Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Today I decided to experiment with scales when practising. I have spent quite some time focusing on the A-flat scale set, and I know that the fingering for most scales are practically the same on violin. I knew going in that the other scales would not sound as good, but I had the intention to see if the other scales, namely A major, B flat major, and B major sounded decent. Even though the scales are only a semitone apart, the higher the scale itself was, the closer together I had to force my fingers to keep in tune. I was worried that I would have to start from scratch for each and every scale, but doing this experiment helps put into perspective how useful learning even one scale can be.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Today I decided to experiment with bow strokes and how that can change the sound the violin produces, to better understand what I should use to get the sound I want when playing specific pieces, namely Huber’s Student Concertino No. IV, Op. 8. I played around with how much bow I used, the weight of the bow, where the bow was on the violin, and how much bow hair was on the violin at a time. I played around with each of these things so I could figure out exactly what kind of sound I wanted with the piece. Less of any of these things meant that the sound would be softer, and more of any had the opposite effect. Doing this experiment helped show me that dynamic is not simply just how much bow you use or how much friction you use with the bow.
Friday November 15, 2019
Today I decided to experiment with engagement and see what kind of difference being engaged, can truly make. Being engaged means standing straight, keeping your pinky and wrists unlocked, and keeping your violin balanced. I decided to use the A-flat major scale to play around with and started by playing the scale engaged. I then played the scale slouching and with a locked wrist and pinky, and the difference was immediately noticeable. My shifts when going up the scale were out of tune, and the sound quality was poor. When I went back to being engaged, I was in tune and my sound quality was much better. This experiment really cemented the idea of engagement greatly contributing to making good sound.