The
violin, sometimes called the fiddle, is a stringed instrument with
a voice that can stir your emotions.
I
started learning to play the violin from scratch at a late age (37).
Here
is the continuing story of the gradual journey to a clean sound,
articulated notes and playing in tune.
Rawle
Austin presents...
Interlude
2: The wonderful bow of the violin.
This
mini movie shows my bow hold.
The
bow together with the violin can make the most wonderful sounds
when played by a virtuoso (an expert player).
It
is said that the violin mimics the human vocal chords. I can believe
that.
Bow
hold, bow pressure and bow control are essential skills needed to
make a clean sound...
Interlude
1: Showing the beauty of the design of the violin.
This
is Growler's Violin (named Irene after a close friend who passed
away in 2008). A close up mini movie of this amazing piece of musical
architecture.
The
sound that can come out this instrument is nothing less than stunning...
I
actually find it harder to play long slow strokes than fast ones
as it's more obvious to hear if it's out of tune.
In
this sense the violin is a very honest instrument as you know straight
away if the violinist can't play it well. There's no one to blame
but the violinist, so constant practise is the key.
This
is the first eight bars of Canon in D by Pachelbel. Sounding a little
more confident but still, a long way to go.
This
is my attempt at the first six bars of Canon in D by Pachelbel.
One of my favourite violin tunes.
Again,
it's a perfect example of trying to run before I can walk due to
it's complex finger positions.
I'm
back to perfecting the simple tunes for now which you'll see here
in due course.
This
piece is called Lazy Cowboy and evokes visions of the old American
Wild West.
Watching
this back I think it would look better if I used longer strokes
and stretching my bowing arm out more. It looks a bit rigid and
stiff.
From
the violinists I've seen play live it's 85% about that great sound
and 15% looking confident and totally at ease.
A
version of Twinkle, twinkle little star. Part of the reason for
the poor sound is lack of practise and failure to perfect the basics.
The
basics include playing scales and arpeggios.
I
tried to 'walk before I could run' by going straight to complex
pieces like Edelweiss. Always master the basics first.
A
solo violinist plays standing up but if you're in an orchestra you
play sitting down.
I'm
wearing a suit as this seems to be the standard dress for performing
classical pieces. An open shirt is often worn in warm weather.
In
this performance of Edelweiss you'll see the bow pressure I'm using
isn't the same during each stroke. So the sound is very uneven,
especially at the tip and the frog (end) of the bow.
I
have to work on this.
Edelweiss
again.
This
time I've tried to use all of the bow in each stroke which I think
looks good when I see a virtuoso play.
Still
trying to achieve that clean sound.
Another
recital of Edelweiss. Again need to improve confidence in bow control.
Tend to hit two strings at once in error sometimes. The sound isn't
yet clean. This will come in time.
The
first video recorded, during rehearsals of the second ELLSO
end of term concert.
It's
called Edelweiss, one of my favourite tunes for the violin. Need
to improve bow hold and bow control. Also, want to learn to use
more bow for a more stretched out arm.
