Charlotte

Welcome to your lesson notes page Charlotte!

Mon 28^th November 2022

Things to do to keep yourself going:

• Always identify the key of any piece you are playing, then play the scale before you play the piece, so that notes feel like they are in the right position and sound like they belong to the key.
• Count yourself in if it’s an unusual time signature.
• Get your tuner out and check any notes that don’t sound quite right to you.
• If you have questions about anything, send me a message in our WhatsApp group. You can even send me videos of things you have been working on to get my suggestions or applause! And I am also very happy to send you videos or sound clips of me playing any tricky bars so you can either play along with me or copy afterwards.

Mon 14^th November 2022

La Rotta

• Warm up with a G major 2 octave scale, playing the quaver-semiquaver-semiquaver rhythm on each note.
• In your first full bar, make sure you make a real difference between the semiquavers and the quavers.
• In bar 8, count 4 semiquavers in your head (just like we did out loud) to help know how long it is. (Same in bars 12, 20, 28, 32 and 36).
• In the higher octave, make sure you have low 2nd fingers (G naturals).
• Don’t let string crossings slow your rhythm down in bars 21 and 25 – imagine singing “Charlotte Price” to that rhythm!
• Check all the places we use open strings and their 4th fingers match in tuning – 6-7, 14, 22-24, 26-27 and 33-34.

Mon 7^th November 2022

Old Joe Clark

• Think about the C#s and G#s before you start!
• In variation 1, make sure there isn’t any hint of A string in your open Es!
• Keep working on your tuning of the 4th fingers from bar 21.

Joshi’s Dance

• Your metronome mark is up to about 80 now – keep pushing to get it faster. As you work on each section, try to iron out any places where you stop for thought.

La Rotta

• Learn this for next week, maybe clapping the rhythms before you start playing.

Mon 17^th October 2022

Joshi’s Dance

• Read last week’s notes on this.

Old Joe Clark

• Play your A major scale first to check spacing – remember the third finger is high on the G and D strings.
• In the variation 1, careful on the tuning of the D naturals and Es.
• Learn variation 2 now as well, using your 1st position 4th finger to help you find 3rd position. Remember to take your thumb too!

Mon 10^th October 2022

Encore book: Joshi’s Dance

• Make sure bars 1 and 2 are opposite in rhythm.
• Check your metronome mark and try to up the tempo.
• Count really carefully in all the passages with rests – make sure you are only stopping for one beat.
• In the slow sections, count carefully and try to connect the two bars without a gap.

Old Joe Clark

• Learn the theme and variation 1.

Fri 30^th September 2022

24. Te Deum

• Make sure all Gs on the E string have nice low 2nd fingers.
• Keep thinking quavers in your dotted crotchets.
• Practice this quite a bit to eliminate the pauses for thought.

27. Summer evening

• We’ll play this together next lesson to help with the rhythm, but in the meantime just make sure your last crotchet of each bar is just one beat.

28. Flamenco Dance

• Notice when you have a string of crotchets and try to hit them one after the other with no hesitations.
• Try to keep your crotchet rests exactly the right length.

Encore book: Joshi’s Dance

• Get to know all the notes in this piece this week and remind yourself of the meanings of the Italian words (look them up if you can’t remember!)

Tue 13^th September 2022

24. Te Deum

• Look at last lesson’s notes to help you work on this.

26. Hari coo coo

• Warm up with A Major scale and notice the finger spacing to help with this piece.
• As you start the piece, aim for really high C#s.
• Tuning is the main thing in this piece – use your tuning app to help!

27. Summer evening

• Bar 2 should sound like separate bows, evening though it’s all up bow.
• Keep your sharps high all the way through.

28. Flamenco Dance

• Make sure your C#s are nice and high right from the start.

Fri 22^nd July 2022

23. Air in G

• Well done on good tuning – it really helped that you thought about finger positions before you started, so keep doing this!
• Keep driving the tempo forwards in bars like 5, 6, 10 and 13.
• Make sure you count 3 whole beats in all the dotted minims.
• Work on the tuning in bar 10.
• Listen to check that your string crossing is neat on the trill at end.

24. Te Deum

• Try to feel 3 quavers in each dotted crotchet. This is easiest to feel if you use the quavers before the dotted crotchets to help.

25. That’s how it goes

• In bars like 2, see if you can fill the whole minim with sound, rather than 1 beat of sound and 1 beat of silence (you may need to slow down your bow to do this).
• Make sure you change string quickly in 8 and 16.
• Look ahead as much as you can in 21-24 to avoid any hesitations.

Mon 11^th July 2022

23. Air in G

• Keep questioning 2nd finger positions.
• Count yourself in and keep to that pulse. You may even want to practise this with a metronome, set to 100.

24. Te Deum

• Try to cross the string under the slur in bar 1 as neatly as possible.
• Make sure all your minims have 2 beats in them and that bars with crotchets and quavers in are strictly rhythmic.
• Low 2nds on the E string, but high everywhere else.
• Be on the lookout for dotted rhythms – long dotted crotchets and short quavers.

• Also look out for the accidentals in 14 and 15.

25. That’s how it goes

• Listen to make sure your 1st fingers are high enough.
• Make sure the notes in bar 7 are double the length of the notes in bar 1!
• See if you can keep the quavers running along consistently in bars 21-24.
• Practise heading back to the beginning straight away.

Tue 21^st Jun 2022

23. Air in G

• Think of how fast a walking pace is. (Andante means at a walking pace).
• Try to keep the tempo going over the minim in bar 3 – it feels like the phrase should be longer, so it’s tempting to slow down.
• Count really carefully in your head to make the dotted minims and crotchets are long enough in 8, 9 and 11.

22. I Got Those Fiddle Blues

• As last week, watch out for your low 2s!
• Don’t slow down for the harmonics.
• Careful from 13 you’re not delaying the crotchets straight after the triplets.
• In 22 and 23, change string in the rests so that the string crossing doesn’t affect the tempo.
• Play the tremolo in the last bar near the tip of the bow.

Start looking at 24. Prelude from Te Deum.

Mon 13^th Jun 2022

21. Ten Thousand Miles Away

• Keep this for one more week, mainly for rhythm.
• Get more familiar with bars 16-28.

23. Air in G

• Warm up with a G major scale and arpeggio. In the arpeggio, stop at the top.
• In the piece, remember low 2nds on the A and E strings.
• Be decisive in your 2nd finger placements – don’t let them just fall halfway between low and high!

22. I Got Those Fiddle Blues

• Watch out for low F naturals and B flats.

Mon 6^th Jun 2022

21. Ten Thousand Miles Away

• Warm up with a C major arpeggio (CEGC).
• Hold your dotted minims for their full length.
• Practice up to bar 16 in 4-bar chunks, clapping and then playing each section.
• Work on the 2nd half as if it’s a separate piece, remembering not to start adding F#s from 22.

Start practising no. 23 (Air in G) and have a go at clapping the rhythm of no. 22 (I got those Fiddle Blues).

Mon 23^rd May 2022

14. Ecossaise in G

• Keep this over half term so that it gets more and more comfortable.
• Practice 17-25 like we did in the lesson, turning the crotchets in bars 18, 20, 22 and 23 into pairs of quavers. Once that feels easy, play it as written whilst imagining those quavers.

18. Yodelling Song

• As last week – remember to keep those 2nd fingers as low as you can.
• Push yourself to be fairly quick with your quavers.
• Remember to count 2 beats on all your minims.

Takin’ It Easy

• This is definitely one that I’d love you to try with the backing track!
• Count 4 beats on the tied minims.

20. Gypsy Dance

• Imagine quavers within the crotchets in 3, 7 and 15 to help get the syncopated (off-beat) rhythm.

21. Ten Thousand Miles Away

• Warm up with a C major arpeggio (CEGC).
• Hold your dotted minims for their full length.
• Careful not to start adding F#s from 22.

Mon 16^th May 2022

Ecossaise in G

• Start with a warm-up G major scale.
• Next, play the piece nice and slowly. Watch out for your low 2nd finger tuning in bar 6.
• Aim nice and high with your 4th fingers in bars 1 and 9.
• Work on getting this comfortable at crotchet = 120. Start at a lower speed if you need to.

17. On the go!

• Try this at metronome mark 68, then notch your way up to 84 each time you play it.

Next, try a 1 octave C major scale (remember, no sharps!).

Yodelling Song

• Remember to keep those 2nd fingers low – right up close to your 1sts! Remind yourself of this
• Pick a speed that works for the section from bar 9 – use this to help you pick your quaver speed at the start.
• Careful of the minims, especially in bars 8 and 20.

Takin’ It Easy

• Learn this for next lesson.

Mon 25^th Apr 2022

Ecossaise in G

• Play a 2 octave G major scale before you start.
• Next, play the piece nice and slowly. Watch out for your low 2nd finger tuning in bar 6.
• Imagine “I am Charlotte Price” in bars 17 and 18.
• Aim nice and high with F#s in 19 and 27.
• Aim for faster string crossings in bars 23 and 31.

Fiddle Time Rag

• Try the rhythm of the first line on one note before you begin.
• Play through with the backing track.

16. Playing on the Ol’ Banjo

• Make sure you can fit 4 semiquavers into each crotchet (eg. bars 6 and 10, 18 and 22).
• Play this one with the backing track too, but make sure you’ve looked through the geography of the piece first!

17. On the go!

• Practice the first bar and then bar 13 to really feel the difference between your low and high 2nd finger positions before you start.
• In this one too, look out for crotchet bars that need to be longer.
• Take a retake at the end of bar 20.

Mon 28^th Mar 2022

Merrily danced the Quaker’s Wife

• This is getting better each week!
• Try to keep your bow arm as relaxed as possible.
• Look out for the G naturals.
• Think of the rhythm of the first few bars before you start so you can hit the ground running.

O Leave Your Sheep

• Practice this with the backing track to help your rhythm.

Pick a Bale of Cotton

• Aim for no hesitations.

Finale from the “Water Music”

• Count to 3 twice in your head before start.
• Subdivide as you play bar 1 to help you play bar 2 (thinking “1+2+3+”).
• Use the quavers in bar 11 to help with the length of bar 12’s minim.
• Add the dynamics now.

Ecossaise in G

• Subdivide bar 4’s minim into 4 to prepare for bar 5.
• Low 2 in bar 6, ideally without a hesitation!
• In the section from 17, make a big difference between high F#s and low C naturals.

Mon 21^st Mar 2022

Merrily danced the Quaker’s Wife

• Listen to the backing track before you play it to get a good feel for the rhythms.
• Play this confidently, looking out for low 2nd fingers.

O Leave Your Sheep

• Count to 3 before you start to get the crotchet pulse, so you can count your minims and dotted minims.
• Try playing it with a metronomoe set to 90.
• Try to look ahead so you know what note is coming next.
• High 2s for the F#s and low 2s for the C naturals.

Start looking at Allegretto in G for next time.

Mon 14^th Mar 2022

Chase in the Dark

• Keep this for another week. You’re doing really well on the rhythms when the notes are siple, but look out for bars 9 and 25, and 17.

Merrily danced the Quaker’s Wife

• Start this in the middle of the bow.
• Make sure the first 4 notes are all the same length.

Playing these two with the backing tracks will be really helpful.

Learn at least the next two pieces, and maybe even the next 3 or 4!

Mon 7^th Mar 2022

Banyan Tree

• Practice this along with my practice tracks which I’ll upload later, including learning the 2nd part.

Heat Haze

• Try not to hesitate as change line.
• See if you can get your rhythm on the last line as accurate as the previous lines.

Medieval tale

• Think in quavers when you have dotted rhythms.

Cornish May Song

• Keep the crotchet pulse in your head to help you play the quavers fast enough.
• Try lines 3 and 4 with 4th fingers.

Chase in the Dark

• Have a think about the rhythm before you start playing. Remember the crotchets are long and the quavers are short.

Merrily danced the Quaker’s Wife

• Again, pay attention to short quavers and long crotchets.

Once you’ve practised all these pieces, try them with the backing track too.

Mon 28^th Feb 2022

He’s A Pirate

• Play a D minor scale to warm up. Listen carefully to the tuning of the F natural, B flat and C sharp in particular.
• Find all your 4th fingers and tune them really carefully.
• Think lots about how your 1st fingers should be.

Fiddle Time Runners

• Devour as much of this as you can! Try to work on a double page spread at a time, looking at all the details like rhythms and key signatures.
• Your pieces for this week are the ones on pages 3-5.
• Warm up with a G major 2 octave scale and arpeggio.
• In Banyan Tree, make sure you count your dotted minims for long enough,
• Revise your note lengths – search on YouTube for RIAM note lengths.
• Medieval Tale – make the difference between dotted rhythms and straight rhythms in alternate bars.