Tag: The Alpert Studio of Violin

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Practical Violin

Can I Clean My Bow Hair?

Many a string player has asked, “Can I clean my bow hair?”

In all honesty, I’m not the best person to ask. Though some musicians clean their bow hair, in my view the process is either non necessary or non effective. Over a lifetime of playing, I’ve only felt the need to try it once or twice. Most busy musicians simply replace their bow hair at a regular interval.

Properly maintained, your bow hair will last quite a long time. But it isn’t intended to last the life of the instrument. So when your bow hair looks dirty, it is likely in need of replacement, not simply a cosmetic cleanup. The exception would be a minor smudge in a single spot, caused by your thumb rubbing against the bow hair.

Here are some best practices for bow hair:

– Use your rosin sparingly, and only when it is needed. Most people use too much too often, causing a snowy mess on everything.
– Apply rosin with moderate pressure and slow to medium speed strokes. Too much pressure/speed damages the hair
– Use a quality rosin. If your rosin cake looks brand new, hard or glossy after many uses, it’s probably junk
– Keep your grubby fingers (or the body parts) off the hair!! And remember to release tension in your bow when you’re not playing.

Now, if you are still determined to try and clean your bow hair, remember to remove the frog from the bow so that your cleaning agent isn’t anywhere close to the bow wood. Alcohol and water are not wood or varnish friendly!

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Practicing the Violin Staying Motivated to Practice Transformation through the Violin

Please Do Not Wait

Please do not wait until you’ve learned your favorite violin piece to celebrate that within your hands is a beautiful, powerful and precious object that was crafted lovingly at great effort.

Do not wait to recognize that your mindful focus during practice itself is a life affirming, positive statement.

Do not wait until your have achieved that elusive goal we call “mastery” to recognize that real mastery is finding joy in your work this very moment.

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Practicing the Violin Quick Violin Practice Hacks Staying Motivated to Practice

How to Practice Music When the Results Really Matter

  1. Resist the urge to ad lib your practice. Instead set the intention that it is a fully planned project with benchmarks and specific, measurable goals.
  2. Realize that the project is your responsibility, that you won’t depend on a teacher, coach or anyone else for results.
  3. Write it all down in a short practice project document. The final goal, the estimated timeline, the benchmarks along the way.
  4. Read your practice document before you begin each practice session. 
  5. While you practice, add simple notes to your document. Specific practice strategies, any helpful notes, and percentage of completion toward benchmarks and final goals.
  6. Build in some slack. Allow more time than you think you need at the beginning, it feels much better to finish early. Falling behind feels like failure.
  7. Be obsessive about defining goals and objectives in great detail. Without this, you’ll never be sure when your project is complete.
  8. When it’s time, move on rather than seeking perfection. But take the time to write down exactly what worked and what didn’t. So next time you’ll be able to move the project further and your playing will get stronger.

 

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Practicing the Violin Quick Violin Practice Hacks

How to Get Unstuck on Your Violin Music

Do you have a dozen half-baked projects on your music stands?

What about those violin songs or pieces you’ve been practicing for weeks, months or even years, but you still don’t have much to show for your work?

Here are a few suggestions to spur your motivation, speed your progress and get unstuck on your violin music:

1. Work with a coach, teacher or other accountability partner. During and after the move of my violin studio to Morro Bay, CA, I’ve had a bit of logistical down time. I’ve booked some lessons with a coach to get things back on track. (Yes, even seasoned players need to mentor with others from time to time). There is no way I’ll go into my coaching sessions less than prepared. And I’ll bet this will work for you too.

2. Calendar a performance date for your music. Knowing that a performance or audition is imminent will often be a powerful kick in the pants.

3. Build one or more small footholds for each practice session. Human beings generally avoid tackling large projects. But the ability to complete a series of small goals is easily available to any level of player. For example, my coach asked me to prepare a Kreutzer etude. So I’m completing a foothold or two a day on Kreutzer #12 as follows:

  1. Play the etude slowly, to identify and mark a red X on any measures that are most likely to contain pitch problems.
  2. For each subject measure that contains pitch problems, identify the probable cause of the problem and one or more solutions. Complete at least 2 or 3 of these in each practice session.
  3. Choose one or more problem measures per day, select and implement the best solution.
  4. Identify tone and rhythm problems across bar lines. For example, can I maintain great tone and rhythm when playing measure one, and then maintain that level of polish while I transition to measure 2.
  5. Link increasingly longer segments of music. Start with 2 bars, and expand to a whole section or phrase of the etude.
  6. Video record my self playing an eight bar section of the etude at performance level.

And so forth. Depending on the challenge in front of you, more or less structure can be added to your practice session. As I complete each foothold, my progress is constant and obvious! Each day, I ascend the mountain one step at a time, and soon it begins to look like a mole hill. The key is to plan your practice in detail, write down the steps and check them off as they are completed.

Your transformation: Working within this structure is transformative! It seems like more work, but it’s actually more fun. It works for violin practice, and equally well for just about any other large goal that you could consider.

 

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Getting Started on Violin Practicing the Violin Suzuki Violin Violin Lessons for Kids

How to Practice Suzuki’s Lightly Row and ANYTHING else.

Umm, hello! It’s like the second song in Suzuki violin lesson Book 1. It’s about as simple as tunes come: a nursery rhyme. And already someone is telling you how to practice it! Lucy said it best; “Good Grief!”

How to Practice Wrong

It’s easier to talk about what good practice isn’t. If you or your child is doing any of the following, there’s going to be a problem, sooner, rather than later.

1. Practicing without a specific end goal in mind.

2. Failing to use proper posture in the legs, torso, head, violin hand or bow hand

3. Allowing any tension, anywhere in the body

4. Producing a poor tone quality

5. Allowing the song interpretation to sound plain or bland

6. Practicing only one way, that is without a range of practice strategies.

The sad truth is that many if not most beginners will get not just two or three but all six of these points wrong. Which is why so many young violinists wash out and quit before completing three or four of the Suzuki volumes. These practicing errors compound upon each other, making things unpleasant for player, teacher and audience alike. Ouch!

Right Practice: Hacking Your Practice Routine

It’s hard to imagine, but even a five year old can practice like a seasoned pro. Really. And even on a song as simple as Lightly Row! Here’s how it might look at its most basic level:

Goal: Place fingers 1, 2 and 3 on A string accurately at least 9 out of 10 times

Tactics:

1. “Twinkle” the notes; play each consecutive note in a twinkle rhythm.

2. “Take Away” the rhythms, so that each note is of the same duration

3. “Add-On” the notes. Start with one note, then play two, three, etc.

4. “Stop and Go” the song. Stop whenever need to place a finger.

5. “Cherry Pick” the notes. Leave out the difficult notes to be added later.

Strategy: Choose from any/all tactics to meet your 9 out of 10 goal every time you practice. It’s a success mindset that gives you confidence and ease. And it’s the same process a pro might use to practice a concerto or symphony. It’s systematic, challenging and fast moving. You’re never bored.

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So Misunderstood! The Difference Between Practicing and Playing

It’s a common mistake. Practicing isn’t meant to teach you songs. It’s simply a system to meet specific goals as quickly, easily and accurately as possible. So it’s a very structured activity that often sounds nothing like the final result you have in mind. Some common goals for Lightly Row violinists might be:

1. Pinky curved and on top of bow for the entire song

2. Be able to identify 7 notes that require a slow bow, instead of a quick bow

3. A ringing tone is heard each time 3rd finger is played

Simply practicing by playing through the song over and over will reinforce whatever playing habit is already in place, good or bad. Yes, repetition does work for you, or against you.

Moreover, I won’t waste violin lesson time teaching a student the notes of a song; that’s a baseline activity that must happen at home through repeated listening and experimentation on the instrument. The bones of the song must be in place before the lesson begins, and before the real practicing commences.

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Ready to hack your own practice? Begin by making a plan similar to the one above. Choose goals that give you a sense of ease and bring out the unique character of the song. Find goals for a rich tone, and a beautiful posture. Most of all, realize that you are practicing, not performing, not learning the notes of the song. You are creating your musical future, one note at a time.