around a fingerboard) and I thought I would wet my pants standing there waiting for the zoom examiner to show up. I pictured a dour looking older man, stuck deep in notes, looking at me sourly and groaning as I messed up the A major scale. The reality was anything but. A lovely smiling middle-aged woman introduced herself and I said “hi” so exuberantly, she must have thought me a little simple. I started by playing open strings just so we could adjust any controls on our respective technological connections for best sound and to check that my instrument was in tune. The next 6-7 minutes were a blur of moving from one much practiced exercise to another to my étude to my pieces. Phew!!! Then, adrenaline draining, I started to fade a little. I managed the ear training tests but goofed on one of my playbacks, exacerbating the mistake by apologizing and misnaming the note I had missed. She smiled gently and thanked me for playing for her. The whole thing had taken about 9 minutes. I think it was two days before my blood pressure receded from the stroke zone. The exam was not quite life-changing, but it was certainly memorable. I figured I had probably passed. David thought I had done well as the examiner was smiling. We went out immediately and bought the level 1 violin books. I listened to all the pieces in the repertoire book. It was a week or two later when I got my assessment. I had indeed lost a point on my playback. Oh well. I had learned everything from memory (not a significant effort when all pieces are one page long) so I got full marks for that. The examiner was very generous in her assessment of my pitch and dynamics, and the work cut out for me was in relaxing my wrists and connecting the bow a little more solidly on the string. I had passed. Her commentary was clearly positive, though somewhat opaque to me as a rookie: “There is a very sweet tone colour here…Glissando is well attempted.” I kind of got the gist. But the mark surprised both of us…
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Heather Lotherington
I decided to learn to play the violin as a senior, which was a far bolder move than I realized at the time. I remember my first lesson: I had no idea how to hold the violin or the bow or that I needed a shoulder stand to help position the violin more comfortably on my shoulder. I didn’t even know how to pick up my rental instrument. It was a very cold start. I reckoned that playing the violin—an idea in the back of my mind for some time—might help stem or even treat my increasingly arthritic fingers. This wasn’t the motivation for learning, but it did help to spur me along. I had put off my dream of playing the fiddle for long enough. If I didn’t get going, my hands were firmly on their way to becoming inflexible claws. Plus, how hard could it be? The fiddle is commonly played by countryfolk by ear, and you see even little kids wailing away on violins. Well, it turns out that learning to play the violin is no walk in the park. It would be lovely to sugarcoat just how miserably trying those first couple of years were. In all honesty I don’t know how I survived. I sounded like a cat in heat at the best of times. My bowing was crooked (it looked straight to me, but such is parallax), sliding towards the fingerboard, which created an awful tone. My bow (right) elbow was all over the map instead of steadily in position for the string being played, so I “string-crossed,” or hit more than one string at one time. This can be done by design; mine wasn’t. (Think donkey braying noises.) My bow bounced off the string when I started to play. I could only reach the top two strings (E, A) with my left (violin) hand and I had absolutely no idea how violinists got all twisted around to reach much less play the D string and the bottom (G) string. My left shoulder and back ached to the point where I had to stop entirely for a few months and get physiotherapy to repair the tense, weak, underused muscles I needed to build. So, the first hurdles were painfully physical. My teacher, Lucia, understood. “No one is born playing the violin,” she would say. There was a learning curve just to holding the instrument. But there was also a focus hurdle. I just wanted to learn to play the instrument, and my teacher did her best to guide me. On her advice, I bought a learner book. But my agenda was unfocused and unhurried. I got nowhere. I would practice the same songs again and again, and sound just as bad as the last time I played them. I was mystified how violinists found the exact notes on an unfretted instrument when there seemed to be so much room for error. So practice was demotivating to say the least. After several months, I could feel my teacher’s impatience as she tried to move me ahead in my learner book to attempt a simple jig. I crumbled. I couldn’t tell where those high notes were and jumping up two strings from the D, which I could finally reach, was taxing. I would practice and hate every moment. Then the pandemic started, and everything ground to a halt. I stopped playing. Looking back, I see now the two glaring problems I faced during that first unproductive period:
I was horribly disillusioned. Monitoring my increasing disheartenment at plowing through my beginner book, my husband made a sensible, informed suggestion: sign up for an examinable music program. So I did. Learning to play a musical instrument, even at an elementary level, is going to take effort and persistence. Any activity that helps you to maintain your enthusiasm should be welcomed. Here are five ways I assist myself. You might think up your own list.
Both programs and institutions were similar in size, scope, and intent. They had similar goals of producing professional musicians and skilled teachers.
At Berklee I studied jazz composition, a creative and primarily cerebral affair. The music courses were interesting but not too challenging. In contrast, the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) was a full on physical experience that challenged my endurance, courage, and self-image. At Berklee I excelled easily because I came to the experience with considerable professional experience behind me. Classical piano on the other hand was a new disciplined practice that I had no experience or preparation for. A Berklee I was trained to be an employable musician and its skills still work. At Berklee, creative wondering was encouraged. This lead to all sorts of self indulgent activities. However, at the RCM I was challenged not to be "creative" but to be skilled and competent. At the RCM I decided for the first time in my educational life to simply follow directions, do what I was told, and see what happens. The result of all this obedience? I really learned how to play the piano beautifully and realise my potential both as a player and teacher. Being "creative" is easy if you use yourself as a reference for judging the output. But, playing beautifully according to independent assessment of a jury is not easy. So, Berklee was easy, the RCM not at all. If you would like help preparing for either experience, call me. David Zoom whiteboard notes from a piano student's lesson A student asked me questions on practicing. Do I practice every day, how long do I practice, when do I practice, what do I practice? How do I keep my enthusiasm for drumming year after year? Here are my answers.
As many people know, I took up the drums at age 50 after an adult student challenged me by saying I had no idea how difficult it was to learn as an older adult. I took the challenge. So, this blog is about my percussion practicing. (When my musical colleagues ask why I started drumming I tell a more colourful story that involves my misperception that drumming would be a cheaper mid-life crisis solution than buying a red sports car.)
If I can help and encourage you on your musical journey, call me. David aka "sticks Story" PS. I now cart my drums around in a red Cadillac. Not quite a sports car, but more drummer friendly. How much practice, time, and effort did earning my Royal Conservatory Level 10 and ARCT Pedagogy diploma take?
Fanny Waterman was a legendary piano teacher in the UK who died in 2020 at the age of hundred. She was big on rules in the piano studio. My responses are lettered.
The following ten practice rules are modified from her book. 1. Sit straight with your fingers rounded. 2. Practice each day. a. Ms. Waterman lived in a simpler time. However, without regular practice, progress is difficult. Therefore, it is important that the student’s practice time is aligned with their ambitions and goals. 3. Before practicing new pieces, clap and count aloud the rhythms within. a. Use a metronome to keep your counting honest. 4. Write in the appropriate fingering and then stick to it. Different hands will require different solutions. a. Begin by following the fingering given. 5. Begin a new piece hands separately, then hands together. 6. Play slow enough to eliminate or minimize errors. a. In my own practice I note the tempo that I play without making errors. Each practice I begin at this tempo. Over time the music will speed up with minimal errors. 7. Master the rhythm before adding rubato and other rhythmic variations. 8. Never play through a mistake. Stop and correct it and then correctly repeat it numerous times before proceeding. 9. Pay attention to and fully understand the meaning of all the markings and text in the score. 10. Listen to how you sound. a. Self-assessment is difficult. Recording yourself is your best chance of accurate self-assessment. I have 15 years of drum practice recordings on my hard drive. (No kidding) I also practice in front of a mirror to check my posture. Fanny Waterman pg. 10-11, 1983 Note what is missing. There is no mention of listening to professionals play your pieces before you begin. This is my new rule. Listen and listen often. Know every note by heart. If I can help you, call me. David I've been playing scales for over 50 years so keeping it fresh can be a challenge. This etude was written for an intermediate student today. Playing scales at the 10th made it all new for her again. Feel free to try this with other scales as well. Keywords: Scales, scales in 10ths
Kind and Wicked Learning Environments in musical study.
The subject of kind and wicked learning environments is a complex subject. This blog deals with just a small application of the insights of researchers. Namely, the use of feedback to make correct decisions. For deeper details, there are links in the Psychology today blog to the research papers and scholarly books. Definition: In a “kind” learning environment we learn from experience. For example, in sports we get immediate feedback because the distance between cause and effect is immediate. Furthermore, with help from the coaches, teammates, and others we progress through the predictable steps to mastery. Musical proficiency is similar. But, in “wicked” learning environments there is, for many reasons, no predictable path to mastery. This blog will only discuss the “kind” learning environment and the role of feedback. Feedback is crucial to learning a musical instrument. The popular late 20c. axiom, “feedback is the breakfast of champions” incapsulates this idea. Creating feedback loops in your practice is key to progressing with fewer setbacks and false starts. While in lessons the teacher provides immediate feedback, at home we are left to our own devices. Here are a few strategies skilled music students use at home.
The links below go to science. Psychology today has a list of scientific papers and links. If I can help you on your journey, call me. David References: Experience: Kind vs. Wicked | Psychology Today How to give and receive feedback effectively - PMC (nih.gov) The Beginner’s guide to the seven skills of pianists
I don’t believe in talent because, in my experience, all the so-called talented people turned out to be the hardest working, patient, and focused people in any cohort. They also had access to resources, like time and money to support their journey. Assuming this is true, the question for private educators becomes which skills, in what order, would be most appropriate for this student to realize their potential. While the answer to this question is an ongoing research question, there is a consensus around the core curriculum of learning to play the piano and its proper sequencing in most formal musical idioms like Jazz and Classical. Folk music, however, has its own methods, handed down over generations, to effectively train its musicians. Formal music curriculum includes:
If you have never had lessons before, this list may seem daunting. But keep in mind, there is joy in playing well and there is joy in effort. If I can help you on your journey, call me. David After half a century of practicing and playing I've come to peace of the difference between these two conflicting domains.
I take lessons and play in several musical groups. Only one group requires serious practice of specific pieces outside of rehearsals. However, all the groups are populated with active and retired professional musicians who expect that I will show up ready to play. Furthermore, the teacher I work with expects me to show up prepared. So, I practice. I save playing for the stage. In the practice room, I divide my time equally between etudes for technical development and working on repertoire. Sometimes I'm given a dozen pieces to learn in short order. This is how I manage. I divide the pieces into two piles. The first pile consists of the pieces I can sightread. I never practice these pieces because practice time is too precious. The second pile is divided into two further piles: the easy pile which consists of pieces that have passages that need the once over and the difficult pile that causes me to perspire. Over two or three practices I dispatch the moderately difficult pile. In preparation for tackling the difficult pieces I listen and listen and listen some more to professional recordings of the music so that I have a thorough understanding of how my part fits in to the larger ensemble. Now I tackle the difficult stuff in the following ways.
Now the etudes. It is my belief that playing music well is all about instrumental facility. In short, it's mostly about technique. Techniques include etudes, sightreading, ear training/transcription, more etudes, historical awareness, and more etudes. I divide my time 50/50 between learning repertoire and technique. During a week without music to learn, I will only practice technique. Now I can go play music with my friends knowing I've prepared properly. My heart is not conflicted and I'm at peace with whatever happens knowing that I have done all that is humanly possible. Now, a warning. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and I will show up less than prepared. This is when the banked skills of half a century kick in. You may not have half a century of experience to lean into, but as time goes by you will. Here's a plan for students. If you have 2 hours of practice time a week, divide it into eight fifteen-minute sections and alternate between practicing the teacher's assignments and playing. By keeping these activities separate you won’t feel guilty that you are neglecting one activity for the other. If I can help you learn to practice, call me. David I taught my first piano student in 1982.I can still remember the song I taught them to play. "Wake me up before you go go" by Wham. They were thrilled. What have I learned in the intervening years on student success? Plenty. Here are a few understandings about learning successful students have. 1. It takes years to acquire any sort of mastery. Learning piano is a ladder one climbs year after year after year. However, if your goal is to plunk out simple melodies and play some chords the road is not so long. Most students have ambitions somewhere in between. 2. Successful students enjoy every part of the journey: technique, aural skills, etudes, repertoire development and retention, sightreading, theory, and playing with others from time to time. 3. To take up the piano in adulthood, one will have to give something up to make room for it. 4. Students preparing for post-secondary music studies must have full parental support and encouragement. 5. Students preparing for post-secondary music studies must have Olympian levels of commitment and determination to their project. 6. It is never too late to start. If I can help you on your journey, call me. David PS. I took up the drums at age 50. Fourteen years later I now play, twice a week or more, in different groups that I'm proud to invite students to hear. For more stories on learning music as an adult click on these links: Piano lessons site:www.theguardian.com or adult music lessons site:www.theguardian.com
Here is a lesson I gave a student today. The student is not a beginner, but a happy amateur who learned to play jazz in his 70s and now in his 80s plays each week in a jazz band. Beginning improvisors need to prepare the harmonic and melodic elements before they commence. I suggest the following exercise to him. 1. Listen to multiple recordings of the piece. 2. Mark in the ii-V-I progressions and identify the keys they are associated with. 3. Practice the major and natural minor scales associated with those keys. 4. Practice the broken chords in the right hand. 5. Practice voice leading the chords in the right hand as shown at measure 70. 6. Practice linking them together in 8th note melodies as shown at measure 75. 7. Practice with chromatic approach notes before the 1st chord tone as shown at measure 79.
Have fun. David Sightsinging, Aural Skills (aka ear training), Sight reading, Memorisation, and Musical Competency12/11/2023 There is a relationship between sight singing, aural skills, sight reading, theory, memorization, theory, music history, and musical competency. Undergraduate musical programs have strengthened these skills and demonstrated the clear relationship between them and musical competency for hundreds of years.
Clearly, studying with a music teacher such as I will not take the place of undergraduate study. However, I can prepare the student for those studies. And more importantly however, I can help strengthen those skills in my adult hobbyist musicians. Programs such as the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), and the Faber's series called Piano Adventures, and others, have well thought out curriculums, in a logical order, that cover all these important areas. The pictures below have links their content. All the information is free and does not require registration etc. However, some, but not all, will require you to purchase them at your local store. I do not take a commission from any sale. If I can help you, call me. David Learning new pieces quickly and efficiently is the goal of every musician. For example, I play in a musical group that requires me to learn pieces very quickly. Plus, I'm a busy guy who has no time to waste on inefficient practice. So, I've learned to practice with results in mind.
My advice today is based on the following premises. Premise 1: Slow practice saves time. Premise 2: Practicing hands separately saves time. Premise 3: Consistent fingering brings confidence in performance. 1. Listen to the recording to the point where you can sing along or at least be able to recognize a wrong note in your playing. Too many students play a wrong note for an entire week because they are unfamiliar with the sound of the music. This will also help your rhythm, expression, dynamics, and articulation. 2. Whenever possible, pick editions that have editorial fingerings. Unless there is a good reason to change a fingering in the score, don't. Next, take the time to fill in the missing fingerings between the ones the editor has given. This will save you time because you will have to think through and play each note in its proper sequence. If there are no fingerings given, take the time to work out the fingering for the piece and notate them in the score. Now you are thinking, experimenting, and practicing at a very slow tempo with your mind and hands fully engaged in the task at hand. This is an excellent use of your time. 3. Stick with it. 4. Practice in small chunks. If I can help you, call me. David It's that time of the year. Have fun!
1. Jingle Bells 3 hand piano duet with free downloadable score. 2. Jingle Bells boogie woogie for solo piano with free downloadable score. 3. Silent Night 3 hand piano duet with free downloadable score. My scores do not require registration. David This was discussed yesterday in class with a student who is a bass playing retiree. He is not a beginner. I'm his jazz teacher. We compared notes on what to practice by comparing what he is currently doing with my suggestions. He started us off.
Student: Jazz Practice session
Teacher: Music practice suggestions.
If I can help you, please call me. - David Story, Online Piano Lessons from Toronto Learning to count rhythm is a primary skill in music reading. It will involve counting aloud, clapping hands, playing with a metronome and more. Below are examples of my preparations and practice strategies for a recent concert with the Metropolitan Silver Band in Toronto where I'm the drummer. As you can see, even trained musicians count and mark things up. David
1. This chart helps to explain why taking notes is so important at a lesson. Don't just rely on the teacher's notes. Writing notes will help you to remember the class with more clarity.
2. This chart explains why the best time to practice is immediately after the lesson. 3. This chart explains why spaced repetition is so important. We forget most things we've learned if we don't heed the science of forgetting. 4. This chart demonstrates that we forget two-thirds of what we practiced the day before. 5. The chart should give you comfort that you are a normal learner. 6. The Harvard paper below offers some concrete helpful information on memorisation. If I can help you, call me. David References: Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve | PLOS ONE How Memory Works | Derek Bok Center, Harvard University I teach many retired professionals. Some are lapsed musicians; others are just starting out their piano journey. All of them are keen. To help out, I've taken notes of some of the characteristics of my successful students.
If I can help you with your dream of playing the piano, call me. David Tips for playing piano beautifully. Concert artists have dedicated years learning to play the piano beautifully. They have studied and mastered all the elements of their craft: repertoire, technique, aural skills, sightreading, performance practice, historical awareness, idiomatic knowledge, and more. However, they all had to start somewhere. So here is a starting point for beginners and intermediate pianists looking to elevate their interpretive skills.
This is a starting point for expressive playing. To develop a more sophisticated understanding one must transcribe the performance practice of professionals from different eras performing your pieces and compare the results. For example, when comparing performances of the first 8 measures of Scarlatti’s Sonata in E K380 over decades of recordings you will discover the diverse ways the musicians interpret the trills. Most start above the principle note, but not everyone. The intensity, tempi, and dynamics vary as well. If I can help you further, call me. David
How to comp chords in swing jazz.
Keywords: Comping, comp, playing chords
How to use Play Along Tracks
Play along tracks are band recordings of jazz, blues, and pop songs minus the melody. You supply the melody when playing along. Here are some tips to get the most from the experience.
Apps for playing along. YouTube: (126) misty play along - YouTube iReal Pro: iReal Pro - Practice Made Perfect Band in the box: PG Music - Band-in-a-Box.com (bandinabox.com) If I can help you further, call me. David Sightreading is high speed pattern recognition. Pattern recognition comes from knowledge of rudiments and theory, piano technique, aural training, a deep knowledge of music history and stylistic performance practices and playing experience. A trained musician does not see a series of notes, they see patterns and relationships. For example, Mozart Minuet in G K 1e.
If I can help you, call me. David Tips.
1. Count aloud throughout. 2. Count one measure before you begin. 3. Practice counting and clapping first. 4. Record yourself clapping and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof. 5. Play one hand and count aloud. Record yourself playing and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof. 6. Play two hands and count aloud. Record yourself playing and listen back to evaluate your success or lack thereof. 7. Do this and similar exercises for the rest of your piano career. If I can help you, call me. David |
You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. AuthorI'm a professional pianist and music educator in West Toronto Ontario. I'm also a devoted percussionist and drum teacher. Categories
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