Update: Xmas music

I started practicing Xmas music about a month ago. I collected as many as I could find at first but after several plays I quickly realized which ones were too difficult for me or just plain not-fun. 

I've definitely been rather lax in recording my progress in recent months. I think it's partly due to the fact that I'm practicing in a different room than the computer is in, making it less convenient. Especially since I've switched my practice time to after the dogs have walked. It's getting so dark, so early and S is typically watching TV by that time and the TV is in the same room as the computer. 

To overcome this little problem I've set up my iPhone (free courtesy of my generous semester) to record video. The sound and video quality are probably quite different but I think it's good enough for my purposes.

So, out of all the songs I've managed to download (for addresses see bottom of post) I've narrowed the list down to my five favorites, which are:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Joy to the World

Silent Night

Oh Holy Night

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I'm really looking forward to our family Xmas dinner party because I want to play for my family. It's been so many years since I've made them sit down and suffer through a music recital. This time I think I can make beautiful music. I used to play the baritone so can you imagine the cacophony ? 

2013.08.05 Practice Update

Viola Practice

Warm-up

Tuning  - using the iPhone app: Tuxtuner		Tonalization  [tone production]: Mis--si--ssip--pi   Stop -- Stop  000 121 02 11 0 [Au Claire de Lune]
Intervals  [Red book] p4. seconds, thirds		*Finger Patterns  need practice moving from D to C# [or C] & moving from Ab to G

C MAJOR SCALE

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [C&G]
2. Coventry Gardens 
3.  Stay [Rhianna]
4. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
5. Hora Lunga - Sonata [Gyorgy Ligeti]

---

G MAJOR SCALE [F#]

1.  Mary Had a Little Lamb
2.  Skyfall [Adele] - very little progress
3. Joy to the World
4. BBC Sherlock – Main Theme (preferred version)

---

D MAJOR SCALE [F#, C#]

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [D&A]
2. French Folk Song
3. Lightly Row
4. Song of the Wind
5. Pachelbel's Canon in D

---

F FLAT MAJOR [Bb]

1. Moon River

---

B FLAT MAJOR [Bb, Eb]

1. Silent Night

---

E FLAT MAJOR SCALE [Bb, Eb, Ab]

1. Sherlock Theme - abandoned
2. Sonate – hardly attempted

---

D FLAT MAJOR [Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb]

1. Claire de Lune [Debussy]

Callous Development

1st - well on its way, can hardly feel pressure any more

2nd - not thick enough to prevent nail from cracking yet

3rd - still hurts like a bitch after I practice for an hour or more but the scar tissue is finally thickening up

I've been working on intervals - fingering speed, accuracy and rhythm. The red book is very effective. I also made myself a practice sheet with all the Major Flat Scales on one page using MuseScore. What a great program.

I love, love, love my viola.

2013.07.13 Practice Plan Changes

I was organizing my notes about my practice order and I had an epiphany.  I always start with scales - usually one or two or until I get annoyed or bored, which ever comes first. I was thinking about how certain pieces are easier if I play them in a certain order. The important variable seems to be which scales I practice first, which makes sense of course. So, I guess it's time to re-order my practice sessions. 

Practice Order:

Warm-up

Tuning - using the iPhone app: Tuxtuner

Tonalization [tone production]:

• Mis--si--ssip--pi   Stop -- Stop 
• 000 121 02 11 0

*Intervals [Red book] - sometimes
*Finger Patterns 

• need practice moving from D to C# [or C]
• moving from Ab to G

-----------------

Scale 1 - D Major Scale

• [Red book p.5 or Suzuki Book p.7]
• 1st finger-pattern used in TTLS [F# C#] and perhaps MHALL [just F#]
• Practice several times. Go very slowly the first time so that the sound is as perfect as you can get it. Watch the tuner. Make corrections immediately. 
• Increase speed when it seems too slow
• Remember: Don't practice mistakes. Unlearning sucks.

-----------------

Songs in D Major

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [TTLS on D & A strings "Theme" - Suzuki Book p.9 - D Major Scale - F# C#] 
2. French Folk Song [FFS - Suzuki Book p.10 - D Major Scale - F# C#]
3. Lightly Row [LR - Suzuki Book p.11 - D Major Scale - F# C#]
4. Song of the Wind [SOFW - Suzuki Book p.11 - D Major Scale - F# C#]
5. Pachelbel's Canon in D [PC - solo and duet sheet]

-----------------------

Scale 2 - C Major Scale

• [Red book p.5 or Suzuki Book p.19]
• finger-pattern used in TTLS when played on C & G strings [No #'s] 
• C3 - C4
• Practice several times. Go very slowly the first time so that the sound is as perfect as you can get it. Watch the tuner. Make corrections immediately. 
• Increase speed when it seems too slow
• Remember: Don't practice mistakes. Unlearning sucks.

------------------------------

Songs in C Major

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [TTLS on C & G strings "Theme in C Major" - Suzuki Book p.19 - C Major Scale 
2. Coventry Gardens [start with first 5 measures and then build on that]
3. Stay [Rhianna] - can do the whole song, some parts are better than others but it does sound like a song now.

-------------------------------------------

Scale 3 - E flat Major Scale

Songs in E flat Major

1. Sherlock Theme - sounds okay but go very slow

-----------------------------

Scale 4 - G Major Scale

Songs in G Major

1. Mary Had a Little Lamb [MHALL - F# - sheet]
2. Skyfall [Adele] - F# - Damn this song, it's so hard. I can do the first page but not very well. The best parts are: This is the end... and Let the Sky_fall, Let it crum_ble...

----------------------------------

I Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For [U2] - D flat Major - I can play: I have climbed the highest mountains...  and  I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Hora Lunga - Sonata [Gyorgy Ligeti] - No idea what key this is in. There are so many notations that being in a key seems improbable. I can play most of it but I would call it my interpretation. This is my favourite song right now. I want more like this Sonata.

Callous Update

First finger is a go, second finger at step two, third finger still hurts like a bitch

2013.07.12 Progress

I took a bunch of video today because I wanted to check my posture, left hand position and overall sound. These videos are not edited so be forewarned.

First, I tuned my viola using Tuxtuner [iphone app] and then I practiced a couple of scales: the D major and the C major scales.

Then, I did my book warm-up which includes some intonation work, namely mississippi stop stop and the 000 121 02 11 0 thing. I have no idea what that thing is called but it's a great warm-up.

There are number of short pieces that I work my way through in no particular order. Including: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Coventry Gardens, Canon and the Sherlock theme song.


I've been working on 'Stay' by Rhinna everyday for about 20 days. I've finally made my way through the whole song. I actually found this great program called MuseScore that allows me to download midi files and turn them into sheet music. It's a great program. The more I fiddle around with it, the more I realize it can do.

I also try very hard to play 'Skyfall' by Adele but it is extremely painful - even more painful that Canon if you can believe it. But I'm determined to learn that damn song, even if it kills me. Nice attitude hey? I should probably seek professional help for that unhealthy level of masochism.

Anyways, that's all for today. I'll leave the rest off. Next time, I plan on recording my favourite piece called 'Hora Lunga' which is an ode to the C string.

2013.07.10 Progress

Progress Video for July 10, 2013



After reviewing my video of Mary Had a Little Lamb [MHLL] & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [TTLS] I noticed that my wrist was quite bent. I'm pretty sure it needs to be straighter. I need to pay more attention to that in the future. Maybe, I'll put something around my wrist to remind myself.

On the positive side of things, I also noticed that holding the viola has become much more natural feeling. I no longer have to think about how and where to place in. Tuning is also a lot easier. 

Practice Order:

Warm-up

Tuning - using the iPhone app: Tuxtuner

Tonalization [tone production]:

• Mis--si--ssip--pi   Stop -- Stop 
• 000 121 02 11 0

Scales [Red book]

• D Major Scale [both books] - 1st finger-pattern used in TTLS [F# C#] and perhaps MHALL [just F#]

• C Major Scale [Red book] - C3 - C5

*Intervals [Red book] - sometimes

Songs in D Major

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [TTLS on D & A "Theme" - Suzuki Book p.9 - D Major Scale - F# C#] then play on C & G 

French Folk Song [FFS - Suzuki Book p.10 - D Major Scale - F# C#]

Lightly Row [LR - Suzuki Book p.11 - D Major Scale - F# C#]

Song of the Wind [SOFW - Suzuki Book p.11 - D Major Scale - F# C#]

Mary Had a Little Lamb [MHALL - F#]

Coventry Gardens [first 10 measures]

Sherlock Theme - sounds okay

I Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For [U2] - i can play: I have climbed the highest mountains...  and  I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Skyfall [Adele] - Damn this song, it's so hard. I can do the first page but not very well. The best parts are: This is the end... and Let the Sky_fall, Let it crum_ble...

Stay [Rhianna] - can do the whole song, some parts are better than others but it does sound like a song now.

Hora Lunga - Sonata [Gyorgy Ligeti] - I can play most of it but I would call it my interpretation. This is my favourite song right now. I want more like this Sonata.

Callous Update

First finger is a go, second finger at step two, third finger still hurts like a bitch

Learning Fingerboard Positions

I found this awesome template online. It's a blank viola fingerboard. I printed it out onto A4 paper and put it behind a plastic cover. I left it in the bathroom with a dry erase marker. I made sure to practice filling it in from memory every day. There are different versions for each 'position' on the viola fingerboard. Obviously, I started with first position.

Then, I made myself a cardboard 'fingerboard' that fit in my left hand. I used it to finger the notes to the song I was listening to on my ipod. I got a few funny looks from people in the dog park as you can image. I had this cardboard thing in my left hand, bluetooth headphones on, eyes fixed on the digital sheet music scrolling across my ipod held in my right hand with the occasional stop to pick up dog poop. Good times.

I learned the fingerboard before I even got my hands on a viola. I'm glad I did because it really took the pressure off. I was making music within a day.

Reading Music

iPhone Games

The most useful tool I've found to help me re-learn reading music was an iPhone app called: CLEF TUTOR FREE

It was really useful because it allowed me to set the clef [alto], the range of notes tested [3, 4, 6, 8], the type [flats, sharps, naturals] and the number of ledger lines above and below. It was set up as a sight reading speed game. I was just competed against myself but it placed you in a funny little category [for motivation I suppose] once you finished the game. Good times.

Oh, How I Love the Internet...

Then once I could read the notes on the Alto Clef, I had to figure out their relative position in context on the piano. I found a lot of information just by searching Google Images. These are just a few images that helped me solidify that knowledge.

This image was very helpful in showing me where the alto clef fits in relation to the bass and the treble. It all made a lot more sense after I discovered this.

I made myself some quizzes [which I kept on my iPhone using EVERNOTE]. I just flipped through them when I had a few extra moments. 

The "Plan"

I have this plan - to teach myself how to play the viola. Obviously, it sounds a lot easier than it is. So, I've broken it down into a number of steps.

1. Learn (re-learn) how to read sheet music
2. Learn the viola finger board positions
3. Study music theory (so I can understand the notations on sheet music)
4. Study bowing techniques
5. Learn how to take care of a viola
6. Research where to rent/buy a viola and supplies
7. Learn a few songs to prove to myself that I'll persist before I rent
8. Get a viola for my birthday
9. Practice every single day
---- to build finger callouses
---- to develop my 'skills'
---- to train the people around me to expect to hear this painful racket...
---- so I can observe myself improve! [make a weekly video to track improvement]

10. Make a list of questions for a tutor
11. Once I make it to a level that I feel I need a teacher - find a teacher
12. tbc