June 1st, 2020 - Monday
The time of things.
The time of things has changed. The things we do with our time have changed. I don't know how many days without practicing have passed, today was another one. It's almost half past midnight and I haven't had dinner yet. Inside of me, the usual hurry. Outside, completely different demands. I can no longer eat a snack on the subway while going somewhere. To cook. Every single day. Usually twice a day.
My boyfriend is here with me and he learned how to cook. We are both happy about it. He’s happy with the learning and independence, and I’m happy I don't have to cook every time anymore. Even with this relief, the house demands are an avalanche! Vacuum cleaner bag, dishes, garbage, laundry etc. Being at home all the time, and in 2 people, this demand has increased exponentially. And it takes time!
Phase 1 of Bartók Circle Project is almost finishing. Almost all the violinists have sent their videos. But it’s impressive the amount of things you have to deal with in such a project! Compliance with recording instructions, fears and insecurities, video failure, attention to correctly send and archive looots of videos, communication with almost all orchestra violinists and with many layers and departments of the Municipal Theatre, among countless issues that appear during the days and that I didn't even know existed. This project is taking up all my awaken seconds, for a few days now. Since before the sacred morning coffee until almost midnight I have messages to answer, files to organize, stuff to think about. If someone asks me what I did all day I don’t know what to answer, it seems like my time escaped like sand through my fingers and now I have a deep respect for the work of Production. Hours and hours on the computer and phone dealing with the most diverse human beings, issues and demands.
I never thought I’d work so much for the Theatre WITHOUT my violin in hand.
June 3rd, 2020 - Wednesday
Finally practicing! Yesterday in the end of the afternoon, after taking care of a lot of things for the Bartok project (are you noticing a similarity of names on my projects?…), I was already tired enough to call off the day. So I did. I made instant noodles and sat down to watch a movie savouring the delicious powder toxic seasoning.
Because of this I could sleep earlier and wake up earlier, too. At 9:30 am I was already on my feet. I decided to make my schedule the following way: first I made a to-do list, it was about 10 items (later I added another one I had forgotten). When I did the actual schedule I just wrote “Thing #1”, “Think #2” and so on, one hour for each thing, no matter what it was. I was choosing at the time what I’d do next. I managed to continue a translation, exercise and finish a small cleaning before lunch! After lunch I started to practice.
- Open strings with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Vibrato
- 2 octaves major scales with correspondent arpeggio in fixed position, starting with 1st finger on 1st position and going up for each scale. I practiced in the keys of G, A, B flat, C, D, E flat, F, G on 7th position and A on 9th position.
- Shifts, starting with 1st finger on E string
- My orchestra repertoire for recordings (excerpts of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody over a Paganini’s theme and Brindisi of Verdi’s La Traviata)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
I decided to go back and practice that excerpt that frightens me in the end of exposition. I only practiced page 5.
- Bars 107 to 110 (intonation and shifts, then I played some times at 80 = eighth, then at 100 = eighth, to get used to play the passage)
- Bars 111 to half of 114 (intonation and already memorizing)
- Bars 114 to 116 (intonation of the arpeggios. Then I decided to take a look on the other editions I have to see the fingerings, because the one I was trying to do wasn’t working, so I’m changing the fingerings again…)
- Bars 123 to 125 (intonation and hand shape for the arpeggios)
Reinventio, piece by Alexandre Lunsqui for solo violin, part of another project I submitted to the Theatre and also got approved, now I have to practice it…
- 2 last pages
For tomorrow: alter the order of things to practice.
June 4th, 2020 - Thursday
I was taking care of the Bartok Project and the time left to practice was getting smaller and smaller… I started almost 9pm, I only had time to practice the things I gotta record for the orchestra, deadline is tomorrow…
- Open strings with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 3, 2 and 1 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Vibrato
- 2, 3 and 4 octave scales in B flat major
- Orchestra repertoire to record (practiced with audio bases)
I played the Tchaikovsky, 1st movement, from the top. I found out that I already know the exposition by heart!!! From the middle section I have the first half by heart, the second part I have the structure, but not the notes. Cadenza almost by heart. Recap not yet.
June 8th, 2020 - Monday
It was hard to practice these last few days… didn’t feel like, was not in the mood, taking care of several other things, most of them related to the Theatre online projects.
Technique Random practice
- Open strings with 12, 14, 16 and 18 beats per bow at 60bpm
- Vibrato
- Staccato in the middle of the bow at 70bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 notes
- Whole step trills
- 3 octaves scale and arpeggios in B flat major Double stops in B flat major, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
- Reinventio (I started by practiced the 2 last pages at 60 = quarter note, i.e. very slow, paying attention to everything I could. Then I did the same with the 2 middle pages. In the end I did the same with the first 2 pages.)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
Random (I had only half hour, so I chose small details and a specific passage)
- Bar 42 with upbeat (the movement of the 1st finger between 2nd and 3rd beat of the bar, getting out of the A string right after the D# and landing on the E string, positioning to play the tritone C-F# on the 3rd beat. I practiced with metronome at 80 = eighth.)
- 3rd beat of bar 106 to 107 (shifts, listening all the support/guide notes)
- Half of bar 181 till top of 182 (double stops, intonation and shifts)
- Coda, Allegro giusto, from bar 304 to 312 (with metronome at 80 = eighth, first I played to remember the passage, identifying the spots to practice more: the big shifts, intonation on bar 306, the bowing when there is too many string crossings like from 309 to 310. I practiced each one of those things separately. In the end I could play at 80 = quarter note, badly, but I played.
- Bar before the last one of the movement, the shift to the tenth on the 4th beat.
I’ve been writing the text for the qualification exam at USP and I reread what I wrote months ago, when I tried to write for the first time. It's been difficult to write and give enough attention to this part in the quarantine, I confess. But it’s still good to reread and remember the strategies, the insights, the courses, the tools. I had forgotten some of the things! It’s good to have things written down somewhere that you can reread and remember.
June 10th, 2020 - Wednesday
The other day I realized something at least curious. I had already noticed that my readings for this work are at a turtle's pace, and I thought it was the difficulty of concentration of our time, with the brains and eyes addicted to constant changes of screens and apps and videos of 1 minute tops. But no. I realized that when I read the material I chose for the master's degree, every sentence awakens numerous connections, references, understandings about things I saw in the past, news that I need to stop to digest. So much that my books are full of marks and notes. The reading is so intense that I often scream, laugh, sometimes curse, jump in excitement and take many pauses to check things in my own body.
- 2, 3 and 4 octaves A major scales, 3 octaves arpeggios and alternate scale
- A major double stops, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
- Shifts, starting with 2nd finger on E string (only half of the exercise)
- Reinventio (I practiced at 80 = quarter note each one of the 3 parts; I played once without metronome but already in a tempo that is close to the final one, then I recorded)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- all the exposition Codeta (very slow, seeing if I figure out what to do with the shifts in the passage with double stops in high positions, the terror one)
- 2nd part of the middle section (also super slow)
And here is me playing the middle section to see how it is...
TCHAIK PROJECT 19 - Technique warm up system! >>>
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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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