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.
Boy… difficult. I don't even know what I wrote and what I didn't. Many things I didn't. Last week I recorded the pieces for my Flausino Valle Strings Festival online recital. Many stuck moments and conclusions. I re-watched that TED on time management and did the math that the speaker suggests. I’m screwed. I have a lot more things to do than the hours available in the week, and the thing is that I’m not doing any of them, not even the little bit I have time for… Gotta organize this better…
Well, let’s go. There's still a piece to record, guess which one? Reinventio. I reinvented playing this piece again and had to change the strings yesterday because suddenly they were unplayable!
Maintenance Set
- Whole bow staccato with metronome at 100, 2 notes per beat
- String crossing at 60bpm, subdividing in2 and 3
- Vibrato
- Half step trills
- Staccato in the middle fo the bow at 70 bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8
- Schradieck, still stuck in that one (XVI 4.), I decided to memorize cause I think the sight of the score might be getting in the way
- Open strings with 4, 3, 2 and 1 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Shifts on D string, starting with 3rd finger
- Reinventio
September 14th, 2020 - Monday
That's right... I haven't written in this diary since September 1st. A lot has happened since then.
I started the live series Papo com Café (Chat with Coffee) on Papo de Violinista’s Instagram page and I've been making a lot of videos, following the advice of Jacques Figueras: don't wait! Do not expect to be perfect, or to be prepared, or to be in ideal conditions. Just start... So I did. In addition to having more movement in the practice as a whole, it’s being more fun to deal with musical life, talk to people, exchange information and ideas.
Also, more than anything, there was the IV Flausino Valle Strings Festival, which was very special. I participated in 4 activities: presentation of paper (scientific article), Round Table, online Recital and masterclass. It was my first time in all of these activities. I loved everything. WHAT A RICH EXPERIENCE, WOW!!!
There was also a conversation with Renee Paule Gautier, from Mind Over Finger. She is great! A little more than half an hour of conversation with her and I'm still processing! Applying coaching techniques and this vision of personalities according to the response to expectation, she guided me in a very crazy way that I answered myself, my anguishes and doubts. It helped me to understand very important things about how I am looking at the Tchaik Project and my practice. It was magical!!!
Yesterday, after two weeks, I took the violin. I had plans to do a little technique to go back in steps, but since I changed the strings a few days ago and they still haven't settled, I ended up just playing. I played the beginning of Mendelssohn Concerto, Bruch, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart 3 (I remembered almost everything and it was delicious!) and Tchaikovsky. I only remember the beginning of the concerti, but it was nice to play, just play… and play the “traditional” repertoire.
Let’s see how it goes today.
Weather VERY hot and VERY dry, wild pegs, weird bow.
Maintenance Set (cause it doesn’t involve intonation so much)
- Whole bow staccato with metronome at 100, 2 notes per beat
- String crossing at 60bpm, subdividing in 2 and 3
- Vibrato
- Whole step trills
- Staccato in the middle fo the bow at 70 bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8
- Schradieck I 1. just to warm up the fingers
- Open strings with 4, 3, 2 and 1 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Shifts on D string, starting with 4th finger
- My student repertoire
Tchaikovsky - FINALLY!!!
- 1st mov., bar 54 till top of 59 (80 = eighth)
- 1st mov., bar 222 till top of 224 (60 = eighth)
- 1st mov., bar 247 till head of 251 (80 = eighth)
- 3rd mov., bar 73 to 77 (80 = quarter note)
In all these passages there are quick sequences of notes that must sound clear and articulate, where it’s very easy for thinking to get in the way and get me off track. One way to get used to playing passages like this is to play it many times - many times, for many days - in a medium tempo, fast enough to sound like the music and slow enough for the mind to anticipate notes in an organized way. And that’s what I did today (although on the slower side of tempo…), also taking the opportunity to start memorizing, which seems to me the best way to train the mind for fast tempo. I also spent the whole time paying attention to the sensation of the left hand, if it was as light and mobile as I want it up to speed.
September 15th, 2020 - Tuesday
Day of live with Carmelo de los Santos, who gave me very useful information about Tchaikovsky Concerto. Before the live I started the 2 octave scales in a fixed position, major scales. After the live I made the scales that were missing.
The conversation with Renee-Paule REALLY paid off. It’s much easier to simply practice.
September 16th, 2020 - Wednesday
Classic 2 Set
- Opens strings with 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- A major scales in one string, and the corresponding major arpeggio
- Double stops in A major, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
Tchaikovsky, 1st mov.
- From the Cadenza to the end of the movement (I did this chunk, which lasts 6 uninterrupted pages of things for the soloist to play, at 90 = eighth checking to see how it is and practicing. Then I did the same chunk with metronome at 60 = quarter note, watching the efforts of the muscles already trying to imagine how I want to feel playing it for real. Several times I felt tension in the shoulder area, and loosening up when I noticed it)
- Introduction to bar 97, end of 2nd theme (I played in performance style, by heart)
September 17th, 2020 - Thursday
I had only one hour to practice today.
Express Set
- Whole bow staccato at 100 bpm, 2 notes per beat
- Vibrato
- Half step trills
Tchaikovsky 3rd mov.
First I played through the whole movement at 120 = quarter note, to see what was left of the practice I did some time ago (oh my, was it before the pandemic???*) and I started to mark the parts I played with difficulty with a little star, and the ones I just couldn't play with two little stars. From that I chose the sections to practice today, passages with two stars with different technical challenges.
* I checked and actually the last time I had a good practice session of the 3rd movement was on June 16th, and before that on May 24th, so long ago that it seemed to be even longer ago.
- Bars 333 to 349 (I chose this passage because of the big shifts and to work left hand flexibility, because the passage is fast and very difficult. In the first round I just practiced mobility alla Benedetti, without bow. The second round I did it very slowly, with bow, with focus on left hand mobility. On the third round I did it slightly less slowly, with a very short and heavy bow and a very light left hand, to work the association between the right and left hand efforts, while the right hand makes a more staccato articulation and goes to forte, the left hand would be light and flexible all the time.)
- Bars 565 to 584 (I chose this passage because of the coordination between the hands. I practiced very slowly, with staccato bow and a very light left hand, paying close attention to the use of the muscles to play this articulation, seeing if I was not making more effort than necessary.)
- Bars 620 to 629 (I chose this passage because those are scales I’ll use through the whole movement, and because the passage is the fastest of the entire concerto. In the first round I worked only the shifts and fluency in bars 620-622. In the following rounds I went up to bar 629, making sure that the left hand felt as loose as possible when descending the scale, which is important because it will be tired after playing the entire concerto…)
September 18th, 2020 - Friday
I have a serious inconsistency problem, I practice, then I don't practice anymore. This is happening both in small aspects (excerpts that I practice, then stop) and in large aspects (there are time gaps without practicing the Tchaik at all). So much so that the 1 year period that I gave myself initially is over. Of course, a lot of things out of my control happened, such as a pandemic that left everyone in a crisis of depression, or anxiety, or both.
With the new schedule I made, I have until December to get the Concerto ready, so I record it in January. And the conversation with Renee really gave me a renewed energy... understanding the fundamental beliefs that guide the reaction (thinking) to the circumstances is really important...
Maintenance Set
- Whole bow staccato with metronome at 100, 2 notes per beat
- String crossing at 60bpm, subdividing in 2 and 3
- Vibrato
- Whole step trills
- Staccato in the middle fo the bow at 70 bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8
- Schradieck I 1. on A string, 2. on E string, 3. on D string and 4. on G string
- Open strings with 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1/2 beats per bow at 60 bpm
- Shifts on E string, starting with 1st finger
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
I did the same thing I did with the 3rd mov. yesterday, I played from the Cadenza until the end, marking what I played with difficulty with 1 star, and what I still can't play with 2 stars.
- From 4th beat of bar 240 to top of 243 (memorizing and tuning)
- Bars 243 and 244 (remembering the notes; singing; playing lots of times to create familiarity with the passage, from slow to medium time, taking care of the bow distribution.)
- Bars 288 to 291 (memorizing to put the sequence of notes inside my head, so I’m able to play it fast. I noticed several times that I can't play fast not because my hands are not capable, but because my mind didn't know the music at speed.)
- Bars 313 to 321 (I worked lightness of left hand as follows: on 313 work the looseness of the left hand during the scale, all the following triplets very fast, as if they were appoggiaturas, very calmly between them, that is, I didn’t play in tempo, I played slow but with fast triplets, focusing only on the first 2 notes, they’re the ones that have to come out. To help, I played with a small accent in each bowing.)
Tchaikovsky 3rd mov.
I decided to do the same excerpts of yesterday, for the sake of consistency. I was startled to see how easy it was to practice the same things as yesterday. And always memorizing and in random mode!
- Bars 333 to 349 (mobility alla Benedetti; very strong and short bow with super light left hand; playing at 120 = eighth)
- Bars 565 to 584 (today I worked more intonation and shifts, to fall with an easier hand shape on the next double stop; but still I played slowly in staccato with little bow, keeping my left hand light. In the end I played 140 = eighth note and it worked!)
- Bars 618 to 629 (I enlarged the passage from yesterday, starting 2 bars before, memorizing and doing it several times slowly, working at the same time: intonation, lightness of the left hand and memorization.)
September 19th, 2020 - Saturday
Classic 1 Set
- I sang a scale with open string drone, then did 3 octaves scale, arpeggios and alternate scale in D minor
- Double stops in D minor, 3rds, 6ths, 8ves and 10ths
Tchaikovsky 3rd mov.
Still about consistency…
- Bars 618 to 637 (I expanded yesterday's section, going to 637, analyzing the melodic structure to be able to memorize. At the same time paying attention to: intonation, left hand lightness and memorization.)
- Bars 565 to 584 (today I started memorizing and paid more attention to the intonation. I noticed there was tension in the left hand during some shifts, which generated a following chord out of tune. As these changes are always with the first finger, I practiced loosening the other fingers during these transitions and it really improved the pitch.)
- Bars 333 to 349 (mobility alla Benedetti already with bow, then playing at 60 = quarter note with attention to ease of left hand and phrasing; in the end I tried 80 = quarter note and managed to play calmly and by heart!)
- Bars 367 to 376 (the difficulty of this passage for me is the coordination between the two hands. I played several times in slow tempo, to get used to the passage, taking care of the intonation and loosening of the body.)
Tchaikovsky 1st mov.
- From 4th beat of bar 240 till top of 243 (memorizing and tuning, I paid attention to the looseness of the hand in the big position shift between the natural E and the B flat at the end of bar 242. In the end I played the 60 = eighth note by heart, interesting to note that this speed is more of the mind than the hand)
- Bars 243 and 244 (I worked a little on mobility, then I played the 100 = eighth note)
- Bars 245 and 246 (remembering the notes, I played slowly with a very generous sound and a very loose left hand)
- Bars 288 to 291 (same thing as yesterday, memorizing… I managed to play 56 = eighth note by heart)
- Bars 313 to 321 (same thing as yesterday, working the triplets very quickly, focusing on the first two notes)
TCHAIK PROJECT 23 - Starting to put pieces together >>>
<<< TCHAIK PROJECT 21 - Reflections on time
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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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