Esha

Welcome to your lesson notes page Esha!

Tue 16^th January 2024

D major scale and arpeggio and dominant seventh

• Start this scale in 3rd position.
• Check your tuning on every 1st finger by also playing the open string below.
• Make sure you’re always listening for tuning in the arpeggio too.
• In the dominant seventh, make sure you know what note names you are aiming for. You’ll need super low G naturals, and feel free to use your open A string.

La Rejouissance

• Check the tuning of your 2nd note with the D string before you start.
• Try to keep your left wrist down as you play this piece.
• Well done with the notes and bowing in the first half! Now aim to get the tempo faster and the notes more flowing.
• Notice the difference between the hand shapes in bars 8 and 9.
• In the second half, use tiny bows on the semiquavers.
• Like we did in the lesson, practice bar 13’s bowing pattern all on one note (I would recommend a D). Next, graduate to playing each half-bar on one note. Once the bowing pattern hstarts to feel comfy, add all the proper notes.
• Then practice from bar 15 to the end.

Watch this video about the evolution of the bow:

Tue 28^th November 2023

D major scale and arpeggio and dominant seventh

As you play these, be thinking about the following:

• Sound quality
• Not tilting the bow too much
• Bowing straight (this will feel like your hand is reaching out in front of you)
• Left wrist down
• Right elbow levels (lower on the higher strings)
• Straight bow
• Neat shifts (moving your thumb)

La Rejouissance

• Feel free to check the tuning of your D before you start.
• Make sure your first quaver is the same speed as all the rest.
• Use the open E at the end of bar 1 to help give you time to move to 1st position, making sure your thumb instigates the shift.
• How clean can you make the shift in bar 3?
• Keep noticing the bowing instructions -great job on this!
• Try to keep the same tempo as you play bars 6 and 7.
• In bar 8, really think about the spacing of your fingers.
• Practice the bowing of bat 13 on one note, jumping the bow off the string at the start of each half bar and hooking in another little down bow after the tied notes.
• Learn to the end

If you get time, start working on G major scale and arpeggio too (3 octave), plus G diminished 7th (2 octaves).

Tue 7^th November 2023

With piano.

Vivaldi

• Practice the first two bars quite a bit so that you know you’re really secure.
• Work on the sections at B and E with the metronome if you have time, starting at a speed you feel comfortable with.
• Well done for thinking about the dynamics! I still think the quieter dynamics could go quieter.
• Practice the links between sections – from a few bars before a letter to a few bars after.

Chanson Triste

• Well done on this one! Take a deep breath in and out before it in the exam to help you shake off the mood of the Vivaldi and get in the right mindset for this.
• Use a bit more bow than you’d think for the start to help you feel grounded.
• See if you can give a bit more on the A string at 33-43 and 39-40.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Start in the middle of bow.
• Listen to this lots, following your music, to practice counting the rests.

Well done on all your hard work – keep that up for this next week and GOOD LUCK! 💪🏼🎻

Sun 5^th November 2023

Scales

• Check the metronome marks of all your scales in the book to see how close you are.
• For the melodic minor scales, memorise the 3 main notes that give the scales their melodic minor characteristics.
• The fingerings are incredibly important to memorise, but most are very similar, shifting 12/1234.
• Try to play the scales with a nice strong sound – hearing a confident sound on the first few notes will help you feel confident about the higher notes too.

Sight reading

• Please do send me recordings each time you practice!
• Notice the key signature and really take it in before you start practising any of these exercises.

Aural

• In the singing, hum the starting note when it is played to you and hum along the second time you hear it.
• Read the sample answers I have sent you for aural test C so you have some examples in mind when the examiner asks you about the musical elements.

Sat 27^th October 2023

Vivaldi

• Do as much with a metronome as possible. Have the end speed in mind and use the chart we made so that you work on the trickiest bits the most.
• Practice the f p echo dynamics.
• Listen to the piece using the video below, and try it through slowly with the beginning of the next video.

Chanson Triste

• Use your bow the way we did in the lesson to really make the dynamics in the middle stand out.
• You could play along with this video to get used to the accompaniment.

Night Song

• Listen to this YouTube video to get used to how it will sound with the accompaniment.
• Why not play along with the first section? Then you could slow the video down to play along with the second part, with the aim of getting it up to the right tempo as soon as you can.

Sat 21^st October 2023

Scales

• Let’s set a deadline of 1st November for memorising these.
• In the slurred scales, make sure you are using long tonics. Give yourself a bit of time before each slur to think about the upcoming notes, and bring your left elbow forwards to help reahch the 4th fingers on the lower strings.

Vivaldi

• Make sure you add the trill in 37.
• Work on getting the semiquavers in bars 37-40 really neat, listening out especially for the tuning of your As.
• Use the open string method we used in the lesson to help make the string crossings in 41 feel easier. Play it like this until it feels really easy, then add your fingers.
• When practising from fig. H, have your opening tempo in mind.
• Remember to keep the groups of six quavers short here too.

Sat 7^th October 2023

Scales

• Make sure you are playing all of these on rotation very regularly – they are easy marks!
• Remember to start memorising these as soon as you can.
• Next lesson we’ll have a look at minors and arpeggios.

Sight Reading

• Send me recordings of you playing a sight reading exercise whenever you can. Try to only give yourself about a minute to look at the grades 1-3 exercises. We’ll be aiming for the same with the grade 4 and 5 exercises too, but for now take as long as you need and aim to improve on your time each time.
• Remember to take into consideration the key signature, dynamics and tempo marking.

Mon 25^th September 2023

Vivaldi

• Great tuning on the scales in fig. B! To get more comfortable with them, think more about your destination in each bar (the top notes).
• In fig. E, watch the tuning of the highest notes in each group of 4 semiquavers.
• Try to start every bar with a down bow, especially in semiquaver passages.
• Add the trill at bar 37.
• Practice fig. G the most.
• When changing from quavers to semiquavers (like bar 51) try to hit the ground running.

Chanson Triste

• This is sounding really lovely!
• Get comfortable with your shift at 23 by practising 21-24.
• Let your bow flow in the section from bar 25.
• Think about your bowing from bar 39.
• Work on the fingering at 51.
• Be ready to shift at 59.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Keep an ear on your tuning of B flats and Gs from 12.
• Generally, your double down bows could be quicker.
• Practice bar 38 +1 note quite a bit, then try 38+39 together.
• Make sure bar 46 starts with a semitone.
• Add slurs from fig. E.

Sun 2^nd July 2023

Aural

• Look up musical period dates.
• Listen to the composers I have listed and think about what features in the music make it distinctive.

Scales

• Start all your 2 octave scales on the G string with a 2nd finger.
• Always be looking at the book for the fingerings, until you have definitely memorised them.
• We looked at the scales – have a look through the arpeggios and other scales and see which ones you can manage on your own. Put a star in the margin next to any which really need my help.

Sun 25^th June 2023

Chanson Triste

• Great work on the even staccato on your paired crotchets! Keep that up.
• Excellent dynamics, especially the crescendos and diminuendos.
• Work on the shift at 23.
• Pick out any shifts in the section 25 to 44.
• Use a whole bow on the crotchet at 33.
• Up bow at 37!
• From 45, careful not to play too near the bridge – your bow may want to keep away from your left hand!
• Remember to slow down at the end.

Night song and Pantomime

• Well done, this is hanging together so much better now.
• Use a tuner to help practise the shift at bar 7. (I recommend Pano tuner, but most free tuner apps are fine) Remember where your 3rd finger went for the Gs in the first two bars to help with this.
• Try to get your harmonics at bar 12 without shifting – just reaching out your 4th finger should work.
• Before you start playing the second section, practise bar 34 for tuning.
• F naturals at bar 41.
• C natural bar 46.
• Use the open A at the end of 51 to get your fingers ready for the first two notes of 52.
• At 52, remember to stay in 2nd position until the C#.

Vivaldi

• Work in sections, playing through with the metronome to quaver=90. Aim for no hesitations – play through a section with the metronome, work on any little bits that could be better, then play through it again before moving onto the next one.
• In section A, aim a bit lower on your top Ds in 3 and 4 and practise the shift in bar 6.
• In section B, count “1 and 2” before you start, and make sure you start with an up bow.
• Section E needs some work at a slower speed to get it up the the same speed as the rest of it.

Sun 4^th June 2023

Sight reading

• Practise clapping the rhythms.
• Make sure you always count yourself in before you play.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Could the rests in bar 11 be more obvious?
• Keep practising those harmonics in 12-15 – they’re getting more confident each time!
• From the “Furious and Fast” section, be on the lookout for F naturals – some examples are bars 35, 41 and 52.
• Think about the pulse in 45 as the semiquavers need to be faster.
• Make sure you’re playing a C natural in bar 46.
• Practise 56-57: remember that once you’re in 2nd position you don’t need to move your hand, just make sure the 1st finger is spaced out enough.
• Make sure the second note of 58 is only a semitone above your 2nd finger for the D.
• Don’t forget the G sharps in 59.
• Work on 60-61 for the notes notes – if in doubt, stop to think about the tones and semitones. If you’re completely stumped, send me a message and I’ll help!
• Make sure you play an F natural at the start of 65, then practise the notes at the end of the bar with fluid 3rd and 2nd finger movements, like we did in the lesson.
• Practise 66-67, trying to get the string crossing nice and neat. You might find it easier in the middle of the bow.
• Make sure you’re playing the right notes in bars 73 and 75.

Sat 22^nd April 2023

Time management is going to get us through! Focus on your two problem spots – the second half of the Night Song and from G in Allegro.

Allegro

• We started at crotchet=50 today. Can you get up to crotchet=60 for next lesson?
• In bars 3 and 4, listen to make sure all your high Ds are the same tuning.
• Bar 8 C#.
• Bar 23 fluency.
• Great shift in bar 28!
• Careful not to go half speed in 29!
• Spend quite a bit on section G.

Chanson Triste

• Shift at 43 and 52.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Harmonics in – good rhythm, needs a clearer bow.
• Anywhere that has notes opposite each other on the fingerboard (like bars 8 and 22), see if you can get your finger on both strings so you don’t have to hop.
• Work from the second section in a lot of detail, one section at a time.
• Keep the bow nice and strong and do a retake warm-up with the second half of 46. If the bow judders as you hit the string, move closer to the heel and check all your bow hold fingers are curved.

Sat 18^th March 2023

Firstly, an encouragement this week to not only practise til you get it right, but to keep going until you can’t get it wrong! 😄🎻

Chanson Triste

• It worked really well reminding yourself of the crotchet lengths before you started.
• Practice the shift in bar 8 with the ghost note like we did in the lesson.
• Practice the shift in bar 23 with the F ghost note like we did in the lesson.
• Link 24 and 25 by practising 21-32.
• Link 32 and 33 by practising 29-36 (make sure you start with an up bow).
• Become a pro at bar 37! Bowing and fingering.
• Be aware of the fingering at 42.
• 45 down bow.
• In the section at 45, try to sing the tune in your head to help it feel more comfortable.
• 63 3rd position?
• In 70, use your fingertip and don’t move too high for the harmonics – you’re only going up one position.

Sat 26^th February 2023

Allegro

• Use your metronome chart and work on each section at crotchet=50 until each one feels safe.
• If semiquavers feel difficult, remind yourself to relax your right arm.
• Make sure you play C# in the scale in 8, and C natural in bar 9!
• If you feel like you’re getting ahead, use longer bows. If you’re getting behind, use shorter bows, relax your arm and make sure you’re in the middle of your bow.
• Try to add the dynamics in as you do your metronome practise.
• At E, really make sure you’re taking in each group as a unit instead of looking at each note separately.

Sat 4^th February 2023

Chanson Triste

• Keep listening out for even lengths on your staccato crotchets etc. Focus more on lengthening the first and 3rd notes.
• Practise 21-26. Be brave shifting quickly in bar 23. From then on, make sure you’re hunting for the fingerings slightly sooner than you’re looking at what the notes are.
• 33 should sound proud – use more bow. If you’re struggling to avoid other strings, think about whether you’re bowing straight.
• Practice the shift in bar 36 with the ghost note.
• Remember the bowing in bar 37!
• Make sure you’re shifting to 4th position at the end of bar 42 and staying in that position until the start of bar 47.
• Really good shift at 56! Help more with your bow – it should be crescendoing through the shift, feeling like a really satisfying stretch in the morning!
• More flowing bow in bars like 65 – a constant feeling of movement in the bow arm, with a feeling of a deep breath in.
• Fab harmonics!

Sat 28^th January 2023

Bow hold

• Find something like my cuddly moose to help get your fingers curved before you put your hand on the bow.
• Once on the bow, make sure your little finger and thumb are curved and on their tiptoes.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Careful of the rhythm in bar 12 rhythm.
• Work on the tuning from 19.
• Sound quality in Furious and fast: middle of the bow; be aware of your bow hold, especially a curved little finger; more upright bow; play a bit more into the string.
• Memorise the first two bars of this section, remembering to use strong strokes in the middle of the bow.
• Watch out for your F naturals (low) and your B naturals (high) in bars like 35.
• Careful not to slur 41 and 42.
• Work more on the second half of this piece and let me know if you’re unsure about any notes next lesson.

Sat 21^st January 2023

General: relax right elbow.

Allegro

• Make a metronome chart and report back every lesson.
• Start to notice the dynamics, even though you’re still working on the notes.
• Bar 8 – be even bolder with changing naturals to sharps. (same at fig. J) Look at the tuning on all scales in those 4 bars.
• Shallower string crossings at E.
• Try to be efficient with your finger movements in bar 29. Keep your 3rd finger on for the F#, but take it off for the E.
• Photocopy the page turn.
• Experiment with the fingering in bar 40?
• In all the passagework, remember you can almost always get away with just reading every other beat!

Chanson Triste

• Keep listening out for even lengths on your staccato crotchets.
• Really nice mf at 17.
• Do the fingering in bar 20 and 60.
• Getting into bar 25 with no gap.
• Practice bars 31 and 32.
• Shift in 36 to help the security 36-38.
• Bar 50 just went a bit high in intonation.
• 65 up bow.
• Rit. (slow down) at the end.

Night Song and Pantomime (we’ll go through this next lesson together)

• Great shifting bar 7 but needs to be confident.
• Bar 12 rhythm.
• Tuning from 19.
• Key signature in Furious and fast.
• Get really good at the first two bars of this section.
• Great bowings.
• 40 accent the quavers.
• 41 separate bows.
• Tuning 43 and 44.
• Investigate the notes with the key signature in mind from bar 5, maybe working bar-by-bar for now and then stitching them together.

Sun 11^th December 2022

Chanson Triste

• Keep listening out for the consistent crotchet lengths.
• Play some long bows on each string thinking about how your right arm should work to keep the bow straight. Keep your right shoulder erlaxed and low, and push your bow arm out in front of you as you get to the tip.

Sun 13^th November 2022

Night Song and Pantomime

• Shift your hand to 3rd position as soon as you start your open D at the end of bar 6.
• In the harmonics section, keep a constant quaver pulse going and try not to let the open D sound between your G and harmonic. Maybe even just play the G and harmonic back and forth a few times.
• For places like 21-25, pick out the notes in ascending order and play a scale to help you know the finger spacing.

Sat 15^th October 2022

Practice regime: try to play each piece every week, so play a different piece each practice.

Pick some scales to play each time too.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Imagine the atmosphere you’d like to create before you start. I would go for quite an airy sound.
• Remember to shift to 3rd position in bar 6.
• Get to know the second half, from bar 32.
• Practice the retakes with little circles.
• Think carefully about sharps and naturals, especially with your 2nd finger.

Sun 18^th September 2022

Chanson Triste

• From the start, remember to listen to the crotchets to make sure they are all even in length.
• Try to open the sound up a bit more in louder passages.
• Work on the shifting from bar 25.
• Remember the harmonics in bar 70 keeping your thumb roughly in place and just rocking the hand up.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Play E flat major before you start work on this piece.
• Just work up to bar 25 for now.

Allegro

• Practice 5-6 to work on the shift.
• Pick a few sections each time you practice to work at in detail, getting more comfortable with the notes.
• See how often you can remind yourself about a straight left wrist – this will help your finger dexterity.

Sat 9^th July 2022

Vivaldi

• Keep any groups of 2 or more quavers nice and short.
• Be on the lookout for extra up bows.
• Practise the shifts in bars 2 and 6 like we did in the lesson, shifting from G to B (bar 2) and A to C# (bar 5-6).
• If the bowing ever feels awkward, eg. bar 3, try using the middle of the bow a little more and hinging mainly from the elbow instead of the shoulder.

Sat 19^th May 2022

Chanson Triste

• Make sure the 2nd and 4th crotchets aren’t longer than the 1st and 3rd. This is easier in the middle of the bow with a lighter bow. Keep your left hand fingers nice and light too, in preparation for vibrato.
• Check the metronome mark before you play to make sure you’re not playing too fast.
• Get used to all the new fingerings I dumped on you today! But no need to go further than bar 44.

Sat 12^th May 2022

Next lesson : how to use the Pano Tuner app.

Bow focus: try to curve your little finger and have it on its tip.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Make sure you can fit 2 quavers into each crotchet, both from the start and bar 19.
• At bar 12, keep your bow nice and light, and try to stay at the same speed as the opening.
• From 19, careful not to catch the D string with your bow.
• In 39, angle your bow so it’s as close to the A string as possible when playing the E string semiquavers.
• To start playing bar 45, build up a G#, A# and B (fingers 1-2 tone, fingers 2-3 semitone).
• See how much of the rest you can have a go at in preparation for next lesson.

Have a listen to this to help with the feel of character and to get used to the sound of all the unexpected sharps and naturals!

Sat 14^th May 2022

Night Song and Pantomime

• Warm up with a C minor scale, noticing all the flats.
• When playing the piece, be really low on your 1st fingers.
• In bars 8 and 22, try to have your finger on both strings to avoid moving it too much.
• Keep checking the rhythm – are your crotchets double the length of the quavers?
• Work on getting the notes comfortable up to bar 25.

Sat 7^th May 2022

A3 Allegro

• Remember to keep all quavers short and light.
• Remember the slurs at the beginning of bars 8-11.
• Revisit last lesson’s notes too.

B3 Chanson Triste

• Keep working on making all the crotchets the same length, and keep reminding yourself of this as you go hrough the piece.
• Play 70 as harmonics.

Sun 1^st May 2022

A3 Allegro

• Work in sections to avoid getting tired – this way you can work in more detail.
• Aim for a bit of air between all quavers, eg. in bar 1.
• Register the fact that the whole of bar 5 is in 1st 1st position and almost all on the E string.
• In 7-11, set your sights on the top note of each scale. As we di in the lesson, practice the scales first, and then practice the quaver bits.
• Lower tuning on the the Gs from 12.
• In sequences like 12-15, 20-27, notice patterns, and what stays the same.

Sun 24^th Apr 2022

Chanson Triste

• On all the staccato crotchets, close your eyes and listen to see if they all sound the same length. You may find this easier starting in the middle of the bow.
• Work on the crescendo at 15 and 16, first by playing two F naturals. Think about how you’re using your bow as you do this, and once you’ve tried it like that several times, switch back to playing it with the F sharp, as written (tips on how to change dynamic are below).
• As you’re getting used to this new bow hold, make sure you stop every 8/16 bars to out the bow down, completely relax your hand and build it up again, keeping the fingers as soft as possible.
• Keep checking your right elbow, and especially shoulder, are relaxed.
• Try to work out how to practice the other shifts in this piece with ghost notes, like we did in the last bar of the 1st page.

6 tools to help you change dynamic:

• Arm weight;
• Bow speed;
• Bow length;
• Bow angle (all the hair for loud or tilt to use only a few hairs for soft);
• Sounding point (near the bridge or near the fingerboard);
• Lower or upper half of the bow.

Choose 1 or 2 of these to try together when thinking about adding dynamics to a piece.

Mon 4^th Apr 2022

Your first lesson with me! 😄🎻

As promised, here is my bow hold video! There are some other facts about the bow at the start, but you’ll find the actual bow hold at 4 minutes.

La Cumparsita

• Practice playing your staccatos off the string.
• If you hear you are touching the next door string by mistake, adjust your right elbow height to help.
• In bar 11, use long heavy bows for the tenuto lines to make a really string contrast between p and f.
• In bar 18, start the pizzicato halfway down the fingerboard on the G string, pulling your index finger towards you diagonally as you pluck the chord. How much “ping” can you get on the E string?
• Work on the bowing in 20&21, 28&29.
• Practice 34 with a gap between the crotchet and the chord, only playing your up bow when you know the bow is on both strings.
• In the Trio section, keep an eye out for all the rests.