HI Olivia, Bohan, Sophie and Mazal, here is your homework.

Olivia, very nice work with the ensemble playing. Just a few tips: practice counting while playing the violin so it becomes a habit. Review circle of fifth. Listen to Haendel Concerto Grosso open 6 no 5 ( Minuet). This helps you to become familiar with the piece. Going to bring score on Sunday!

Practice your part ( 3rd violin ) together with recording. This helps in learning what is happening in the other parts.

Please prepare Hedwig Theme for Sunday. Practice notes first on the the piano. Pluck notes in left hand. Then  practice bowing the piece with open strings. Finally, put left hand and right hand together.

Review your scales. Practice one scale & arpeggio per day. Spend 1/ 3 of your practice time on scales. Next lesson, please also bring your new piece. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

Bohan, very nice work with the ensemble playing. Thank you for taping the Bach. Overall, it is very good. To prepare playing together with Donna on Sunday, a few rhythmic inaccuracies need attention! These bars need to be practiced slowly, counting out loud the rhythm. Also practice these bars with the metronome.

Bar 5…half note is still too short. Tip: sing the 8th notes in first violin while playing your part.

Bar 6…think 16th notes throughout the bar. Bar 10…8th note is too short. Clap this bar slowly. Bar 15… watch f dotted quarter note ( is too short). Bar 19&20…hold tied d longer. Again, clap the bar.

There are a few bars/passages that need to be practiced slowly: bar 24, bar 40, bar 75.

Please come 10 min early on Sunday so we can go over some tricky spots before Donna arrives with her teacher. Please  tape your playing again. Also practice with 1st violin part  ( Nancy on youtube).

Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

Sophie, so glad you are feeling better and came to your violin lesson Sunday. Thanks for working so hard in your violin lesson. You are making nice improvements with your left hand. Your bow needs a bit of work. Watch where you place your bow on the string. During practice at home, it helps using a mirror. Also, always listen to your sound. When your bow is over the fingerboard your sound is weak. To get a nice, focused sound place your bow close to the bridge. If the bow is too close to the bridge , again the sound sqeaks or whistles. I will bring some bow studies on Sunday.

Music class piece: practice about 15 min/ day. Take a line per day and practice in the following way: count the notes, clapping the rhythm ( without the violin).

With violin: play the notes counting the beats/ rhythm. Practice looking ahead. Practice slowly. Gradually increase tempo.

I hope you and your family can come to the ABC recital on April 29 at 2p.

Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

Mazal, excellent work on the Dvorak piece! Just a few bars that need work. Bars 37 to 40 ( 3rd position passage). Practice the shift from 1st position to 3rd position. Do the shifting exercise a few times each/ day: open strings to 3rd position ( A to D…open A to 1st finger D).

3rd finger D ( 1st position) to 1st finger D ( 3rd position).

ending: bar 56: harmonic

Please note: rehearsal with accompanist ( piano) on Thursday, April 19 at 715 pm at ABC Academy of Music  ( Oakwood/ St Clair). Also have a student review for your parents.

Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday!