G.H. 1.5

This week I have just been practicing my two pieces of music: "Hedwig's Theme" and "A Thousand Years". I've practiced a little more then last week, but I could definitely use more practice. I still haven't figured out how to do a vibrato which is kind of frustrating, but I'm hoping I can eventually figure it out. Learning how to play the violin is a lot harder then I originally thought it was going to be. There is a lot going on at once when you're playing the violin. You have to focus on bowing, reading the music, getting your fingers in the correct positions, and eventually doing a vibrato. To help ease this I try to learn the music before actually bowing it, which is what I did this week. When I'm learning the music I just pluck instead of using the bow. Doing this allows me to just focus on getting the notes down, so when I move on to bowing I can focus more on that.
The other thing I have learned this week is that slow songs are a lot harder to learn then faster songs on the violin. When you are playing slow songs on the violin you can hear every single error you make, while in fast ones you can kind of skip over it. So for these next couple weeks I will be focusing all my efforts on trying to fine tune these two pieces of music.

Comments

  1. Elise AndersonNovember 3, 2019 at 7:22 PM

    Sounds like you have come a long way! Have you been using only books and videos to help you learn? I am not sure what a vibrato is but I am sure you will have it down in no time. Violin always seemed really hard to me so I am excited to see the skills you build while doing this! Patience and lots of practice seem to be the key components to success here and I wish you the best in achieving these :)

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  2. Joel ChristophersonNovember 4, 2019 at 4:49 PM

    Anna, I'm very impressd with how far you have come! I got the opportunity to hear you play a few songs this last week, and I enjoyed them very much. I like how you focus on taking each piece one step at a time. This technique will not only help you master each component of the violin, but also making stringing together pieces easier in the long run. Keep up the good work, and. you'll have that vibrato down in no time!

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  3. Hannah BrenceNovember 7, 2019 at 7:39 AM

    It is incredible that you have been able to pick up a string instrument this fast! Watching professional violinists, they make the fingerings and vibrato look easy but I can see how difficult it must be. Are you planning on playing any more classical pieces or sticking with more pop selections? Are you planning on continuing violin after genius hour?

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