TCHAIK PROJECT 15 - Thoughts, fears, doubts and the Mind Over Finger discoveries

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 16th, 2020 - Thursday

Today it’s one month since I started doing  the 1 minute bows every practice session, that is, I've been in social distancing at home for 1 month, also known as quarantine because, as far as I know, there is no way of knowing whether I didn’t get the coronavirus or I’m an asymptomatic. I haven't seen or hugged my mother and siblings for a month, talking to them only over the internet. I'm still fine, considering the fear of the virus and fear of speeches that minimize the world situation or claim nonsense conspiracies. I rest what my mind allows, and practice.

I made 1 minute bows for a month and I want to switch goals. Now I’m going to do Staccati in the middle of the bow every day.

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 13 - the beginning of the pandemic

And then, just like this, a pandemic starts. I was (I still am) scared, anxious, thinking it was going to last 3 months tops. Uncertainties about the profession swirled around my thoughts, fear that this virus and consequent disease would take the people I love and care about away from the world. We were hesitantly re-learning the day-by-day routine.

Here I am on March 9th of 2021, posting the diaries of March 2020 and seeing that not enough has changed. I'm still at home most of the time, the uncertainties about artistic professions are even bigger, the news in Brazil are not happy. There are vaccines, though, there is hope. In São Paulo the red fase (the most strict one) is back as from the day after tomorrow, hopefully attaining the goal to reduce the number of infected and deceased in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, how do we do to keep practicing (specially when we have a deadline)? How do we keep doing our thing so we maintain some mental health? How do we keep ourselves alive and active, body and mind? 

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.

March 1st to 6th: I did practice violin from March 1st to 6th, not much per day, practiced just technique and a little bit of orchestra and contemporary repertoire. No Tchaik.

TCHAIK PROJECT 11 - Focus on memorization

Year 2020 already started, too many things to do between orchestra, Tchaik Project, teaching violin, the masters course and another special project on the side. Even though there was the Christmas break, the number of things I regularly do didn't change and the tiredness they caused in 2019 was just waiting to be here again.

Two things are worth noticing in this period diaries: I kept memorization in mind the whole time and I'm addressing an issue that I, later, found out to be an important one: difficulty to practice, to start practicing. And an anxiety behind it.

This difficulty can be expressed in many forms: "I'm tired", "I don't feel like it", "I'm lazy", "I don't have the energy", "There's not enough time", "I really have to do the dishes", "I can't do it", "I'm paralyzed". And sometimes there's this little trouble breathing. Does anyone there have/feel this, too?

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.

TCHAIK PROJECT 9 - End of 2019

Finally, the last set of diaries of 2019! 

*note: Here in Brazil the end of the calendar year is also the end of the school year, because our summer starts on December. So imagine the stress of the double end every year...

Want to know the TCHAIK PROJECT from the beginning? Click here!

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December 2nd, 2019 - Monday

- Body warm up

- Open strings - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and then 4, 3, 2 and 1 beats per bow at 60 bpm

- Vibrato

- G major scale and arpeggios in 2 octaves

- G major scale and arpeggios in 3 octaves

- Orchestra rep

- Tchaikovsky 2nd mov.

TCHAIK PROJECT 7 - Extreme tiredness and a backwards process

I plan and program and think that everything is going to be smooth sailing. But then I have to work, and practice, and prepare, and deal, and be ready for a lot of different things, all of them important. This is reality striking me with a clear message: not so smooth sailing... Besides dealing with an edge of burnout, this time I bring a funny story of a backwards learning, of how I organized a strategy for practicing through a video I disagreed with!

If you are new here, you can watch this video to see what this is all about.

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October 15th, 2019 - Tuesday

- Body warm up

- Whole bow staccato

Random

- Vibrato

- Schradieck VX 5.

- Shifting starting with 3rd finger on D string

- Double stops, interleaved 5ths and 6ths

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 4 - When a week is short

Arriving now and doesn't know what the TCHAIK PROJECT is about? Start here =)

Readings of the week:

Build greater confidence by approaching practice like a surgeon

Tchaikovsky's wikipedia page (in Portuguese)

September 10th, 2019 - Tuesday

Hello! It’s not everyday that I’m overthrown by anxiety. There are days when I’m overthrown by a huge stomachache as well. But I’ll try to practice anyway. I’m still not satisfied with the consistency of days I practice nor the time I practice in one day, I think it’s not enough. I don’t intend to practice 8 hours in one day, I don’t even have this amount of time available in my routine. My goal right now is to practice 5 days a week (my professional schedule stops me from practicing every single day) between 3 and 4 hours each day. My good concentration does not last more than that.

Going back to today: I have about 3 hours to practice and a strong stomachache.

- Body warm up

TCHAIK PROJECT 3 - Baby steps

Hey there! Just arrived? Check out the TCHAIK PROJECT Introduction here.

Readings of the week:

On The Tchaikovsky Papers I'm still reading the Introduction and there I already found some interesting information. For example, the fact that letters were considered a literary genre and that those in the book, specially from Piotr's parents and his early letters belong to the Sentimentalism era, where feelings were the important issue. The fashion of the letter's text excerpts they put on the Introduction give a glimpse of the relation between this kind of text and Tchaikovsky's music. 

I read that not only his homosexuality was hidden from the public but also his preference to monarchy and Russian orthodox christian religion, and his musical heritage. For the atheist Soviet Regime it was important that one of the main Russian heroes was in line with the new beliefs. 

When Tchaikovsky was young there was a governess in his house for 5 years, Fanny Dürbach, who introduced him to several educational books written by women, all of them european. "The information provided by Fanny Dürbach further illuminates the cultural landscape of Tchaikovsky's upbringing, which served as an aesthetic background throughout his entire creative life." (p. xvi) They kept writing letters to each other throughout his life and met once again in 1893, his final year.

On The Art of Possibility I'm on the 3rd chapter, Giving an A. The author explains it a lot better than I do: