Click here to see the introduction of the TCHAIK PROJECT and know what it is about. =)
And here is a list with all the links to the practice diaries of this PROJECT.
August 3rd, 2020 - Monday
Important information: I passed the qualification exam! What a rich experience to listen what extremely competent people read and thought about the work I've done so far!
I had only one little hour to practice between the online rehearsal of my orchestra and the Music Production course at Fimuca. Practice or not to practice?… Practice. This way I don't stay another day without touching the instrument.
- Fooled around with #desafiocantodapraya
- 3 octaves scale, arpeggios and alternate scale in A major
- Play-through the Tchaik’s 1st mov. exposition, thinking I was playing for my violin section
- I was observing and feeling in a very obvious way the left shoulder tensioning unnecessarily
- the places I need to practice the most are the most obvious ones: tricky triplets and the whole codeta
- the importance of memorizing, a good portion of what doesn’t come out is because THE HEAD doesn’t know, at least not at the speed it needs to be
What happened? 3 days just vanished from me! I have the impression of being a lot busier than before the social isolation ...
Today was a very busy day, I taught 2 violin lessons, which now has 2 parts: watching the videos and then teaching the lesson (so now each lesson lasts twice as long). I taught a chamber music class, online with 9 students. I took the required course for the baptism of my godson, online. I attended the Fimuca class, online. I talked about the online recital I’ll do for the Flausino Valle string festival, video call. In between these appointments I had half an hour for lunch and a tight hour where I recorded a video about body warming that I do and posted on Instagram. And I practiced a little bit.
- Whole bow staccato
- 2 and 3 octaves scales, 3 octaves arpeggios in A major
Then it was time for the Fimuca class. When the class was over, it was 20 minutes before 10 pm. The violin case was open (I didn’t have time to put it away before) so I did another body warm-up and started playing the beginning of Tchaikovsky's middle section to see if I had it in my memory. I don't have much, really. I also realized that having my left nails slightly longer than my usual destabilizes ALL my sound.
August 8th, 2020 - Saturday
The video on body warm up is a hit (on my modest scales, anyway)! Some people have already written to me saying they did it, liked it and will continue doing it before practicing. Success!
Maintenance Set
- Whole bow staccato
- String crossing at 60 bpm subdividing each beat in 2 and 3
- Vibrato
- Whole step trills
- Staccato in the middle of the bow at 70 bpm subdividing each beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8
- Schradieck XVI 4. (reached 80 = quarter)
- Opens Strings at 60bpm with 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1/2 beats per bow
- Shifts starting with 4th finger on E string
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- Recap Codeta (part of the month goal, but I didn’t have time to practice both codetas, so I chose to do the 2nd, cause I practiced it less than the 1st one so far)
On August 11th and 13th I practiced, but not the Tchaik, I was involved with planning/practicing the repertoire for the Strings Festival online recital, which ended up being almost all about modern music. 3 of the 4 pieces are modern: a piece called Fantasia Sul America by the Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro, again Reinventio by Alexandre Lunsqui(I played it recently, so why not?) and Else, a short piece by the American composer Scott Worthington. The exception is the Kreutzer etude n.8, which I chose to be performed with my sister at the Brazilian pandeiro.
On August 14th I felt sick and didn't practice.
August 15th, 2020 - Saturday
This time is very strange. The time itself has changed. Before, I had felt a difference in the passing of time in different places: it passes one way in São Paulo, another way in Lucerne, another way in Pinerolo. Now in quarantine, it doesn’t pass. I don't know if I practiced yesterday or last week. Days and events mix up, one day is exhaustively long, but suddenly 3 weeks have passed without me realizing it. Mono-space puts me in mono-time. I work all day, from 11am till midnight, without even touching the violin! This is weird, this is not what I thought my life was going to be. We think it will be just playing and practicing and playing. Then I invented a master's degree, blog, fan page and a pandemic arrived and here in Brazil it’s lasting an eternity. My job of preparing a symphony or an opera to play in person with my colleagues in the orchestra became having ideas for social media content, production video conferences, preparing a film set, waiting the motorcycle noise to be done, checking production credits, deal with moods altered by confinement, and only then, a little bit, to play. For the Bartók Circle, where my musical participation lasted about 2 minutes in 2 pieces, it's been more than 2 months working almost every day!
I get to the end of the day very tired, without having practiced violin and practically without having moved (I live by myself in a small apartment). The body resents and it becomes even more difficult to move. Discomfort appears - which sometimes becomes pain, sometimes not - and discourages me from doing physical exercises in my living room. The mood drops.
But at the same time, something good is happening. Because of the master's degree, I have to put in motion the social networks of Papo de Violinista so that people read the practice diaries - where you are right now! Encouraged by the Music Production course I attended at Fimuca, organized by Jacques Figueras, and the subsequent workshop he gave on publicity, I started to post videos and the answer I already got is starting to cheer me up again, making me feel like practicing more violin.
Classic Set 2
- Open Strings with12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- 1 string scales, arpeggios and alternate scale in G major
- Double stops in G major, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- The month goal! The 2 codetas (practiced both, slowly)
- Recital repertoire
August 17th, 2020 - Monday
Yesterday I baptized my nephew-godchild. Masks, alcohol gel, empty church. Only the closest family and the priest (also wearing a mask). It was a very happy event! My nephew is a very lovely and loved baby!
But getting out of the house, as happy as it may be, is generating extraordinary fatigue in this period. I get tired of the preparations to go out, I get tired of the care and attention while I'm out there, I get tired of having to do all the cleaning protocol for myself and my clothes when I get home, I get tired and stressed out of seeing so many people without a mask. Yesterday I didn't practice.
Today I didn't stop working (always at home), from 10am to 5:30pm, between students and rehearsal. I rested a bit so I try to practice now in the evening.
Maintenance Set
- Whole bow staccato
- String crossing at 60 bpm subdividing in 2 and 3
- Vibrato
- Whole step trills
- Staccato in the middle fo the bow at 70 bpm
- Schradieck XVI 4. (managed to reach a suffering 110, what a hell this one!)
- Open strings with 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1/2 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Shifts starting with 1st finger on D string
- Music School event rep
Online Recital
- Reinventio
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- Exposition play through. I think that this month goal - If I do it! - will give good results. But I can’t forget to practice the rest of the music.
August 18th, 2020 - Tuesday
Classic Set 1
- 3 octaves scale and arpeggios in E major (but before I did 2 octaves scales in fixed position with notes of the E major key. I started on 1st position and went up, did the same thing on 2nd, 3rd and 4th position, which is where I start the 3 octaves one. This is very good! Works the first positions in this key and warms up the hands and the ears.)
- Double stops in E major, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
Other repertoire
Tchaikovsky
- Recap codeta
- Middle section, 1st part (only bow. It’s impressive how this passage looses quality and skill when I take a time off of it… for same passages a time off is good, for this one, no!)
August 19th, 2020 - Wednesday
I had absolutely no wish to practice. After many activities standing in front of a screen (oh my, how the body does NOT like that! I get restless and bothered to stand still), I was - like most days in this quarantine - tired and agitated at the same time.
I practice in the “time left overs”, terrible. I think I have some issues with prioritization... But I pulled out the violin and started ... out of nowhere I opened a live on Papo de Violinista’s profile on Instagram and that was very motivating! It wasn't even because “there were people watching”, or shame of wrong practicing, but the responsibility really, a pleasant one, like “Look, if I do it neat, I can help a lot of people! Great!" I like this sharing... it did me good. I practiced little, because I stopped to explain and speak to the vast audience of less than 10 people, but I had fun and the practice was good. I practiced some passages from Fantasia Sul América.
August 20th, 2020 - Thursday
Still on “time left overs”… it’s already dark and I’m already tired. Again a day of activities on screens... but it was the rehearsal of my orchestra violin section and this one is delicious! We’re having the opportunity to talk about music in a deeper way, something that we didn’t do so much before with the whole section. It’s wonderful to hear my colleagues! In addition to that, the comfortable atmosphere of the section allows me to participate from the hammock.
Fast Set
- Whole bow staccato, but this time, moved by the curiosity “could I play the Hora Staccato?” I started to practice the staccati in pairs, meaning 2 fast staccati each impulse.
- Vibrato
- 2 octaves major scales in fixed position, this time without repeating and slurring to the next note (as I’ve been doing), but 1 note per bow in a simple way.
- Recital repertoire
- School event repertoire
- Tchaikovsky 1st mov. (play through the beginning, by heart)
August 22nd, 2020 - Saturday
Recording of a video about practicing when it’s cold (here in Brazil we don’t have heating inside the houses). I also recorded the video for the music school event.
August 24th, 2020 - Monday
Long sequence of humid and VERY cold days, temperatures around 10˚celsius kept me shivering indoors for about a week, without practicing the violin properly.
Today there was a little sun and I took the opportunity to practice technique. But when I finished the technical part it was already very cold again ...
Maintenance Set
- Whole bow staccato in fast groups of 2 notes
- String crossing at 60 bpm subdividing in 2 and 3
- Vibrato without bow
- Half step trills (I started doing some more of this, because my trills are getting better, but aren’t good yet)
- Staccato in the middle fo the bow at 70 bpm (Started pushing a little bit less on this one, it’s already good)
- I’m fed up with that one Schradieck, so I switched it for a G major scale with 2 octaves on first position, but practicing on Benedetti mode.
- Open strings with 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1/2 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Shifts starting with 2nd finger on D string
August 25th, 2020 - Tuesday
I practiced mentally, but not the Tchaik.
August 26th, 2020 - Wednesday
I practiced, but not the Tchaik.
August 27th, 2020 - Thursday
I need to learn to prioritize… So I disconnected from the world to focus on what I have to prepare.
I practiced, but not the Tchaik.
From 11:30/12am to 7h30pm to practice 4 chunks!
August 28th, 2020 - Friday
Slipping in this %$#@ anxiety!!!! It’s almost 4 in the afternoon and I’m circling around the practice without being able starting it. Shit.
I’m making the 3rd coffee of the day. Decaf, of course. On the stereo, my brother’s playlist, super cool! I taught him well, hehehe.
Come on, move!
TCHAIK PROJECT 22 - Inconsistency, conversations and little stars >>>
<<< TCHAIK PROJECT 20 - July of 2020, a very short month of this Project
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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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