October 1st, 2019 - Tuesday
Sometimes life runs me over a little, matters of all orders took my time, my energy and my attention. Then I realized I didn’t practice the Tchaik for many days…
Now I have 1h30 to practice.
- Body warm up
- Open Strings with 12, 14, 16, 18 e 20 beats per bow at 60bpm
- 2 octaves minor scales in fix position with corresponding arpeggios
Tchaikovsky, 1st mov.
Random (30’)
- Initial theme (intonation)
- Bars 114 to 118 (movement and intonation)
- Bars 51 to 58 (intonation)
October 3rd, 2019 - Thursday
- Body warm up
Open strings (25’)
- 12, 16 e 20 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Staccato in the middle of the bow with 2, 3, 4, 6 e 8 notes per beat at 60 bpm
- Staccato articulation of the 3rd mov. of the Tchaik
Random
- 3 octaves major scales with correspondent arpeggio
- Shifts starting from 4th finger on the E string
- Schradieck XV 4.
Well, in the beginning of this practice session I had 2 hours and a half. I don’t know exactly how this happened but now, after practicing only opens strings (the short version!), scales and technique, I have only 30 minutes left. That’s right. And I didn’t get distracted, didn’t take a break, didn’t “waste time”.
Maybe one thing to do is to alternate: one day I practice scales, the other one I practice technique exercises (Vibrato, shifts, trills, Schradieck), not doing both in the same day.
And now, what will I do with 30 minutes?
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random
- Bars 54 to 56, the Tricky Triplets (singing next note and checking, imagining and checking, imagining and checking)
- Bars 113 a 118 (I started one bar before where I used to start, there is this interesting line going up to add to the practice)
- Bars 176 to 182, the tied double stops (intonation)
October 5th, 2019 - Saturday
I’ve got only one hour to practice, let’s see what happens…
- Body warm up
Technique
Random (25’)
- Open strings with 12, 16 and 20 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Vibrato
- Half step trills using a passage from the Tchaik
- Shifts starting with 1st finger on D string
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- Introduction
- Bars 59 and 60
- Arpeggios from bars 103 and 104
Reading (or better, listening...) of the day:
9 de outubro de 2019 - quarta
- Body warm up
- 1’ bows interleaved with whole bow staccato
- Vibrato
- 3 octave major scales with correspondent arpeggio
Lunch break
- Body warm up
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random (25’)
- Intro (intonation and shifts)
- Bars 35 to 40 (intonation and shifts)
- Bars 43 to 47 (intonation and shifts, still didn’t decide over a fingering, I accept suggestions!)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random (25’)
- Bars 63 to 66 (left hand alla Benedetti)
- Bars 95 and 96 (intonation, left hand alla Benedetti, playing with accent in different notes)
- Bar 107 (fingering and intonation)
I found out a lot of tension hidden in this passage from bar 107 to 110. I need to figure out and practice very well the articulation of this passage, I believe that quite a big part of this tension comes from an articulation that is not clear to me and somewhat forced from 10 years ago.
In the evening:
- Body warm up
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random (20’) each excerpt only twice
- Bars 105 and 106 (intonation and exaggerated bow distribution)
- Bar 108 (intonation)
- Bars 111 to 113 (intonation)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random (25’)
- Bars 59 and 60 (practiced alla Sebastian Müller)
 |
| Sebastian Müller and me at the São Paulo State Music School |
Sebastian Müller is a Violin teacher at Guildhall School of Music in London and taught a masterclass at the São Paulo State Music School on October 4th, which I happily translated. Sebastian identified that the issue of a student in a fast sequence of notes wasn’t a finger issue, but a fast thinking issue. So he suggested to practice making a small pause between each 4 notes. It works like this: you play the first 4 notes of the passage a tempo and then freeze - this is the magic pause, do not take the bow out of the string or get out of the playing position! During this pause you think of the next 4 notes in all aspects, notes, tone, fingering, bow distribution, physical sensation when playing those notes, etc. Then play the next 4 notes, make a new pause and so on.
Until here it is very similar to what I've already been doing, but here is this super new trick: to move the pause. Wait, what? After playing the passage in groups of 4 notes with pauses in between, do it again but this time starting from the second note of the passage and doing the same thing: 4 notes, pause/think, 4 notes, pause/think. The pauses will be between different notes. Do it a third time, starting at the third note, and then finally start at the fourth note.
It is essential that the bow distribution is included and thought through in this exercise. The secret is in the pauses and to make them in different places trains your brain to work fast between any notes. Isn’t it genius?
- Bars 61 and 62 (intonation only)
- Bars 97 to 100 (first I just played through and felt I was rigid in the passage, so I practiced left hand mobility alla Benedetti without bow, then with bow, then with metronome at 60 for the 8th note. It felt so easy that I decided to play it faster to see what would happen. 80 for the 8th, ok. 100 for the 8th, ok. Can I do it? I sang the passage to see what would be my metronome mark at tempo: 60 for the 4th. I played it with ease.)
Wow! I got so happy to be able to play those scales that I decided to record and post on Instagram. It was the end of my practice session, such a happiness to see that the work is paying off! I’m not happy because I could play it at tempo, I’m happy because it was easy from inside out. I was serene and my body moved without effort. Now I have to internalize what I tell my students: this is normal. To do it right, and in a way that is nice for the body, is our normal, it is not something exceptional.
October 10th, 2019 - Thursday
- Body warm up
- Whole bow Staccato
Random
- Vibrato
- Trills
- Shifts starting with 2nd finger on D string
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random
- Intro (intonation)
- Bars 107 to 110 (intonation, playing the A string at the same time as a pedal and exaggerating the slides of the shifts to learn well the distances)
- Bars 111 to 113 (intonation)
I played through the 1st mov. from the top to the end of the Cadenza to see how it is. It is already a lot better than the reading at the beginning of this Project! But I am still in the first stages of this preparation.
October 12th, 2019 - Saturday
- Body warm up
Open strings random
- Open strings with 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Staccato in the middle of the bow at 60 bpm subdividing in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 notes
- Open string with 4, 3, 2, 1 e 1/2 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- 3 octave minor scales with correspondent arpeggios
- My orchestra repertoire
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random
- Bars 111 to 113 (intonation)
- Bars 183 to 185 (intonation and shifts)
- Cadenza, last lines of the 1st page (intonation)
Today I only practiced passages with double stops, huh?
___________________________
The Tchaik Project is part of the Master’s Degree Research of Helena Piccazio, enrolled in the Master’s Program in Music at the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA-USP).
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