TCHAIK PROJECT 23 - Starting to put pieces together

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.

September 21st, 2020 - Monday

- Body warm up

- Centering

Maintenance Set

- Whole bow staccato with metronome at 100, 2 notes per beat

- String crossing at 60bpm, subdividing the beat in 2 and 3

- Vibrato without bow

- Half step trills

- Staccato in the middle of the bow at 70 bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8

- Open strings with 4, 3, 2 and 1 beats per bow at 60 bpm

- Schradieck, still the XVI. 4., memorizing with attention to mobility and intonation. I want to play it well, so I’ll do it everyday till it comes out. Today I started at 60 and went up to 75 = quarter note, memorizing and with control

TCHAIK PROJECT 20 - July of 2020, a very short month of this Project

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.

On the day I post the present bunch of diaries (May 8th, 2021) Brazil has lost over 400.000 lives to Covid-19.

July 19th, 2020 - Sunday

I am still in social distancing, but the city, apparently, is not. The death toll from Covid-19 in Brazil has exceeded 75,000.

The last day I wrote before today was June 28th. 

June of 2019 was the first time I recorded the piece Reinventio, for solo violin, composed in 2018 by Alexandre Lunsqui. I recorded it again now for a video-dance project I proposed to the Municipal Theatre in these times of online performances. My project partners were Bruno Rodrigues and Márcio Filho, both from Balé da Cidade (the City Ballet, another artistic group inside the Theatre). Bruno danced and Márcio was in charge of editing the video. I loved the result, thought it was beautiful!

TCHAIK PROJECT 18 - Beginning of June, 2020

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.

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!

TCHAIK PROJECT 17 - Quarantine pain and musician home office

Click here to see the introduction of the TCHAIK PROJECT and know what it is about. =)

And here are the links to all the practice diaries of this PROJECT.

May 18th, 2020 - Monday

3 days without practicing. 3 days with pain in various parts of the body, mostly muscular and in the torso region, both front and behind. I was unable to follow my exercise goal (I even felt real pain the next day this one time!), body asking for-the-love-of-whatever-I-want to go move for real, go walk.

Yesterday I walked. My mask and I went for a walk on a São Paulo Sunday full of people on the street, almost as if it were a normal Sunday. “Do these people also feel pain in their bodies?” At the same time angry because there were so many people on the street and angry to realize I was one of them, I preferred to walk down the small streets behind my house than on Paulista Av., a choice was once obvious. I came back feeling much better.

TCHAIK PROJECT 14 - Having time, not having time

Click here to see the introduction of the TCHAIK PROJECT and know what it is about. =)

And here are the links to all the practice diaries of this PROJECT.

April 1st, 2020 - Wednesday

It's still not the easiest task in the world to practice in the midst of a pandemic. One thing is to have available time, or rather, time at home; another quite different thing is to have the willingness to practice 8 hours a day when the body says "If you're at home, rest.”

There is an urge on the internet for us to be productive during the coronavirus quarantine. Online classes made available, events, conversations, workshops, lives on all platforms, with all subjects and for all tastes and ages. Me, personally, in the beginning of this period I thought I'd be very productive and would make a lot of progress on many things. Today, a little more than two weeks after I began my isolation at home, I must confess that I don’t feel like being sooo productive. I want to rest my body and mind by doing LESS things, more slowly, with more attention and, for the first time in many years, without an alarm clock.

TCHAIK PROJECT 8 - Practicing in the cracks of routine

I should have had a lot of time at home to practice for all the projects I was involved with in the months of this present chunk of diaries, but the same projects took me out of the house for almost all of my awake time. 
So here you have what I managed to do to keep making progress in this Project! Looking back, I feel a mix of "I should have done more" with "I am proud I didn't give up and practiced something." 

Oh well, who said that relearning one of the most difficult violin concertos in the midst of a professional life would be a piece of cake?

If you don't know what the Tchaik Project is about, click here!

October 28th, 2019 - Monday

- Body warm up

Technique Random Practice (30’)

- Staccato/Spiccato in the middle of the bow at 65 bpm, subdividing the beat in 2, 3, 4, 6 e 8

- Vibrato

- Shifts on E string starting from 1st finger on 3rd position

TCHAIK PROJECT 6 - Some results and a new trick

WHAT IS THE TCHAIK PROJECT? Click here if you don't know yet.

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

TCHAIK PROJECT 2 - Let the work begin!

WHAT IS THE TCHAIK PROJECT?

This is the second week of the Project. How was the first week?

Second week

I thought it was a good ideia to start by telling you what I've been reading:

On the left you see The Tchaikovsky Papers, edited by Marina Kostalevsky. I'm reading this after the recommendation of a friend. It's been recently released by the Yale University Press and I'm reading it trying to understand more of who this composer was as a person, what shaped his artistic universe and how he related to the world. The book is a compendium of letters from Tchaikovsky and people close to him that were kept secret for centuries.

On the right you see The Art of Possibility, a book written by the conductor and teacher Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Zander, who works with family therapy and arts. I'm reading this book because of the perspective it shows, a different outlook on life, challenges and relationships (like the one I am trying to build with the Tchaikovsky Concerto).

I also would like to share a playlist on YouTube of what I'm watching for this project. You can see it here.

Now off to the practice diaries!

TCHAIK PROJECT 1 - First week

See the introduction to the Tchaik Project here!

August 20th, 2019 - Tuesday

Before opening the violin case I’m already gasping. We think anxiety comes only when we are performing? In my case it is already present even before I start practicing. I just posted the video introducing the TCHAIK PROJECT in Portuguese, and the exposition of the vulnerabilities of my journey as a violinist makes me tense. But when we go on stage isn’t it what we do? We expose all we have, everything we are, and the more we put ourselves into what we are playing, the more what the audience hears is the music.

Good process for us! =)

I had 15 minutes to practice. I did: