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 5 - Longer periods of time

From now on I will post the diaries every 2 weeks. It’s a lot of work to each post and the practices repeat a lot. This way, with more information in each post, you can also see the frequency of practice sections and of what I practice in each section (me too!).

Just arrived? Here is an introduction to the TCHAIK PROJECT.

Readings of those weeks:
The correct way to sit in a chair

And I finished watching the Kato Havas workshop that is on Youtube. The first video is here. Very interesting.

September 16th, 2019 - Monday

I finally finished reading Tchaikovsky’s page on Wikipedia. Has some interesting insights about how to look at his work...

I opened the violin and started playing the 1st movement. Out of the blue. I played a little under tempo, seeing if I memorized something. I have the notes and rhythms of the 1st page already in my head (not all the fingerings yet, specially at the end of the page). I still have to memorize the bowings, a good part of the dynamics and a more solid idea of what the orchestra has. But I got very happy!

I have a little more than 1 hour to practice. I’m lost about what to do, I confess…

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:

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:

PROJETO TCHAIKOVSKY - TCHAIK PROJECT

First, there is the introduction video:

Then there would be the formal text of the research project, which is basically what I said in the video but with fancy academic words. The only new information there is the name Professor Amilcar Zani, who is the responsible advisor for my project.

Subsequently, a little question: do you prefer the practice diaries to be published monthly or weekly?

And finally: Thank you everyone for joining me in this adventure!

Hugs, Helena. =)

TCHAIK PROJECT - First week >>>

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