Laura

Welcome to your online lesson notes page Laura!

Thu 18^th December 2025

Happy Christmas!!

Fri 12^th December 2025

Chanson de Nuit

• Really sing the melodic lines.
• See how much of a difference you can make with the dynamics.

Thu 20^th November 2025

The Deil amang the Tailors

• For the section from 41, try pizzing each half bar to work on your tuning.
• When practising it with the bow, aim for very spiky up bows.
• Well done for getting this to hang together now! Push yourself little by little to get this even faster.

Look up the Grade 7 scales and start learning them yourself.

Thu 13^th November 2025

The Deil amang the Tailors

• Practice the second half of variation 2’s bowing technique with open strings.
• Next, put the fingers back and focus mainly on the intonation of the low notes.
• Find out what speed you can play the hardest section at. Work on it meticulously at that speed, then gradually speed it up and check you can play all sections at that speed too.
• Practice 7-8, then 23-24, 31-32, 55-56.
• When practising the piece as a whole, try not to hesitate between sections.

Chanson de Nuit

• Keep playing this for a bit longer for yourself to get really comfortable with the shifts.
• Count the last note carefully so that you have roughly a bow per bar.

Kreutzer 1

• Have a look at this with bow distribution in mind.
• Always think about the sound you are making.

Thu 30^th October 2025

Chanson de Nuit

• Listen to the video from last lesson.
• Practice the finger shifting exercise to get better at switching fingers for places like bar 30. Think about your left thumb as you do it, and try to keep your fingers light. Keep a good pulse as you do it too.
• Practice going from the harmonic at the end of bar 46 to the 1st position G at the start of the next bar, keeping the bow strong as you move position so as to keep the harmonic ringing.

Deil Among the Tailors

• Aim for a more robust bow in the loud passages (heavier and more focused), and use less bow in the quieter passages.
• Try to keep as many fingers down as possible in the triplet section.

Fri 26^th September 2025

Chanson de Nuit

• Listen lots!

Deil Among the Tailors

• In the theme, be bold with your bow.
• In Variation 1, careful to keep the bowing the right way up.
• For now, take a break before you play Variation 2.
• In Variation 2, practice the bracketed notes and be precise with your shifting.

Spring

• Keep practising this even though you’ll probably end up playing a different arrangement! Lots of what’s in this part will also be in my arrangement.
• Use shorter bows for the runs of fast semiquavers.

Thu 18^th September 2025

A big WELL DONE and THANK YOU for all the hard work you’ve been doing on posture and bow hold this term! 🥳

Chanson de Nuit

• Warm up with a 3-octave G major scale and arpeggio. Then, play up and down the G string for just over an octave. Experiment yourself with the tilt of the bow, arm weight and proximity to the bridge.
• Careful to match the sound quality of bars 1 and 2.
• Careful of the rhythm in bar 3.
• Work on bar 7 adding one note at a time. Use an E ghost note before going up for the B.
• Grow through the crescendo, playing your high G-string notes proudly!
• Working from 17, use all our usual spacing techniques to get the notes, but also try to hear the intervals in your head before you leap.
• Officially we got to bar 25, but feel free to explore further if you have time.

The Deil Among the Tailors

• Experiment with playing the first note a few different lengths. Which one sounds like it belongs the most?
• Go for a heavier bow on the As in bars 1 and 2 and equivalents.
• Listen for the tuning of the D in the upbeat to bar 9 (also bar 25).
• From 9 and 25, use less bow to keep it neat. Listen out for “cobwebs” – places where you catch a next-door string.
• From 18, work in bar chunks.
• Listen for clarity on the F#s in 19+20.
• In 21+22, flick the down bows so that the accent is made just by bow speed.
• In 31, how early can you get your 1st finger on the string? Practice the link between 30 and 31 a good few times.
• Practice slowly at 33, but try the off-the-string bowing.
• Practice from 41 pizzicato.

Thu 11^th September 2025

Keep doing your bow warm-ups, remembering to keep the wrist flat and tap your little finger a few times to make sure it’s on securely.

Vivaldi

• Get used to the new bowings.
• Keep your ears open for tuning at all times.

The Deil Among the Tailors

• Feel lazy in your bow arm – keep the bow on the string.
• Keep aware of having your bowing the right way up.
• Be really precise with the tuning of your 3rd and 4th fingers.
• Work on getting your fingers around the notes at a steady speed, so that you can get the tempo up soon.

Chanson de Nuit

• At the start, aim for a quiet yet full sound.
• How much vibrato can you get in? Keep the speed and width of your vibrato in character.
• Aim for a “concentrated orange juice” focused sound, using less bow.

Thu 4^th September 2025

Watch the “With Nicky” video, and start every practice with some bow exercises. The specific box exercises start at 12:21. Keep an eye on your wrist – it should be as close to flat as possible.

Vivaldi

• Go through yourself and write in some bowings which make sense according to the “rule of down bow”.
• At the start, use a bit more bow. The bow doesn’t need to leave the string, but it should lighten at the end of each stroke. For the p, just use less bow.
• Make the contrast between f and p really clear.
• At bar 20, how close to the string can you keep your 4th and 3rd fingers? Listen for tuning at all times, and use tiny bows in the upper half.
• Let the quavers come off the string on the barlines of 11-13 in the middle of 24 and 25.

Go back and look at last lesson’s notes for ideas on what else to work on this week.

Mon 14^th July 2025

Your main aim over the summer should be to play for fun! But if you’ve got a bit more time for some serious practice on any days, check this week and last week’s lesson notes.

Kayser Ex. 1

• Warm up with C major scale 3 octaves, a 2 octave chromatic scale and both seventh. Can you make it sounds beautiful?
• Whenever you play a study, see if you can work out exactly why they’ve written the study. What is it helping you work on?
• Be very strict on your tuning.
• Try some of the bowing variations if you feel comfortable with the notes.

Kayser Ex.2

• Warm up with as many F scales as you can think of.
• Work on getting the dotted rhythms really precise.

The De’il Among the Tailors

• Work on all variations, thinking about rhythms and differences in bowing techniques.

Chanson de Nuit

• Think regal, slow and calm, making sure you don’t slow down for the quavers.
• Listen carefully to check that the end of each bow still sounds as calm as the rest of the piece.
• Stop at bar 17. We’ll look at the rest together! Listening to the piece a few times in the summer holidays will help you prepare for September.

Tue 8^th July 2025

Kayser Ex. 1

• Warm up with C major scale 3 octaves, a 2 octave chromatic scale and both seventh.
• In the study, try to keep your bowing the right way up at all times, especially when you’ve had to stop.
• Watch out for the tuning of F naturals (low) and B naturals (high).
• Have a pencil handy and mark in open string and 4th fingers.

Kayser Ex.2

• Practice this with the aim of making the long notes sound interesting. Are they leading to the next notes, or dying away? Or maybe a bit of both?
• See if you can come up with any good ideas for fingering here.

Chanson de Nuit

• Practice a one octave scale and arpeggio on the G string.
• Listen to this piece before tackling it!
• Check your bow hold before you start the piece.
• If in doubt about note pitches on the way up the G string, sing them in your head first.

The De’il Among the Tailors

• Warm up with as many A major scales as you can think of!
• In the piece, try again to keep your bow the right way up.
• In any string-crossing passages, try to do as little left-hand work as possible.

Pick out some sight-reading from your Jigs & Reels book.

Fri 4^th July 2025

Grade 6 Violin – 121/150 Merit 🥳

Things to work on:

Thu 3^rd July 2025

Remember to cut your nails before tomorrow!

Toreador

• Be dramatic, and really go for it in the f passages.

Moderato

• Keep the articulation crisp all the way to the end.

Scales

• When playing separate bows, aim for a strong tone in the middle of the bow.
• In the 7-note slurs, start at the heel and think heavy with your bow rather than speeding through it.
• For the dominant and diminished sevenths, know your intervals before you start!
• In the double stop scale, keep it completely legato.

Thu 26^th June 2025

Scales

• Make a scale jar to help.
• Try to keep your bow bold, even in the high positions, and even on scales you’re less sure of.

Sight Reading

• Aim for 2 a day from now until your exam. Give yourself 2 minutes at first, then cut it down by 30s each day until you get to 30s.
• Start with the scale to get your ear and fingers in gear.

Aural

• Try as many exercises as you can, and send me a message if you need any tips.

Toreador

• Add the dynamics now.
• 13-14 tonality.
• 21 notes.
• Shorter crotchets at 26.
• 34-35 keep moving – don’t let the grace note slow you down.
• 41 is great – just push through those last 2 notes to propel you into the next bar!
• Practice 46-49 lots for the bowing.

Ladies in Lavender

• Hold your violin up to free your left elbow.
• You first note was beautiful, until you kicked your bow change! That was the only thing that stuck out in the first section.
• Vib end of 15.
• Retake in bar 19, just like you did beautifully in 51.
• Poco accel 30 – play from memory a bit more to get it really secure.
• Whatever happens at 33, keep going. You’ll be able to tell from the first few notes whether it’s worked or not!
• In general, work on your bow distribution from 54 to the end (especially trying not to crunch with your bow at the end of 55).

Moderato

• This sounds so crisp – well done!
• Work on the bowing of bar 19.
• Shift sooner in 28.
• Try to keep rhythmic security 36-39.

Thu 19^th June 2025

Sight Reading

• Ask yourself: does this tempo direction suggest that I should use vibrato?
• Make sure you’ve registered the key signature info for each octave you’ll play in.
• Scan the piece for sections that should be in other positions and try to memorise where the shifts are.
• Count yourself in really carefully before you start.

Ladies in Lavender

• In general, really well done! Your timing is really musical.
• However, there is probably about 40% of the ideal amount of vibrato at the moment. Aim for crotchets, dotted crotchets and longer.
• Imagine what you want the first note to sound like before you play. Then practice the first bar and a half several times, analysing it carefully.
• A more graceful retake in 19.
• At bar 30, play from memory and listen to the sound quality just before each bow change.
• Work on nailing the G# in bar 33.
• Remember to start the scale in 34 in tempo, and broaden out slightly towards the top. Try to make both the up bows and down sound as strong as each other, and spend some time on the last 4 notes, going up and down, for smooth shifting.
• Work on your sound from 35. It sounds very shy and unsure. It should sound bold and passionate, maybe even slightly heroic! Aim for a consistent tone throughout each bow, with flat bow hair and a straight bow, and rounded bow changes.
• Practice 54-57 for security of the top notes.

Bizet

• Work on finding the first note securely at 19.
• Inject a bit more confidence into your sound – just go for it!

Thu 12^th June 2025

Scales

• Work mainly on your 7ths. Always be thinking about the intervals – minor 3rds, major 3rds, tones or semitones.
• In the double stop scale, aim to keep the tone (weight of the bow) consistent throughout the whole bow. It should be pretty legato.

Toreador

• Pick out any precarious shifts and work on them systematically.

Ladies in Lavender

• See how wide you can push your dynamic range.

Moderato

• Play the first 8 notes a few times with your eyes closed, until you’re really pleased that the sound quality of each note matches.

Tue 27^th May 2025

Scales

• Let me know if you need any help with these.
• Focus on sound quality and intonation.
• Think before you play.

Openings

• Practice the first phrase of each piece 10 times in a row.

Ladies in Lavender

• Strength of tone – more sure with your bow.
• Confidence of high notes, so go over those patches a lot.

Moderato

• Good work on character! See if you can get this even stronger.

Toreador

• Confidence in your high notes.
• Look ahead at all times.
• Look the part!

Thu 15^th May 2025

Moderato

• Start each playthrough of this by stopping and thinking about the main technical and musical features.
• Keep spikiness in mind in the staccato bars.
• In these bars, always look ahead so you know what your next minim is.
• Aim for a flawless run-through each time you practice – any errors, stop immediately and write something in to help you next time.

Ladies in Lavender

• Think of the melody before you begin, to help with the flow.
• Your vibrato on the long notes is really developing now – keep thinking about it even on the quavers.
• Think of a new atmosphere for the upbeat to bar 20, and see how smoothly you can change strings.
• Aim for a super-smooth shift in bar 30.
• Keep working on your memorisation of bars 30-34.
• Work on the tuning of bar 34, especially finding the tuning of the 2nd A.
• As you’re playing this middles section from memory, be listening out really carefully for tuning and sound quality.
• Spend some time on the shifting and tuning in bar 42.
• Practice from 54 with the aim to make the link between every note sound beautiful.

Tue 6^th May 2025

Ladies in Lavender

• Imagine the sound quality before you start. Then aim to achieve that with the way you’re moving your bow.
• Remember to vibrato on your 4th finger.
• Keep using your vibrato in the section 16-23.
• Try not to hesitate on the last notes of 30, 31 and 32.
• Keep working on memorising the middle section.
• From 34, be really strict with yourself about tuning.
• Make sure you’re shifting correctly in bar 38.
• Once you’ve really locked the tuning in, think a bit more about your bow and how you can get a richer sound quality in this section.
• Keep the vibrato going all the way through the piece – especially from 41 onwards!

Vivaldi

• Don’t leave this piece behind! Stay consistent with your metronome progress.

Toreador

• Make sure you know the correct articulation for your first bar.
• Also experiment with achieving the written articulation at bar 7.
• Aim for a much more legato line from bar 19.
• At 30, remember that p doesn’t mean slower! Use smaller, lighter bows.
• Don’t slow down at the top of your scale in 41 – it might benefit from a bit of troubleshooting again, one beat at a time and in rhythms.

Thu 1^st May 2025

Moderato

• For the staccato quavers, aim for a really crisp articulated sound, and experiment with finding the right part of your bow for this.

Toreador

• Know what you’re doing with your bow at all times – be bold!

Ladies in Lavender

• Keep doing what you’re doing!

Thu 24^th April 2025

Vivaldi

• Practice this exclusively with the metronome, set at 50. Make a note of which sections you can play easily at this speed, and work hard on the sections which you can’t.
• Going into bar 10, try to place your 3rd finger on both strings.
• Try to do some small retakes in the rests in 10 and 11, so that you’re in the right part of the bow for bar 12.
• Take a closer look at the tones and semitones in the scales at fig. E.

Ladies in Lavender

• Start your practice at bar 30.
• See if you can memorise this section, up to bar 35.
• Find something reflective so you can keep an eye on your posture as you play through the memorised sections.
• Practice finding the G# at 33 the way we did in the lesson, singing the G# before you play it.
• Learn the scale in bar 33 by working out the hand shapes on each string.

Thu 3^rd April 2025

Moderato

• Think at all times in this piece about where in the bow you should be.
• Make sure the tempo stays consistent – it should be like a machine!
• Make sure all double stops are fully sustained and in tune (especially the crotchets).
• Practice from 29 to work on keeping good clarity as you descend to the G string. Careful not to rush once you’ve got to the G string.
• Also practice slowly from 32 for reliable bowing and clear finger-work.

Toreador’s Song

• For at least one practice session, make dynamics your main focus.
• Never start playing this piece without thinking about which part of the bow you should play in.
• Practice 17-20, 17 & 18 for pure intonation and 20 for the mechanics of the shift).
• Work on your timing 28-30, especially counting the rest.
• In 38-40, add real character with the staccati, and be very precise with finger placement on the string crossings.
• Try not to slow down at the top of the scale at 41 – sing the scale in your head and make your left hand keep up! You may like to build this scale backwards from the crotchet at the top, like we did in the lesson.
• 44 longer crotchets.
• Work on your shifts in the section from 46. Make sure you’ve thought about all your ghost notes so that you are really confident.
• Sweep your audience away with the the last 3 bars! Spend special attention on this so that it’s bullet-proof, using rhythms in some practises, and building it up note by note for intonation in other sessions.

Tue 25^th March 2025

Listen to all your pieces over the holidays so that you get a real feel for the tempi and the light and shade of character.

Ladies in Lavender

• Imagine the sound quality before you start, including how you want the vibrato to sound.
• You should even go as far as singing the opening phrase in your head before you play. This will help the melody flow better.
• Make sure the listener knows that the crotchets in 15 have tenuto lines on them – imagine emphasis in an actor’s speech.
• At 30, use the long notes to plan ahead with your fingering. Practice the shifts in 31 and 32 until they are really solid.
• Every time you practice, use a tuner and play two patches for shifting accuracy – last 4 notes of 32 up to the G# in 33, then once you’ve got that 5 times in a row, start at the same place but continue to the low E in bar 34.
• Be brave in bar 34 and push yourself to play the double notes faster – relax your shoulder to help with this.
• Can you get the phrase from 35 to flow just as well as the opening?
• Prioritise rhythm and bowing from 35-40, using the metronome until it feels completely secure.
• Practice 45-46 for note and bowing accuracy.
• Work on the dramatic timing of 51-52.
• Practice your subtle bow change at 53.
• Get to know the last section more comfortably.

Thu 20^th March 2025

Vivaldi

• Find your metronome chart.
• Listen to the opening bar – start boldly, remembering to put a slight gap between each note.
• Think about the timing in bar 3, 9, 29 and others – don’t rush over the rest, and this will help with any anxiety you’re feeling.
• Listen for clarity in all your semiquavers, especially on any single notes that are on a different string.
• Tuning in bar 7 (F naturals).
• Work from C on staying in the lower half of the bow.
• Play bars 12 and 13 listening to sound quality – how can you use your bow better?
• At E, breathe with your bow in all the rests.
• Practice fig. E in rhythms to get really familiar with the notes.
• In 22, 23 and 24, make sure the quavers are all in time.
• F naturals in 24.
• Refamiliarise yourself with the notes from fig. G.
• Start each time at I with an up bow.
• Work on your tuning at J and K.
• Rhythm at L and into N – count in quavers, and enjoy the contrast between the light notes and the legato crotchets.
• Breathe and count at O.
• Work on the notes at O and P.
• 58 position.

Thu 13^th February 2025

Locatelli

• When practising the central quaver section, keep an ear out for sound quality.
• Careful with your tuning in the quaver passage from the bottom of p.2.
• Practice the 2nd line of the last page, for the shift and the retake.
• Work on the 2 bars before the final recapitulation for clarity of bow and tuning.

Don’t forget to spring clean your exam music!

Vivaldi

• Fill in your metronome chart please!

Toreador

• Will the examiner know what the dynamics are without looking?
• Channel your inner Toreador!
• Work on getting the tuning of bar 21 really secure.

Thu 6^th February 2025

Locatelli

• Practice the middle quavery bit the most!
• Keep your crotchets punchy.

Vivaldi Allegro

• Don’t hold back with your dynamics at the start!
• Practice your bow stroke for your semiquavers on one note before you work on section B. Once you add the notes in, see if you can keep the sound strong throughout.
• For the semiquaver sections, find a speed at which you can play everything without any stumbles.
• Practice fig. F for timing of your quaver upbeats and accuracy of notes.
• Practice G carefully for tuning of F naturals and accidentals. Be especially careful when a note is repeated a few times. It usually ends up in tune, but needs to be more accurate the first time you play it.
• At fig. I, make sure the quavers are the right speed.
• As well as the notes, work on the bow distribution at J. Think about how it sounds – the down bows shouldn’t stick out.
• Work on O to the end slowly so that your bow doesn’t end up upside-down!

Tue 28^th January 2025

A reminder from last week: try to be playing each piece at least once every 3 practice sessions.

Keep reminding yourself to keep your violin up.

Vivaldi Allegro

Have another Vivaldi day.

Moderato

• As we have time on our side, and you are almost exactly up to speed now, but there are still a few corners which need tidying up. We can tidy up those corners by playing it all at a controlled lower speed. Set the metronome to quaver=180 for now. Careful not to rush in the easy bits! Think poise and steadiness.
• Practice bar 28 quite a few times for a clean shift.

Toreador

• Keep working just from bar 30.
• Practice the shifts in 34-35, thinking about your 2nd finger on the downward shift (maybe practising it the way we did in the lesson, just up to the A and without the grace note).
• Practice perfecting the bow distribution in 36, in preparation for 37.
• Don’t rush into your 1st position shift in 38 – cut the long note short enough so you can move comfortably.
• Don’t let the retakes slow you down in 30-34 and 42-46. The music continues over the rests.
• Get the retake into your system at 41. Combine this with Lego practice (1 note at a time), starting at bar 40 and building from the beginning of the scale.
• Make sure you play straight quavers at the end of 36 & 48.
• Get used to your new fingering at 50 & 51.
• When playing to the end, count your rests out loud so you get used to how to come in at bar 55.

Thu 23^rd January 2025

Try now to be playing each piece at least once every 3 practice sessions.

Vivaldi Allegro

• Have another Vivaldi day.

Moderato

• Start with your bow on the string.
• Try to give the first notes of bars like 3 and 5 as much definition as the first note of the piece.
• Practice from 22 to get used to the new bowing at bar 26.

Toreador

• Work from bar 30 this week.
• Remember this tune is not staccato!
• Work on the new fingerings 30-32 and 34-35.
• In 34, play the first 4 notes of the bar quite a few times and listen for the clarity of the C. Next, add the B and listen for the clarity and intonation of both the C and the B.

Tue 14^th January 2025

Sit down with a rubber and pencil and tidy up your music a little. Give it a spring clean!

Ladies in Lavender

• Work on tuning in the opening section, especially the F#s.
• Keep building up your confidence in bars 33 and 34.

Moderato

• Remember to check your bow hold before you start.
• Shorten the tie slightly at the start of the 4/4 sections, giving you a slight break to set your bow on the string. Then use less bow in the slurs, leaning on the first of each paired slur.
• Aim for shorter staccato quavers in the 4/4 bars.
• Work on 32-35 slowly for tuning.
• Practice from 39 to get your left hand ready sooner on the rests. Listen out for tuning as you do this too.

Toreador’s Song

• The opening should be halfway between staccato and tenuto.
• Work on fluency of melody between 11 and 12 – don’t let the sift slow you down. Keep the grace notes nice and short.
• For bar 17, play a G flat major arpeggio slowly a few times to really get your ear acclimatised to it.

Thu 9^th January 2025

Ladies in Lavender

• Warm your vibrato up before you start with a few exercises. Start by loosening up the top joint of each finger by bouncing it against your thumb. Then slide your hand up and down, the way you were doing already. Then try the E minor 1 octave scale with 8 quavers on each note, 12 quaver triplets on each note, semiquavers on each note etc. until it turns into fluent vibrato.
• In the piece, keep the bow strong even though you are concentrating on the left hand for vibrato purposes.
• In the opening section, think about where you want to make bow changes obvious, and where you want to make them a bit more.
• Practice bars 19-23 for smooth bow and string changes.
• Careful not to to get too slow whilst concentrating on the vibrato.
• Work on adding some light and shade to the first section’s dynamics.
• For the middle section, work on playing a really resonant G minor scale with a heavy bow arm and high sounding point (aka fairly close to the bridge).
• Work in bar 32 on saving your bow at the start of the slur so you have enough room for the crescendo.
• Work in detail on the scales at 33 and 34.
• Memorise them!

Thu 19^th December 2024

Download the music here (at the bottom of the page and start having a look at Pizzicato by Delibes.

Thu 12^th December 2024

Dance of the Snowmen

• Go for confident snowmen, not shy ones! Use flat bow hair to achieve this.
• Make the staccatos really spiky to give even more character.

Toreador’s Song

• Play through once, then go back and work on any parts which feel less secure, working on tuning and a bold bow.

Thu 14^th November 2024

Toreador’s Song

• Warm up with F minor, thinking ahead so that it flows better.
• In the opening phrase, see if you can make all the quavers the same length – try the first notes a bit longer than you’ve been playing them.
• At bar 7, make sure you know your tones and semitones.
• Practice 11-14 slowly and gently for precise tuning.
• Work on your tuning in bar 17, especially making the tones big enough.
• For bars 26-27, make sure your bow hold is right! Retake in the quaver rests.
• Save bow on the long note 28-29 and diminuendo.
• Create a new mood at 30, with less bow and closer to the fingerboard.
• In bars 32 and 45, keep your string crossings shallow.
• Watch out for the double up bows in section.
• In 36, use bow distribution to get to the tip at the end of the bar.
• Practice bar 41 in rhythms.
• Watch out in the second half that all even quavers are even.
• Practice 55 with rhythms.

Thu 14^th November 2024

Moderato

• Start with a beautiful bow hold – a curved little finger and thumb, and the middle and ring fingers curved over the stick.
• Look at the details of this piece under a magnifying glass, like we did in the lesson, and make each bar as good as it can possibly be.
• In the staccato bars, make no audible difference between down and up bows, and try to match the sound quality between the D and G strings.
• Imagine the examiner has a pencil and a sheet of music with no articulation. Could they add the dots in all the right places? Especially in passages like bars 6-9.
• Practice 12-15 for rhythm and clarity in 14 and intonation (with curved fingers) in 15.
• In 16, move the bow to the fingerboard for the mp and use smaller bows.
• At 19, make sure you’re slurring 3 crotchets. After that, practice your upper half p staccato.
• Can you get the articulation in bar 24 as good as 22?
• Work on the tuning of your B in 25, preferably with a tuner. Be aware of how your left hand feels as you travel up to 3rd position – does the base of your thumb bump the nose?
• To work on the transition at 28, play from 25 with a break in the middle of 26.
• Work on 32-35 under tempo to help with fluency.

Mon 4^th November 2024

Vivaldi Allegro

• A general point in this piece – if a phrase finishes with two quavers, make sure there is a slight lift between them.
• A – keep the F# at the end of this section nice and high.
• B – watch the tuning in this section – check the C naturals and F#s with a tuner in 3 and 4, and the F naturals in bar 6.
• C – play the single quavers on 12 and 13 over the fingerboard.
• D – be confident about the shift to the C natural.
• E – you’re very nearly there with the notes – it just needs a tiny bit more confidence. Try not to wait too long on the semiquaver rests.
• F – think carefully about the rhythm of your upbeats here.
• G – be very clear with your finger position for F naturals vs. the F#. This needs to feel like one long uninterrupted line – practice with a metronome, straight and in rhythms.
• H – this should feel really grounded. Work on being really secure on your shift to 2nd position.
• *I – be mindful of your tuning here and try not to slow down on string crossings (practice with open strings if you need to!). Listen out for the rhythm of the quavers too.
• J – don’t let the bowing disturb a solid quaver pulse.
• K – feel more relaxed and be very mindful of tuning especially of the E flats. Link this to the next section for your rhythm at the start of bar 42.
• L – make sure the semiquavers are snappy, leading smoothly into the next bar. In bar 43, don’t disturb your hand shape and you’ll easily find the pitches for the semiquavers.
• M – make this sound as poised as the start, but then surprise us all by not resting at the start of bar 48 – use that quaver as a springboard into the next crotchet.
• N – count better!
• O – tuning of the C naturals and F#s.
• P – jumping between registers seamlessly, and not holding the trill for too long.
• Q – keeping the crotchet pulse the same in bar 58.

Thu 31^st October 2024

Allegro

• Designate a Vivaldi day to really blitz this. The notes just need to be learnt! Pick it apart and hone in on tuning and fluency.

Toreador’s Song

• Get much more secure of your positions and rhythm so that the accompaniment won’t rock you!

Ladies in Lavender

• Practice bars 33 and 34 EVERY time you practice, even if you don’t play the rest of the piece!

Thu 17^th October 2024

Allegro

• Remember to warm up with G minor scale and arpeggio 3 octaves. Make sure it flows and is at a good speed. Practice the arpeggio too, focusing again on flow and the tuning of the B flats.
• Take a proper breath in bar 3.
• For now, err on the side of playing everything strong in this piece.
• From bar 18, careful of your rhythm on the 1st beat of the bar.
• From 21, make sure the beat is clear.
• Be as in tune as humanly possible from bar 32 onwards!
• From the middle of 52, try to keep the semiquavers flowing without a gap between low an high registers.
• Not too early on the trill in bar 56 (but place the semiquaver after the trill in exactly the right place).

Toreador’s Song

• Make sure the character you give to the first note lasts through the whole of the first phrase.
• Take much more care over your tuning in the whole of this piece.
• Don’t rush over your rests.

Thu 19^th September 2024

Please send me your theory paper for me to mark.

Ladies in Lavender

• Check the metronome mark before you start – you were going too slow before.
• Thinking of one of your musical theatre heroines singing the opening phrase. What sort of tone would they have in their voice? Think mainly about how you can use your bow to achieve this.
• Try not to snow-plough into the string at the end of your up bows.
• Watch the bowing in bar 7.
• In bar 32, try to save bow at the start of the slur so that you can crescendo on your slur.
• Spend a long time with strong, long bows and a tuner, working on the 4 notes in bars 32 and 33.
• Next, work on the second part of bar 33 with my metronome advice.
• Work on bar 34’s weak link (the top shift) with single notes. Try to bring your left thumb under to get you ready for the next section.
• Make sure you’re using the ghost note in bar 38.
• Work on your bow distribution in bar 50 to get a good crescendo and to get to the heel for the next bar.
• Try to summon up the start of “My Way” for bar 52.
• Get more familiar with the big intervals in the final section.

Tue 10^th September 2024

Listen to all your pieces every day please.

Please cut your nails asap!

Theory

• Try the practice paper in your book. I’ll then mark the whole book next week and you can have a go at the online practice paper.

Please think about your posture as a constant focus this term. It will improve rhythm, sound quality, intonation, confidence…… the list goes on!

Allegro

• Play your warm-up scale with a confident tone – all the way through! This means bowing a little closer to the bridge and try to keep your bow hair as flat as possible.
• For now, err on the side of playing everything strong in this piece.
• Work through this piece with a fine tooth-comb, using your newly-honed interval knowledge to help you place your fingers in tune.

Moderato

• Check your bow hold before you start and make sure your right shoulder is relaxed.
• Try to get your spiccato off the string a bit more. Practice some of the bowing patterns from the piece on your open A string. Never start this exercise until you’ve sorted your right shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers though!
• Once you’ve done this practice, work on the bowing at bar 16.

Toreador’s Song

• Think “character” before you start.
• In the opening phrase, make sure the grace notes don’t interrupt the flow.
• In bar 17, go lower with your Gbs.
• Practice finding your way from bar 24 to bar 25.
• Before practising the section at bar 30, play an F major scale with the hooked bowing like bar 31.
• In bar 47, make sure the start of the crotchet rest is clear of sound.

Tue 16^th July 2024

Ladies in Lavender

• In your vibrato warm-up, make sure the movement keeps coming from your elbow and not from your wrist. Keep your violin up nice and high whilst you warm up too.
• Work on finding your starting note silently from scratch (place the 3rd finger on D, replace with your 1st finger whilst keeping your hand shape, then place the 2 tones above that to find the F#).
• For the scale at 33, keep practising it in the same way you have been, but try to do it at the right speed. This will mean you need to stay on each stage for a bit longer, but the more you do it, the stronger a foundation you will have.
• Practice the shifts in 34 in more detail, like we did in the lesson.
• See how curved your fingers can be at 35.
• Work on making the tenuto notes in 47 (and 15) sound markedly different.
• Work on the bowing from 54.
• See how connected you can make the last 2 notes.

Toreador’s Song

• In the opening section, make sure there’s poise and energy in every note. Be careful not to hang notes on for too long into the rests too. Play everything in the lower half of the bow.
• For the intonation at 13-14, play the notes on the piano first to see how they should sound.
• Become more familiar with the notes at bar 17.
• From bar 31, try to unlearn the articulation you’ve been singing for the last few years! The first crotchet of each bar should be a little longer.
• Also from bar 31, focus on bowing. You will often need to do a retake in the rests.
• Think about rhythm, pulse, bow control and musical direction in the last 3 bars.

Thu 27^th June 2024

Moderato

• Give the minims more bite by landing the bow squarely on the string in the rest and giving it a hard consonant at the beginning.
• Practice the 3 melodic sections for left hand neatness and bow clarity.
• Take more notice of the dynamics.
• Make the end the most exciting part.

Ladies in Lavender

• See if you can find your starting note silently this week.
• Spend some time on the first bar or 2 working on finding the right sound quality.
• When adding vibrato, make sure your thumb is staying in contact with the violin.

Thu 27^th June 2024

Richter

• Keep starting your practice with this.

Vivaldi

• Start your practice with the next metronome mark up. Only tick the ones that were easy – work on the others over the rest of the week!

Ladies in Lavender

• Warm up for this with a 2 octave D major scale and arpeggio.
• This piece needs vibrato everywhere! I didn’t hear any today.
• Practice the bow distribution in bar 10.
• Tuning bar 14.
• Plan your bow distribution in bar 19.
• Count bars 20&21 carefully.
• The start of section 2 is a bow distribution place – get to the tip on the long notes and plan your bow speed carefully in the quavers.
• In 32, shift your whole hand so that your F octave is set up properly.
• Do the work for bar 33.
• Be confident of your notes in bar 34, and try to bring your whole hand up into 6th position at the end as you shift your 2nd finger.
• From bar 35 you HAVE to curve your fingers or the tuning is going to be different every time. Practice this slowly and keep an eye on your left hand.
• Just a little reminder from last week: In bar 38, play the first 3 notes of arpeggio to help with the high shift.
• In section 3, focus mainly on bow distribution (looking ahead).

Toreador Song

• Play the opening with trumpet-like confidence.
• Showcase the articulation from bar 7.
• Add these characters to each alternating section.

Thu 20^th June 2024

Technical focus for the week: Curve your left hand fingers.

Richter Moderato

• Keep starting your practice with this – it’s paying off! 😊
• See if you can get the staccato notes spikier.
• Really make sure you feel the 4 beats in bar 6 clearly.
• Make the bowing your priority this week, especially in bars like 8.
• Aim for the focused sound you got in your lesson, playing nearer the heel with good energy.

Vivaldi Allegro

• I’ll leave you to this – please make sure you’ve at least ticked off the first column of your metronome chart by next lesson.

Ladies in Lavender

• Really stop and think about intervals when shifting and getting used to the melodic line in this piece. Ask yourself the questions I ask you in your lessons!
• Play bars 30-33 and the second half of 34 to get used to the fingering we’ve decided on.
• If you struggle with the last beat of 34, sing it a few times.
• For the scale in bar 33, work almost up to speed but starting with just 2 notes. Hold the second note so you can hear the tuning really clearly. Start at the tip every time.
• In melodies like the one at 35, think about bow distribution. You’ll need a slower bow in the 2nd half of the bar.
• In bar 38, play the first 3 notes of arpeggio to help with the high shift.

Toreador Song

• Keep working on the 1st section lots.

Thu 13^th June 2024

Try to play every piece this week, and make sure you’re listening to them loads. Here’s an overview of how everything’s going:

Vivaldi Allegro – Needs much better knowledge of the notes.

Toreador Song – Make sure your mind and fingers are securely in F minor before you start!

Ladies in Lavender – Notes need to be much more secure.

Richter Moderato – This is the strongest piece, but also the shortest so start each practice session with this, then choose a piece to review, then choose a main piece to work on.

Vivaldi Allegro

• Go for better contact between the bow and string in the semiquaver passages.
• Let’s split this into bite-sized sections for easier, more focused practice.
• Work on each section with a metronome.
• Make sure the key signature is always in your mind, and that you are interpreting natural signs correctly – are they telling you to play the note higher or lower?

Toreador Song

• From bar 30, give your crotchets more length.
• Also from bar 30, be picky about the printed bowings.
• Work from bar 42 to get more secure with the higher iteration of the melody.
• Work on your scale at 55 in blocks.

Ladies in Lavender

• Remember the beginning needs to be strong in character despite being smooth and not too loud.
• Become an expert at the opening section. Once you know you understand all the fingerings and shifts, move onto section 2 or 3.

Richter Moderato

• Start every practice session with this piece!
• Aim to get the contrasting sections up to the same speed as your repeated section.

Wed 29^th May 2024

Find your theory book and get as much done as you can! It would be great to get the exam done in a few month’s time.

Ladies in Lavender

• Do some of our old vibrato exercises before you start.
• Think of the sound you want to hear before you start. there should always be a core to the sound. This will inform your vibrato too (remembering to keep your thumb on).
• Cantabile = singing.
• Practice 1-23 and 41-end in one practice session, then 30-40 in another so that the whole piece gets practised regularly.

Richter Moderato

• Curve your right little finger before you start and practice the articulation of bar 1, really near the heel.
• Practice bars 6-9 with a metronome, one bar at a time at first, then all 4 bars together. Be really picky about tuning, bowing and articulation. Start at crotchet=80. Once it’s comfortable, up the tempo by 10. Then practice 26-28 and 32-35 the same way.
• Work on 16-25 slowly, taking note of the bowings.

Vivaldi Allegro

• Remind yourself how this goes!

Tue 7^th May 2024

Put some nail scissors in your violin case for emergencies!

Get your theory out of your school bag please!

Listen to your exam pieces as much as you can (make a playlist!).

Toreador

• Play your warm-up scales as beautifully as possible, as if you were playing them in a concert.
• Before practising the first section, listen to a recording of the opening and see if you can take any inspiration for how to articulate the passage.
• In bar 17, think lots about tuning, and make the triplet a bit broader in bar 18.
• Sing a C at the end of bar 18 to help you find the starting note of 19.
• Great work on the notes from 19! It’s sounding a bit hesitant though, so play it lots until you feel safe.
• At 26, make a real difference between the length of the crotchets and quavers.
• Be aware of the bowing in 30-33.
• Work on getting the notes following the harmonic in bar 34 nice and clear.
• Make sure you’re getting to the tip at the end of bar 36.
• Practice the retake at the start of bar 41.
• Practice bar 55, choose a speed that matches the rest of the piece. Play the first 4 notes, take a crotchet rest break, then the next 4, crotchet rest, next 4, crotchet rest, downbeat.
• The next stage for bar 55 is to just play the first 4 notes in tempo, then play the first 5 notes, then the first 6 etc.

Ladies in Lavender

• Keep the quaver pulse going in your head so that the dotted crotchets are correct.
• See how much vibrato you can add into this, without letting the intonation suffer.
• Learn as far as bar 23.

Thu 25^th April 2024

Toreador

• When playing your warm-up scales, try your best not to slide your fingers.
• Don’t forget to play more than just the F minor scale.
• Try not to slow down for the shift in your first bar.
• Practice getting from bar 6 to bar 7, using shifting exercises to help solidify it.
• Try not to guess tones and semitones.
• Give some length to the crotchets from 26.

Moderato

• Add Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance to your playlist.
• Practice bar 1, then 3, 5 (plus 1 note). Focus on tuning.
• Next, practice bar2, 4 and 6-9.

Thu 18^th April 2024

It’s time to cut your nails!

Do some theory for next lesson.

Listen to your exam pieces as much as you can.

Toreador’s Song

• Play all F minor-related scales and arpeggios to warm up (chromatics, sevenths etc.). If you’re fumbling around for notes on any of them, make sure you know the note names.
• In the opening section, make sure you’re on the lookout for A flats and D flats.
• Think about the intervals in bars 7 and 8 before you play them.
• Practice getting from the last note of bar 10 to the first note of 11 accurately.
• Get used to the first 3 notes of bar 21 by singing them a few times and really think about the intervals.
• Aim for precise dotted rhythms in 22 and 24.
• Get used to the bowing at 28.
• Make sure you play bar 30 in 2nd position.
• At 34, make sure you reach up a whole tone for the harmonic.
• Be very aware of the bowing in the section from 30.
• Learn the semiquaver scale at 55 thinking of where the semitones are.
• Nice and concise on the last note.

Let’s look at Ladies in Lavender next lesson.

Mon 25^th March 2024

Start looking at Toreador’s Song, Moderato and Ladies in Lavender.

Vivaldi

• Keep working on the same things.

Mon 18^th March 2024

Vivaldi Allegro

• Write f for the opening dynamic.
• Keep an eye on your bow hold.
• In bars 1-3, play boldly but with gaps between the crotchets and quavers, but keep the semiquavers on the string.
• Bar 4: make me sure that you know it’s a C natural!
• Before working on the semiquaver section, play a 1 octave G minor scale with 4 semiquavers on each note, aiming for a really bold sound, just above the middle of the bow. Then work a bar at a time aiming for this bow stroke, always asking yourself if the tuning sounds right.
• Work on the rollercoaster phrasing from the upbeat to bar 10, and write a tenuto line on the first note of the 1st and 3rd beats in bars 10 and 11.
• In bar 12, please write a 4 on the E natural and a note to bring your elbow forward to help reach it.
• In bar 13, let the appoggiatura take up a whole quaver of the trill.

Thu 14^th March 2024

Vivaldi Allegro

• Warm up with G minor scale and arpeggio, 3 octaves.
• Before you start the piece, set your fingers for the first 3 notes.
• Makes sure the tempo relationship between bars 1 and 2 is always really well thought-out – think in quavers to help with this.
• In time, we’ll get some lift to all the quavers – you can start thinking about that now if you like!
• Try not to complicate the bowing in 10 and 11!
• Play bar 12 a few times to get used to the weird D flat!
• Work on 17-20 CAREFULLY so you play all the right notes.
• See how you get on with the 2nd page now too.

Wed 6^th March 2024

Buy the grade 6 book.

Ostinato in the Key of Jazz

• Pick out any parts where the tuning or notes are unsure and troubleshoot those few bars.
• Keep checking your bow hold, posture and which part of the bow you’re playing in as often as you can.
• Work on the bow control and dynamics in 31-34.
• Work on your tuning in 35-38, especially the Es.

Mon 26^th February 2024

Ostinato in the Key of Jazz

• Use the lower half more to help you get a strong sound.
• Be on the hunt for G#s – almost all of them need to be higher.
• Don’t play G#s in bar 22 and 23 please!
• Think about your tuning in bar 24.
• Focus on the rhythm of your tied quavers – they are normally too long.

Mon 19^th February 2024

Ostinato in the Key of Jazz

• Always aim nice and high with your G#s.
• In bar 9, make sure you keep your F natural really low despite what your 3rd finger is up to.
• Work on the whole thing, remembering good posture and bow hold as you go.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Play your warm-up scale of C minor proudly, with a lovely curved bow hold.
• Count the quavers in bar 11 so that the pulse doesn’t change.
• Make sure bar 19 is louder than the start.
• Check last lesson’s notes for other things to work on.

Mon 5^th February 2024

Night Song and Pantomime

• Check last week’s notes what to work on in your C minor scale.
• Sink the bow into the string to get a good strong sound – keep the forearm heavy but the should relaxed.
• Your tempo for the first section is spot on – keep the quaver pulse going in your head from line 2 to line 3.
• Remember to think about the speed of the beat at bar 25, so you don’t play the minim too long.
• Make a difference between the sound of the p and mp in the opening section.
• Work on the second section in little chunks, as marked in this lesson.
• Practice from 32 with a strong sound and with the metronome set to 50. Aim to get all the character in despite the slow tempo. Take the time this gives you to really look at all the details too.
• Go through the second section once just looking out for retakes.
• Work on the up bow accents in 57-59.
• Practice 61 carefully, working out how far your 2nd finger needs to shift and how far your 3rd finger needs to reach.

Mon 29^th January 2024

Night Song and Pantomime

• The tuning of your C minor scale was fab! Work on tone now – curve the thumb and little finger on your bow and use a heavy bow arm. Your bow hold should be round, firm and soft.
• Remind yourself of you bow hold again as you start to play the piece.
• Your sound at the start of the piece is great now – one little thing to make it even better is to make sure you’re not kicking the quaver at the end of the down bow. Imagine the sound is the surface of a still lake that you don’t want to disturb!
• Let go to shift as soon you hit the open D at the start of bar 9, then make sure you really KNOW the gaps between Bb, Ab and G.
• Make sure the shift at 21 is a definite tone shift, letting your thumb lead the way.
• Be deliberate with your crescendo at 23 so you don’t accidentally diminuendo.
• Check your bow hold again at the Furious and fast section.
• Aim for a rougher, more boisterous sound in this section.
• To make all the “odd” notes sound right, be really pernickety about intonation and play strongly.
• If you’re finding any retakes tricky to get into your system, try playing the passage with semiquavers in the place of the quaver a few times.
• Makes sure the accents in 57-59 are all on up bows and that you’re giving them a good kick.
• Work on getting the notes in 61 really secure, making sure to shift properly in the middle of the bar.
• Really give the accents in bar 73 some welly!

Mon 15^th January 2024

Ave Maria

• Keep doing the vibrato warm-up at the top of the piece.
• Next, play a C major scale in 2nd position, focusing on posture (violin height, bow hold, left wrist etc.).
• Start this at bar 38 rather than the beginning.
• When you start playing the piece, make sure each note is the right length.
• Use a punchy bow in bar 36.
• Get as clear on the notes and positions as you can this week.

Night Song and Pantomime

• Warm up with a C minor scale – make sure the tuning of your 6th and 7th notes is convincing! If you’re playing C melodic minor, remember to move your 6th and 7th lower as you hit the top note.
• Aim for a quiet yet strong sound.
• Make sure you follow the bowing at bar 12.
• Work in detail around bars 43-46 to make sure all the notes are correct.
• Work on the bowing 57-59.

Tue 5^th December 2023

Vivaldi Winter

• Think about posture and bow hold (with the middle fingers pointing downwards).
• Start the quavers in the upper half and use the lower half for the semiquavers.

Mon 27^th November 2023

Performing Vivaldi and Latin Lovers

Positive points

• You had a really good left hand shape, including your left wrist;
• Dynamics in the Latin piece.

Things to work on going forward:

• Bow hold;
• Standing with your feet slightly apart and your violin higher;
• Linking sections together;
• Left hand finger organisation – sharps, naturals or flats?

Practice technique going forward:

• Play the scale of the piece as a warm up. Maybe even take a rhythm or bowing technique and play the scale using that.
• Start by troubleshooting, then finish by running the piece.

Ave Maria

• Follow the warm up instructions and the top of the page.
• Practice the first 4 bars, experimenting with bow weight and left fingertip squeeze. What is the most beautiful sound you can make?

Night Song and Pantomime

• Learn the first section, up to the key change.
• Work on having a straight bow as you play this – think about this especially as you play the first two lines.
• Use the first melody to help you with how the melody should sound in the higher octave version.

Mon 13^th November 2023

For Latin Lovers

• Really put your all into the opening! Use more bow on the upbeats and aim more for the lower half of the bow.
• Practice the shift at bar 6.
• Use a little less bow at 18 so that we still have a strong sound despite the slightly lower dynamic.
• Get more familiar with the end – timing, tuning, bowing etc.

Mon 6^th November 2023

Theory

• In working out intervals, make sure you work out the number first, based on the letter names (2nd, 3rd, 4th etc.), then work out the description.

Scales

• For sound quality in the higher positions, check the sounding point (the bow’s proximity to bridge) and be a little heavier in your upper right arm.
• To help keep you in the right key on these high scales, make sure your left thumb is in the right place when you find your starting note.

For Latin Lovers

Keep working on Allegro, using last lesson’s notes.

Aim to have these completed by 27th November!

Mon 9^th October 2023

Allegro

• Please photocopy the page turn!
• In section A, aim for really contrasting dynamics. Remember the two ups at the end of bar 2.
• Work in detail on the scales in section B.
• In C, ramp up your dynamic contrasts!
• Really work on your loud playing at E – closer to the bridge, flatter hair and more bow. Work in the way you told me on bar 28.

Tue 26^th September 2023

Theory

• Have another go at the key signatures challenge on p.28.
• Re-do the “test your progress” section, plus the box underneath.
• Send me the next chapter at the start of next week.

Allegro

• Aim to be able to play each section through without stopping.
• If you tend to have regular stumbling blocks, troubleshoot those precise areas.

For Latin Lovers

• Always be mindful of tone and where you should be in the bow.
• Count in quavers.

Tue 19^th September 2023

Scales

• Check last week’s notes.

Vivaldi

• Study last week’s lesson notes alongside this week’s.
• In the first bar, play the first quaver long but then play all the others as if they were semiquavers followed by a semiquaver rest. To do this, use a bowl-shaped bow stroke.
• Keep being really careful about your notes in the scales at B.
• Practice the bar and a half at E like bar 5.
• In the passagework (like 24-27) keep the bow moving in neat, small movements.
• Keep looking for places where your finger movements can be more economical!

Mon 11^th September 2023

One more theory chapter for next time, plus the missed “challenge” in the previous chapter.

Scales

• Learn the 2 octave major, melodic minor and harmonic minors or C, E flat and F#.
• Always start with good posture (keep that elbow off your side!), and aim for a straight bow and good intonation.
• The higher the scale, the more prepared we need to be with our left elbow swinging early.

For Latin Lovers

• Work in detail on the notes in bar 8 like we did on your lesson, always making sure your Bs are in tune.
• Use a metronome on this piece now – find out what speed you have been going at, play it through a few times at that speed, then try to speed it up a little.

Vivaldi Allegro

• Think about bowings before you start.
• Keep your violin up at all times!
• Use the technique we used in your lesson to work on bar 5 – take a break after every 4 notes, then shift the rhythm so you’re pausing after a different note.
• Work from bar 7- 11 taking a break on each rest to look ahead – identifying the key of each scale may help make sense of them!
• Even though this is quite a new piece, try to play the dynamics already.
• 34 and 35 are in 1st position – try not to get too high.
• As this piece can be quite exhausting, try working in the sections that we wrote in in the lesson.

Mon 4^th September 2023

Well done on your theory! Looking forward to seeing the next chapter next lesson.

For Latin Lovers

• Become an expert on where your 1st fingers are in tune. We did this with the E string in your lesson using the tuner, but try it on the other strings too. First, find the nut with the middle crease on your 1st finger, then fold your finger over and check the note with the tuner. Try to remember any adjustments you have to make and on which strings – you’ll be sorted for life!
• In bars 2-3, try to keep your 2nd finger near the string as you go over onto the A string for the B.
• Try to add the accents now.
• Make sure your D# in bar 6 is a secure note, with no hint of your sliding finger in the sound.
• Be really careful with your tuning in bars 8 and 10.
• In bars 11-13, make sure you don’t accidentally go into a 3/8 time signature!
• Learn the rest of the the piece now.

Thu 31^st August 2023

Vivaldi Allegro (Grade 5 book)

• Warm up with G major, thinking about posture and a straight bow.
• From bar 7, be very mindful of sharps and naturals and use open strings, especially your 3rd fingers.
• Start all your trills on the upper note.
• We did up to bar 12. Work on this in detail, but also see much further you can get.

For Latin Lovers

• Learn the first page of this, using your knowledge of finger spacings to help you know what the notes should sound like.

Mon 17^th July 2023

Things to do in the holidays:

• Think about your posture much more – it would be great if we can really crack this over the next few months.
• Complete grade 4 theory.
• Check the comments on your grade 5 mark sheet against our Grade 4 targets at the top of this page. How many goals did you achieve?
• Start looking at the grade 6 scales.
• Work through more of your vibrato book and start using the sight reading book I gave you.
• Pick a page each practice session from the technique book I gave you, but play through each one mindfully.

Mon 10^th July 2023

Aural

• Read the back of the book

Sight reading

• Do lots!
• Sight reading is usually about 2 grades below what you’re playing, so if you have some grade 3 music at home you can use that if you run out of examples.
• Try to be bold with your bow.
• Really take the key signature on board – it needs to properly sink in before you try playing.

Mon 3^rd July 2023

Aural

• Learn the work rubato – this means the tempo is pulled around quite a bit.
• Read some of the answers for test C in the back of the book so that you have more vocabulary to talk about the style and period.

Sicilienne

• In the first section, work now on making the dynamics much more dramatic.
• With a strong sound, work on bars 15-18 from memory, thinking lots about where your thumb is and how far you’re shifting. Try putting a ghost note in at the end of each bar to make sure the shift is working properly.
• Remember the E natural at the end of the trill in bar 20!

Mon 26^th June 2023

Scales

• Check your metronome speeds.
• Use 4th fingers instead of open strings to avoid repeating or missing notes!
• Aim for a strong tone all the way up and down all scales and arpeggios – less bow and a heavier bow arm.
• Go through a few scales just with your left hand to work on light, curved fingers.
• In minors, make sure you know before you set off if you’re doing harmonic or melodic. The tuning is super important in these – try to think half an octave ahead.
• Practise finding your starting notes quicker.
• Think ahead at all times.
• PRACTISE YOUR 3 OCTAVE ARPEGGIOS making sure you know each shift inside out. Again try to keep your fingers curved.
• Practise your dominant sevenths with a tuner.
• See if you can play your chromatics with more flow so that it sounds like it belongs in a time signature.

Thu 22^nd June 2023

Folia

• Play variation 1 strongly – we’ve decided it is f.
• Remember not to delay on the trill in bar 31 – we want variation 1 to flow straight into variation 2.
• In variation 2, use each rest to really get your hand into shape for the next semiquavers.
• In variation 3, just keep working in the way you have been, listening for the sound quality of he double stops. Great triplets!
• In variation 4, practise with a metronome. Find the speed you can play it at with no hesitations and work your way up from there.

Mon 12^th June 2023

Sicilienne

• Check the metronome mark before you start. I actually think it might be a little too fast, but certainly aim for it.
• Remember to keep your thumb on the neck as you do your vibrato.
• It’s easy to forget about a flowing bow as we think about vibrato, so be conscious of this.
• First shift at 15.
• Work on the shifts in 15-17 to make sure your thumb is moving too and that it is a slow, calm movement. This will be more reliable.
• Practise the trill with an E NATURAL lower note until you think you can’t possibly play it wrong any more!
• As you work on this, see if you can get the bowing really into your system too!
• Trill lower note at 20.

Hay Barn Blues

• Use a metronome this week to get the pulse back!
• Use the 1st beat accent on the metronome and notice if you come apart from it at any point. Places to look out are the end of bar 7 and bars 11 and 12.
• See if you can really land squarely on both strings at 21.
• Remember to diminuendo to nothing at 25.
• Check your tuning at 28.
• 33 E string.
• Excellent clear pizzicato!
• Work on hitting the right note at 48!

Mon 5^th June 2023

Sight Reading

• As last week, but maybe add on some circle of fifths revision (especially the minors).

Sicilienne

• Warm up your vibrato before you start working on this with some exercises from your book, making sure your thumb is in contact with the neck.
• Play Sicilienne with vibrato, trying to focus also on intonation and bow flow.
• See if you can memorise this – or at least the first section – so that you can keep an eye on your bow. It has been straying quite far over the fingerboard.
• Play in front of the mirror too to check you’re keeping your bow straight. Always be listening to assess your sound quality.
• Experiment to see how playing in the middle and lower half of the bow changes the sound.
• Keep playing this regularly to maintain your confidence in the notes of the middle section.

Mon 29^th May 2023

Sight Reading

• Even if you don’t have a sight reading book, look in any other books you have and pick out a short excerpt to use as sight reading practise.
• Try to use 4th fingers when it makes sense to.
• Don’t forget to look at the key before you start!

Vibrato

• Do some more of this for next lesson

Folia

• Variation 2: check you’re not slowing down when you hit the triplets.
• Variation 3: well done no the first 3 bars – see if you can get the rest of it up to the same standard.
• Variation 4: with a loose right arm, try to highlight the important notes in variation 4.

Mon 22^nd May 2023

Sight reading – see if you can find the book and start trying some – set yourself a time limit and record yourself!

Aural – read all the tips for test 5C.

Folia

• Look back at our previous lesson notes on variation 3 and see if you could benefit from using any of those practice techniques again over the next few weeks.
• Eg. play the chords in variation 3 as long notes and move smoothly from one to the next.
• Then work on variation 3 just playing the first 2 notes of each bar (in tempo). Focus on sound quality – make sure your bow fingers are curved and you’re in the lower half of the bow.
• Variation 1 – use detaché bowing in the upper half – fast strong bows.
• Variation 2 and 4 – relax your right arm, including your shoulder! Slightly squeeze with your bow index finger to maintain good contact with the string and aim to be just above the middle of the bow.

Mon 15^th May 2023

Vibrato

• Make sure your violin is up nice and high before you start – you really need it to be securely balanced on your shoulder.
• Try to keep your left thumb gently resting on the neck as you play the exercises.
• Always be listening for a nice strong tone with your bow.
• Finish your vibrato warm-up by doing the one we tried in your lesson – slide the thumb up and down the neck before slowly adding some squeeze to your 1st finger and localising the movement. Then try with each of the other fingers in turn.

Sicilienne

• Again, make sure the points above are in place from the beginning.
• Imagine the sound you want before you start and aim to mimc that.
• In bar 18, hold the crotchet for long enough – read your notes above to help!
• Practise bar 19-21 a few times to really get the E natural after the trill into your system.
• Also work on the tuning of your D flat at the start of 21 when your play this section.

Scales

• Tell yourself the notes of your diminished sevenths before playing them.
• Practise your diminshed sevenths with the tuner every time you practise.
• In your 3 octave scales, don’t ever shift on the D string. Shift once on the A string and do the rest on the E string (eg. in A, do 12 12 1234 on the E string).
• In the G 3 octave scales, use open D and open A.

Mon 8^th May 2023

Folia

• Tuning in bar 5.
• Watch the tuning on 19-21.
• Careful not to slow down in 29 and 31.
• Use the tuner to check your F naturals in 33 and 35 (like we did in the lesson – holding the first F natural as a long note and aiming for 5 times in a row in tune).
• Work meticulously on the tuning in bar 37 too, singling out any notes you hear are a bit iffy.
• Work on the tuning of the shift to the semitone trill in bar 47 too.
• Listen very carefully and think about how you’re using your bow on the double stops in variation 3: the clearer the sound is, the better you’ll be able to hear the tuning.
• Practise landing on the 1st note of 62 in tune.
• Last variation is currently at about 75 – see if you can get it to 80.

Hay Barn Blues

• Feel the beat all the time – careful not to get ahead of it, especially in the middle of bars 6 and 8.
• Make sure you’re doing a down bow at the start of bar 7.
• Work from the upbeat of 11 (on an up bow!) to the first note of 13 with a metronome to make sure you’re not losing time in bar 12.
• Play bar 20 a few times to make sure your fingers are organised.
• Aim to disappear at the end of bar 25 – there was a bit of a crunch today.
• On the tremolo in bar 33, make sure your right shoulder is low and relaxed.
• Play from the upbeat to 47 until the start of 48 lots to get the F natural really secure.
• Go through the whole piece on the hunt for grace notes that you could be playing more clearly.

Mon 17^th April 2023

Start working through your vibrato book and tell me about it next week.

Come with a list of scales that need my help!

Folia

• Try playing the theme holding your bow higher up and see what it feels like. This is why every bar starts on a down bow.
• Don’t slow down at the end of the theme.
• Check variation 1’s tempo with the metronome as you set off a little too fast!
• Metronome starting at 70 and up in 5s for v2. It should sound easy.
• Getting much more fluent! v3 just the EG double stop. Also metronome from 70.
• Metronome from 75.

Sicilienne

• Vibrato is really a must now!
• Great dynamics!
• Middle section is much improved.
• 15 and 16 – get the fingers ready on the long note and really let the semiquavers flow into the long notes.
• Careful of the rhythm in bar 18.
• Work on getting bar 19’s tuning really precise.
• Make sure you play an E natural to end your trill in bar 20.
• Keep 26 in time and count the quaver beats, leaving the grace notes later but not delaying the start of the next bar.

Hay Barn Blues

• The opening section of this was slightly too fast for the lazy mood, so practise it with the metronome.
• Work on 23-25 for security and be careful to really diminuendo to nothing so we don’t hear a final note on your glissando.
• Very clear pizzicato – well done.
• 48 rhythm.

Here’s the baroque bow video I mentioned!

Mon 3^rd April 2023

Keep a close eye on your bow hold this week. Make sure you’re practising your scales in front of a reflective surface.

Folia

• Theme – stronger dynamic.
• Variation I – make sure your bowing isn’t upside down from 25, and keep the tempo moving in 31 and 32 (especially the quaver after the trill).
• Variation II – experiment with the bow to get the clearest possible sound quality on the semiquavers. Think about bow length, how far up the bow you are, proximity to the bridge, tilt of the bow and arm weight. Make sure your brain is ready for the triplets!
• Variation III – try it now at about crotchet=80. Keep the bow light on the double stops and always know your 2nd note of each bar!
• Variation IV – this is about crotchet=76 at the moment so you’re nearly there with the tempo! Give the first note of every 4 a bit more bow, without making it heavier. This highlights the most important notes.

Sicilienne

• Dig out your Viva Vibrato book and start working through it independently, doing a bit before each time you work on this piece.
• Don’t play the first half without considering vibrato!
• Practice 11-23 LOADS. 😅

Mon 20^th March 2023

Sight reading

• Learn your Italian terms, starting by marking the ones you already know, then choose about 5 to learn each week.

Scales

• Why not try practising some of your sacles with very slow long bows and a tuner.
• In A minor arpeggio, your first shift should be a 1st finger in 4th position.
• Watch the tuning of your B natural in D diminished (and E in G diminished).
• In the dominant sevenths, make sure the 4th note is low.
• In the 3 octave scales, start by resting your fingertips on the E string and slide them all the way up to the top of the fingerboard. Register what your left elbow and thumb are doing to help get you there. Try to let this happen as you play the higher notes of the scales.

Folia

• Pluck your open D and your starting note before you begin to check you’re in tune.
• In bars 3 and 11, aim lower with your C natural.
• In bars 15 and 31, stop the trill after a crotchet.
• In variation 2, try to be ready earlier for your string crossings, especially the ones on up bows.
• From 41, remember the two slurred two separate bowing!
• Great tuning in variation 4! with a metronome. Start at 40 and up the tempo by 5 each time you get comfy.

Mon 13^th March 2023

Sight reading

• Learn your Italian terms, starting by marking the ones you already know, then choose about 5 to learn each week.

Scales

• Keep doing these in front of a mirror to keep an eye on your posture and bow hold.
• Play these slowly and steadily to give yourself time to place the fingers curved – this will help your tuning accuracy.
• In the chromatics, make sure you are only ever duplicating 1st and 2nd fingers.

Hay Barn Blues

• Well done on the bowing – it is improving every week! Keep taking real care over this.
• Careful not to rush through the rests in bars 8 and 17.
• Work on the tuning of the G at the end of bar 18.
• Aim for a faster glissando in 33.
• Practise bar 48 with a metronome set to 85 to get the crotchets nice and even.

Sicilienne

• Make sure you know exactly how to get from 15-16 and 16-17 accurately.
• Hold the crotchet in 18 for two full quavers.

Mon 6^th March 2023

Sight reading

• Learn your Italian terms, starting by marking the ones you already know, then choose about 5 to learn each week.

Scales

• Practice your scales in front of a mirror from now on!
• Try to remember the long tonics!
• Don’t forget to flip a coin to see if you’re doing them slurred or separate bows (find it from under the sofa first!).
• Aim for really great tuning on your 6ths and 7ths in the minors.
• Fingering for A major 3 octave arpeggio: 131/131/1314131\\\420131.

La Folia

• Keep practising the rest of the piece as you have been.
• For variation 3, become an expert at playing 2 versions: one with the top note of the chords and one with the bottom of the chords. Try to always keep a consistent pulse, even if it’s a slow one, and be listening out for intonation.
• It would be great if you could practise it this way with a metronome, and try to memorise both versions.

Sicilienne

• Keep getting more an more comfortable with the middle section, but it’s sounding heaps better now, so well done!
• Keep thinking about adding gentle vibrato and keeping an eye on the bowings.

Hay Barn Blues

• Make bowings a focus this week.

Mon 20^th February 2023

Scales

• Become an expert!
• Start with good posture and bow hold.
• Keep reminding yourself to push out with your bow so it’s straight.
• Aim for strong, clear tone quality.
• Record yourself playing them for two reasons – critique them, then play duets with yourself.

Sight Reading

Write out these words and their definitions and learn them:

• Con brio
• Allegro giocoso
• Nobilmente
• Lento
• Cantando
• Allegro
• Espressivo
• Andante cantabile
• Maestoso
• Energico
• Tango
• Ritmico
• Affettuoso
• Allegretto
• Moderato
• Tempo di minuetto
• Vivace

La Folia

• Drop the tempo a little more in variation 3 and use your index finger on your bow to get some more clarity in the single notes.
• Try variation 4 nearer the middle of the bow (not the lower half).

Sicilienne

• Let your bow sing and breathe, don’t be restricted.
• Don’t invent the bowing!
• Add vibrato now – a gentle rocking back and forth.

Hay Barn Blues

• You’re really getting into the style of this!
• In the falls, make sure your bow doesn’t slide sideways, muffling the sound.

Mon 6^th February 2023

Sicilienne

• Make the beginning sound confident, yet far away.
• Think about the A flats in the first two bars.
• Aim to be faster on the grace notes in bar 2.
• Notice the dynamics more now, especially noticing if they are sudden or gradual.
• Really work on having your fingers curved in this, especially as you shift in the middle section.
• Practise the first 4 semiquavers of bar 19 a few times making sure the 2nd and 3rd fingers are curved.
• Keep an eye out for the lengths of dotted quavers and dotted crotchets.

Scales

Dominant sevenths – identify the dominant of the key to find your starting note. Then play a major arpeggio plus the seventh from that starting note. BEWARE: you MUST follow the original key’s key signature.

One other way to think about it – you need a major third between your 1st and 2nd notes and a minor 3rd between your 3rd and 4th notes.

Diminished sevenths – completely made up of minor thirds (a tone and a semitone).

Please bring your scale pots next lesson.

Mon 30^th January 2023

Folia

• Think about the gaps between D and E, and D and C# before you start.
• All your trills are taking too long, so pick all of them out and play them to someone to make sure they are only a beat and a half each. You can use less bow on them too.
• Variation 1 – find any groups of quavers with string crossings that are slowing you down and practice them with open strings.
• Keep working on your tuning in Variation 2’s semiquavers.
• Variation 3 – start your practice on this movement by playing a all the double stops as dotted minims with smooth, light bows and a light left hand.
• Variation 3 – make sure your bowing is consistent, in the lower middle. You shouldn’t be slowing down for the chords and every bar should be starting with a down bow.
• Variation 3 – memorise the last 3 bars.
• Variation 4 – do you you know what speed you can play it without hesitations? It would be great to work this out for each section of the piece.

Mon 16^th January 2023

Memorise your targets (above).

Haybarn Blues

• Play with commitment! Every note and slide should sound like it belongs in the phrase.
• Practise bar 11 lots so the shift is confident.
• Practise bar 12 with triplets in mind on every beat.

Fri 6^th January 2023

Read all your targets (above) before you practice.

Pick ONE piece to work on each practice session, but ALWAYS practice Variation 3 of Folia.

Folia

• In the Theme section, make sure every bar is down bow up bow.
• Practice variation 1 at crotchet = 80 with sustained bows. When that feels easy, up the metronome mark by 5. Keep your F naturals very low.
• Variation 2: work on the whole of this variation at crotchet = 60 and work on your tuning. Hold all minims right up until beat 3.
• Variation 3: use all techniques we’ve used over the past term to practice this movement.
• Variation 4: use the middle of the bow. Choose a metronome speed to start working at.

Sicilienne

• Always think before you start and set your posture.
• Imagine a singing sound and let your bow flow freely to achieve this.
• Set a timer for 10 minutes each time you practice this piece and work exclusively on bars 11-23. Play it all in 1st position to get used to the notes before you start.

Hay Barn Blues

• Stand with both feet firmly on the ground before you start.
• Well done on the bowing in this piece – it’s almost all there!
• Aim for louder pizzicatos and clear double stops.
• Work from the end of bar 46 for bowing.

Mon 28^th November 2022

Sicilienne

• In your opening p, experiment with your vibrato, bow speed, sounding point and right hand tension to create the sound you really want to hear.
• Work mainly on the section 15-23. Two very important things to think about – holding the long notes for long enough, and getting your fingers in place for the semiquvers well ahead of time.

Wed 17^th November 2022

Folia

• Theme: Check the tuning of your C naturals under your trills in 3 and 11.
• Var. 1: Work on smooth bows in this one, and work on the notes from 29-32.
• Var 2: Use your metronome chart to work on the semiquaver section – playing higher in the bow will help. In the triplets, make sure you are doing the right slurring. Work on the shifting onto the trill at the end, starting a few beats before.
• Var 3: To work on the tuning of the double stops, play 6 quavers in each bar, alternating between the double stop notes (eg. bar 49 will be DFDFDF, 50 is C#EC#EC#E etc.). Next, play the whole variation as written, trying to keep the rhythm consistent, no matter the tempo. Work on getting the last 3 bars of this variation really clean too.
• Var 4: To help get the tempo faster, play nearer the middle. Also practice it the way we did, pausing on the first note any new group.

Thu 10^th November 2022

Make sure your scale pots are done by next lesson!

Hay Barn Blues

• Your bowing is getting much better – there’s still room for improvement, but lots of it is right now!
• Be aware of your double ups in 17 and 24.
• In your falling minims (25 and 49), make sure they only last 2 beats and you don’t end up on open D. The bow and sliding finger should just grind to a halt (with a diminuendo!).
• Make sure 28 and 32 start on down bows!
• Keep the duplets lazy in bars 43 and 44.

Sicilienne

• Imagine the music before you play – this will help the upbeat be in the right mood.
• Spend some time on the section 11-23, really working out what position you’re in for each bit and how far you need to shift.

Thu 3^rd November 2022

In the chromatic scales, don’t forget your open strings on the way back down.

Hay Barn Blues

• Be hyper-aware of your duplets – is the first note always longer?
• Aim for an easy feeling in your right arm, and a light right hand.

Thu 13^th October 2022

Scales

• Think ahead on these to keep them flowing and make them sound like beautiful pieces of music.
• Stand well with equal weight on both feet.
• Make your scale pots.
• In the higher scales, listen to check that the notes either side of string crossings are as clear as all the others, especially when slurring.
• Notice how your left elbow swings back and forth as you play each scale, especially in the higher positions.
• Once you’ve found your starting note, think the scale through – how how will it sound and how will it feel?
• In 3 octave scales, practice any wobbly shifts out of context.
• At the top of A Major, bring your left thumb around under the neck to help you reach the high notes.

Mon 26^th September 2022

Hay Barn Blues

• Find some YouTube videos to listen to whilst following your music.
• Don’t let the falls slow down the tempo.
• Practice the rhythm at the start of bar 6, waiting longer on the F natural.
• Remember that ever pair of quavers needs to be like a crotchet-quaver triplet – long short.
• Work on getting the required bow distribution right in bar 17.
• Remember the C natural in bar 24!
• For the pizzicato double stops, try to skim your finger across the string.
• Practice from 27 saying the beats where there are rests.

Mon 19^th September 2022

Folia

• Work on the rhythm in bars 13-16.
• In variation 2 get the tuner out and work more closely on your intonation, especially the F naturals. When you’re happy with that, try to up the speed.
• From 41, concentrate on intonation and bowing.
• In 47, practice moving your hand to 3rd position super quickly.
• Practice variation 3 just with the bottom note of each double stop, with no hesitations.
• Keep a record of your metronome mark for variation 4, starting at quaver = 60.

Scales

• D flat major scale and arpeggio, slurred and separate.
• C# minor scale arpeggio, slurred and separate.
• Learn your dominant 7ths too. Make sure the 4th note of each octave is low!!

Mon 12^th September 2022

Hay Barn Blues

• In bar 11, make sure your whole hand moves into 5th position.
• Work from the upbeat of bar 10 to get used to the bowings from there to bar 14.
• As you work on further, be really observant with bowings so you don’t have to unlearn them.
• Remember the swung quavers, especially in bars 19 and 20. The first note of each quaver pair will be longer.
• Pizz at the end of the fingerboard to get more wobble
• Practice bar 36 lines separately first.

Sicilienne

• Great work with shifting in this!
• In bar 3, try to keep the end of the trill smooth.
• Count your long note in bar 4 (which should come on an up bow).
• Careful from 11 of hooked bowing.
• Not too high with bar 15 – you don’t need to shift.
• Work right up to the end.

Mon 5^th September 2022

This is the year we’re going to crack your bow hold and posture!!

Folia

• Add a tiny breath at the end of bar 8.
• Try not to be louder on the trills.
• Work on the rhythm in bars 13-16.
• Use more bow in variation 1 and try not to slow down at the end.
• Work on variation 2’s semiquavers in rhythms (send me a message if you can’t remember how!). Listen out in particular for F naturals.
• In variation 3, just practice the double stops for now. Hold each one for 3 beats and keep the bow super light and glidy.

– Add a tiny breath Mon 18^th July 2022

Hay Barn Blues

• Carry on now from bar 15. Keep the sound of the Gs in your head to help you in bar 16.
• As you learn the new bits, be especially careful to observe the bowing so you don’t get used to the wrong slurs.
• Remember to keep those fingers curved!

Sicilienne

• Make sure you have thought through every shift so you know exactly where you’re
• Do some detailed work on the tones and semitones in 15-17.
• Carry on and get to know the rest of it.

Folia

• In the theme, careful not to lose the crotchet pulse in the trills. Check this rhythm with your Mum or Dad, and the rhythm of bar 14.
• Learn as much of the rest of it as you can, but definitely practise the 1st and 2nd variations.

Mon 11^th July 2022

Hay Barn Blues

• Check your posture before you begin, including the curve of your left hand fingers.
• Careful of the rhythm at the start of bar 6 – remember it’s like a crotchet and quaver under a triplet bracket. Same in the 3rd beat of bar 7.
• Keep your bow as straight as you can.
• Save bow in bar 11 so the long note is long enough and you have enough bow left to fit the G in the same bow.
• Practise bar 11 in 1st position or play it on the piano until you know what the notes should sound like. Then go back to the printed fingering.

Mon 4^th July 2022

Folia

• Plan ahead with your 1st finger in bars 1-3.
• Try not to let the trill disturb the rhythm in 3 and 11.
• Practise Variation 1 at a steady speed for now, aiming for excellent intonation. F naturals can be a bit lower, and make sure 4th fingers in 2nd position are directly opposite each other.

Hay Barn Blues

• Be super careful with bowings in this!
• Keep your left wrist down so you can easily move your thumb every time you shift.

Mon 20^th Jun 2022

Revise grade 2 theory and aim to complete the paper by the end of term.

Sicilienne

• Keep practising the curved finger scale.
• Practise the first half thinking really carefully about how your hand moves as you shift.
• Start looking at the semiquaver runs from bar 15 being really careful about tones and semitones.

Mon 13^th Jun 2022

Revise your Circle of Fifths.

Sicilienne

• Warm up with the curved finger exercise.
• Start with an up bow.
• Aim super low with your C flats.
• Any slurs with a tenuto under them (bars 1, 6, 11 etc) should sound like separate bows.

Mon 6^th Jun 2022

Start each practice by reviewing our targets at the top of this page. Try to keep them in the front of your mind as you practice.

Folia

• Play D minor to start – focus on posture, bow position
• Learn the opening Theme.
• Make sure your minims are all long enough – every other bar!

Hay Barn Blues

• Imagine this in a 12/8 time signature.
• Work on the first 14 bars, noticing when you need to change position on the slides (with your whole hand!) and when you need to use a finger to anchor you in the same position.

Mon 23^rd May 2022

Allegro

• Your tuning in the opening section could do with a little more care, but on the whole it’s so much better once more for tuning.
• WELL DONE on the middle section – it actually sounded easy!
• See if you can get this all up to 66.

Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride

• Use the C in the 2nd time bar to help you pitch the high C, but also practice the A-C shift slowly with slides like we did in the lesson, so you really feel the tone and a half distance.
• Watch out for the A flat in bar 14.
• Remember that the rhythm is twice as fast in bar 13 than in 11.
• Practice the middle of this (from the 2nd time bar) with a metronome at 70.

Preludio

• Play a careful, in-tune A major scale before you start. This is an easy key, so don’t let yourself get away with bad tuning.
• Careful with the rhythm at the start of bar 2.
• Mark the end of the phrase (on the A) in bar 4.

Mon 16^th May 2022

Allegro

• Practice from bar 37 in rhythms – lengthening the first of every group of 4, then the second, third etc. Be very careful of posture, tuning and bowing as you do this, and try to tilt the bow stick away from you slightly.
• Once this is up to speed, add the rest of the piece.

Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride

• Careful to do the right bowing on the repeat.
• From bar 11, keep thinking about tones and semitones to help you be confident in the notes.
• Make sure 11 and 13 aren’t the same rhythm!
• Think really carefully about the length of the upbeats to each section, especially at the end of bars 14 and 18b.
• Watch out for the bowings from 19.

Preludio

• Check the speed before you start so you’re not going too fast!
• Use mainly the lower half of the bow, as if the bow is a paintbrush on the string.
• Again try to tilt the bow stick slightly away from you.
• Learn the first half.

Mon 9^th May 2022

Warm up with some scales but focusing on your posture as you do this.

Allegro

• Keep this for one more week, tidying it up when playing it up to speed. Work especially from 37.

Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride

• Think about the accidentals and key signature before you start, especially listening out for the F naturals.
• Check the metronome speed before you start. It’s meant to be a little slower than you’ve been playing it!
• Work more on the 2nd half, playing it slowly and thoughtfully as you work out the tones, semitones and shifts – remember, we want to avoid learning the wrong notes!

Mon 25^th Apr 2022

Rieding Allegro

• Keep reminding yourself to hold your violin up, and keep an eye on where your bow is – it was tending to slip too far over the fingerboard.
• Brighter on the C# in 32.
• Lower half from 60.
• Play 67- 70 and listen for consistent tempo.
• The icing and cherry on the cake: adding vibrato, and upping the tempo (you’re currently at about minim=50).

Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride

• Tuning is super important in this! Try the opening slowly to listen for tuning, especially on the the ornaments. Spend some time with a tuner on the last 3 notes of bar 6 and the D in bar 7.
• Play the upbeats to bar 9 and bar 9 very slowly to get used to the bowing.
• Learn the rest of the piece.
• Make sure you have G naturals in bar 11!
• Try bar 13 an octave lower to help with the tones and semitones.

Mon 28^th Mar 2022

Rieding Allegro

• Your sound quality is much better this week!
• Keep working on the bow distribution at 17-20.
• Think about how gently you can start the first note of bar 21.
• Don’t forget the 2nd position in bar 32!
• Give some separation on the accented notes from 61.
• Start to notch up the tempo now.

Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride

• Be on the lookout for F naturals!

Keys of the week – D flat major, E flat major and F major 2 octaves, long tonics, scale and arpeggio, slurred.

Mon 21^st Mar 2022

• Practice standing up and make sure your mind is focussed on the task in hand! Think about your posture throughout your practice.
• See if you can put more body into your loud dynamics.
• Be sure you your notes in 32!
• Be sure of your bowing in 36.
• Work on middle section, from 29.
• Keep your rhythms even in 69.

Mon 14^th Mar 2022

Rieding Allegro

• Check a metronome before you start.
• Play the first 4- or 8-bar phrase from memory whilst watching your bow to check it isn’t straying all over the place! Also try to have either flat bow hair, or tilt the stick slightly away from you.
• Practice bar 11 lots -get so used to the 2nd fingers that you don’t need to slow down for this bar!
• Practice 6 and 7 really slowly for curved fingers and intonation.
• See if you can make the section from 21 flow just as smoothly as the first section.
• Work on matching the tuning in 26 and 27.
• Get used to the bowings from 36.
• Work on your bow distribution from 17-19, and 57-9.
• Add some more character to the section from 61, using the accents.
• See if your fingers can be ready a bit earlier from 69.
• Aim for flat bow hair on the chord at the end.

Mon 7^th Mar 2022

Dvořák

• You’re almost there with this piece now, so I want you to aim for getting this performance ready.
• Make posture a big part of your focus.
• Bar 30 mustn’t slow down.
• Be confident in your shift to bar 56.
• Keep working on the section from 64 – lots!

Rieding

• Warm up with a 3 octave G major scale. fingering on the A string is 121234, and on the E string is 1212344.
• The arpeggio is 020, 131, 1314131, then back down to 1st position.
• The main thing to work on in this piece is accurate finger placement for good intonation.
• Work on your bow distribution from 17-19.
• Work on looking ahead whilst letting each bar flow into the next.
• Work on getting both 33 and 34 in tune – keep that 3rd finger next to the 2!
• Make sure you are playing quavers in 36!
• Make 37-44 a metronome challenge.

Mon 28^th Feb 2022

• Read the targets at the top of this page and see how you’re doing with them.
• Start looking at the grade 5 scales.

Dvořák

• In the Scherzo, just neaten up bar 31, and aim for more contact with the string in this 2nd section.
• Work even more on the tuning in the Trio.

Rieding

• Be really strict with bowing and tuning as you get to know this piece.
• ALWAYS be thinking about tones and semitones so you can be confident about your finger placement – this is how we can minimise the amount of work our fingers have to do. Looking ahead will help with this too.
• Try to learn this right the first time so you don’t have to unlearn wrong notes and bowing!

Wed 23^rd Feb 2022

Dvořák

• Work through last week’s lesson notes on this.
• Practice bars 64+65+1 note LOTS to get used to the shift.
• Work on the rhythm from 74.

Mon 14^th Feb 2022

Dvořák

• Think about your best posture as you warm up with a G major scale.
• Without disturbing your great bow work, add a touch of vibrato to the opening section.
• In the second section, make sure you can always hear the last note of the bar.
• Practice the second section with the aim of keeping 31 the same speed as everything else. A great way to do this would be playing 30 and the first note of 31 in tempo a few times, then add a note etc.
• Practice 52-63 to get the tiny shift to 2nd position really secure.
• Spend at least 5 minutes on 64-73.

Mon 31^st Jan 2022

Dvořák

• Check how straight your bow is in a mirror from bar 17.
• Also at 17, make sure you don’t slow down!
• Before practising the section from 64, rest your left hand finger.
• Use a tuner in your practice to check the notes at 56. Play it with your eyes closed a few times first, then open them on each note in turn.

Mon 24^th Jan 2022

Dvořák

• Start bars 1, 9 etc. in the middle of the bow.
• Be very strict with dynamics and tone quality in the first 16 bars.
• Try to play from bar 17 at the same speed as you played the opening section. Try as hard as you can not to slow down for the bars that change!
• Count carefully in 36-39, and start them at the tip.
• Try from 56 in 2nd position. Can you add vibrato on the hairpins?
• From 64, make sure you’ve thought through every shift, rather than just letting your ears guide you.
• Keep listening for your sound quality and tuning – practising a few bars with your eyes closed should help with this!

Mon 17^th Jan 2022

Grade 5 scales

• Nag me til I send you your scale pots page, then cut them up and find some pots or envelopes.

All You Wanna Do

• Write this out on manuscript paper so you don’t have any page turns. Make it as neat as you can and add in some fingerings and bowings.
• Every up beat should be on an up bow.
• Check your list of things to improve at the top of this page and listen out for them at all times.
• Work on keeping your bow as straight as you can.
• Be really strict on your rhythms.
• Try to keep your left hand fingers light and curved.

Scherzo

• Make articulation the main feature of the opening section.
• From 17, try not to move your elbow on the separate bow notes.
• Aim for a sweeter mood at 56.
• Try from 64-73 on the G string.

Mon 10^th Jan 2022

Practice the orchestra music we played in your lesson to get used to the new fingerings. Be picky about your tuning and bowings.

Start learning Dvořák Scherzo in your encore book.

Mon 6^th Dec 2021

Ding Dong Merrily

• Warm up with a 3 octave scale – on the way up, 121 on the A string and on the E string.
• Listen to the tuning of all 2nd fingers – they either need to go higher (sharps) or lower (naturals).

O Christmas Tree

• Try not to pause before you repeat the first line.
• Be picky on your tuning in bar 3.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

• Play this at pitch, then repeat it one octave higher.
• Don’t forget to start on an up bow!

Jingle Bells

• Warm up for this with a 3 octave A major scale. Going up, A string is 121234 and E string is 12121234. Coming down, E string is 43214321 then onto the A string for 432121.
• Work out the verse, starting on an E on the D string. Feel free to use open A strings!

Mon 29^th Nov 2021

Ding Dong Merrily

• Think carefully before you start about your 2nd finger placement and aim to have the notes in tune before you’ve played them.
• Think carefully about the slurs before you start too.
• Practice the shifts so that you are ready for them.
• Try not to slow down on the slurs in bar 1.

Hogamany Reel

• Practice bar 4 for fluency.
• Set yourself metronome challenges, starting at minim = 60.

The Holly and the Ivy

• Make a difference between crotchet and quaver upbeats.
• Practice until there are no note stumbles, so that the bowing works out to finish each phrase down bow.

Feel free to choose any other carols and approach them in the same way.

Mon 1^st Nov 2021

Sight Reading

• Start thinking more about the dynamics, especially crescendos.
• Look out for any articulation, such as staccatos and tenutos.
• Make sure sight reading features in every practice.
• Clap rhythms, play the scales, record yourself, look ahead as much as you can and overall, concentrate!

Mon 18^th Oct 2021

Rondeau

• Don’t forget your short quavers in 7&8, 23&24 and 39&40.
• Think about the mood before you start – think regal and robust. Do this with all your pieces.
• Try to keep the same speed throughout, especially from bar 9. Practice with a metronome to help keep the repeated section steady.
• In the section from 9, also listen out for neat string crossings.
• In the section from 25, lighter with your bow and all in the upper half – this will help stop 28 sounding awkward.
• Work on your dynamics so much that they become integral to the music.
• Don’t let yourself get away with clumsy bowing in 32.

Chromatics

• Think about sound quality – you can be lighter and more concise with your bow.

Mendelssohn

• Remember the polo mint!
• Your bow should never sound scratchy in this piece – think of a smooth piece of silk draping across your strings.
• Imagine you were singing this piece and where you might breathe. Mimic this with your bow.
• Be more aware of your tuning in bars 7 and bar 15.

Thinking and listening are your keywords for the week!

Mon 11^th Oct 2021

Keep practising your scales using last week’s notes.

Quizás

• Play the first 6 notes a few times for clarity, always allowing time beween tries to reset your bow.
• Practice bars 7 and 8 for correct bowing.
• Aim for a clearer sound overall, with shorter, weightier bows.

Purcell

• Work on your transitions.

Mendelssohn

• Focus on the details.
• In quiet passages, keep your bow changes smooth enough not to disturb the polo mint!

Mon 27^th Sep 2021

Abrsm scales and arpeggios

• All notes even for your scales.
• Check the tuning of your starting notes before you embark on the whole thing!
• Sing the arpeggios with their fingering before you play them.
• For E major, make sure your 1st finger is in the right place before you start by playing EAE.
• Listen out for sound quality, especially on string crossings.
• Practice both types of minor.
• Flick a coin to choose whether you’re slurring or not.
• Dominant sevenths – be as accurate as possible on the tuning, especially at the top.
• Get used to your new chromatic fingering.

Quizás

• Focus on your dynamics and the modd
• Gentle vibrato on any mf long notes (i.e. first section).
• In the p, really small bows at the heel but make sure your quavers connect to the staccat crotchets.
• Really let your hair down at 18, but still with good sound quality.
• Leave the grace notes super late in 21 and 25.

Mon 20^th Sep 2021

Sight reading

• Keep working on this in the same way as last week.

Put the piano parts in your bag for next lesson please!

Mendelssohn

• Keep up the good work on the dynamics!
• Listen on any string changes to see how smooth the melody sounds.
• In the p section, have a feeling of worried panic – remember your dressing gown story!
• Try to tilt your bow away from you (a bow hold tweak will help). Also try to keep in the lower half of the bow.

Mon 13^th Sep 2021

Sight reading

• Record yourself doing a Grade 1 piece and listen back to it (looking at the music!) then see if you can improve it.
• Record yourself doing a grade 2 piece and see if you can improve that too.

Rondeau

• Record yourself playing this and all your pieces.
• Remember to stand up properly when you’re playing!
• Watch out for the tuning of your 1st finger in the 1st section.

Tue 20^th July 2021

Play all your Grade 4 pieces and decide if you’re still excited about them, or if you feel you need to pick any new ones so they feel fresh!

Quizas

• Make sure the 5 quavers are all the same length in bars 2 and 10.
• Make sure the A in bar 5 is late enough too.
• Watch out for any other bars starting with a dotted crotchets too.
• Keep a good eye out for quaver rests.

Rondeau

• Play D minor harmonic minor up to A on the E string really carefully, aiming for no wiggly fingers.
• Short staccatos in 7 and 8 and everywhere else this happens (practice these few bars a few times on their own til it feels like you’ll remember it).
• Listen out for the tuning of your F naturals.
• Careful of your C naturals from 25.

Find/make some grade 4 scale pots. Take as much care over these as your pieces. This means no wiggly fingers!

Tue 6^th July 2021

PRACTICE DIARY!

Valse Lente

• Practice from bar 29 mainly this week. Finish each practice with a run-through.

Rondeau

• If this has gone well in your practice, add the icing to the top of the cake – posture and bow hold!
• Pay particular attention to bow hold and get a volunteer to tell you if your bow is straight. If your little finger feels tense, rest your bow on the strings and tap it til it feels relaxed but secure.

Tue 29^th June 2021

Scales

• Violin up and bow straight (checking in a mirror) for all of these.
• Aim for good sound quality, particularly as you’re changing string.
• The rhythmic version is easier faster.
• Sing your starting notes to get your ear nice and awake before you start each scale.

Valse Lente

• Keep a practice diary this week. Which piece and what’s your aim?

Tue 22^nd June 2021

Technical exercises

• Ex.1 – notice the the patterns so you don’t ever have to pause and the notes are always correct.
• Ex. 2 – record yourself and improvise an accompaniment based on the notes of the arpeggio you’re playing in each bar.
• Ex. 3 – Keep your fingers down for each bar. How smooth can you get the start of the chord at the end.

Rondeau

• Aim for a strong, clear sound throughout.
• 1st fingers are all low – keep your finger there!

Valse Lente

• Make as beautiful a sound as you can.
• Work on getting more familiar with the notes from bar 37 to the end.

Mon 14^th June 2021

Scales

• Be much more careful finding your starting notes accurately.
• 3 things to aim for on every scale: intonation, attention to detail (slurs, rhythms etc.) and tempo (check the metronome mark).
• In the B major scale with rhythms, make sure you’re splitting the beat into 4 in your head.
• No C#s in your Dominant 7th!
• In the chromatic scale, try to move your fingers quickly (like a light switch)r ather than being too slidy. Write in any fingerings you might need!

Mon 7^th June 2021

Technical Exercises

• Ex. 1 – Work on making the best sound you can. Sometimes practice this with dotted crotchets instead. Keep the bow flowing consiently and smoothly, making just as nice a sound at the very ends of the bows. Another way to practice this is to see if you can play each bar separately at speed.
• Ex. 2 – try to get all your spiccato notes as good as the best ones. Hold the last note to the end of the 4th beat.
• Ex. 3 – try not to land on D string too heavily each time – preparing your right elbow ahead of time will really help with this.

Rondeau

• Be strict about all the pencil markings.
• Make sure the listener knows it’s minor!

YouTube homework: Elena Urioste.

Mon 24^th May 2021

Make sure you practice Rondeau at least once a week, being very strict about F naturals and B flats!

Valse Lente

• To warm up. practice the first 5 notes on every string and aim for 10/10.
• Do a little retake in every quaver rest on on the first 2 lines – you can practice these with some little up bow circles near the heel. Can you make the start of each note smooth?
• Make sure your ears are turned on all the time as this piece needs a really lovely sound quality.
• Practice the shift in bar 19 very carefully, remembering George and his cup-filling!
• Start thinking about where you might add some vibrato.

YouTube homework: find a video of Hilary Hahn. Give me some comments next time about her playing and her posture.

Mon 17^th May 2021

Valse Lente

• Warm up with G major, getting those low 2s warmed up for th A and E strings.
• Careful of the rhythm in bars 6, 14, 16 and 18. Use a metronome to help you, and maybe do some clapping to help prepare.
• Practice 11 for the high B.
• Don’t forget to think about the ghost finger with your 1st finger in 19.
• Try from 21 quite slowly a few times til you’re really sure of the notes. Let your bow soar on the 4th fingers.
• Aim for real contact with the string from 29.
• Get to know the rest of the piece, being as careful as you can on rhythms and tuning – learning it well first time is always the best way!

Mon 10^th May 2021

Scales

• Remember to play your hardest scales (rated 3) EVERY practice.
• For F melodic minor, find the F, then find the B flat with your 1st finger. Bring your left thumb up to meet the body of the violin.

Valse Lente

• Do a harmonic warm-up (see bar 5). Try not to reach for your harmonics, and try each one again if you don’t hit it right the first time.
• Be stricter with your rhythm.
• Practice getting your 3rd and 2nd fingers on the string in your first quaver rest so your F# is ready and the rhythm is completely up to your bow.
• Practice bars 19 and 20, and 35 quite a bit for the shifts (don’t forget the ghost note!).
• Notice from 29 when your slurs are split and when they are smooth.
• Go onto bar 36.

Mon 3^rd May 2021

Allegro ma non Presto

• Work really carefully on getting comfortable at the slow speed. Spend a few bars listening to the metronome and imagining the speed of your semiquavers before you start playing.
• Pick bits out to troubleshoot if you know they are slowing you down (or the opposite!).

Valse Lente

• Think about the neatness of your rests.
• Work on getting the rhythm really obvious in 13, 15 and 17.

Mon 26^th Apr 2021

Valse Lente

• Violin up nice and high to help get the harmonics.
• Keep the harmonics nice and light – they will ring after you’ve taken your bow off.
• Practice doing a retake in your quaver rests in bars 5 and 7.
• Listen to your sound quality after those rests: if it’s a bit crunchy, just practice up bow circles on that note.
• Careful of the bowing from 8-12. Try to get it right 3 times in a row each practice.

Allegro ma non presto

• This week, split the piece into sections and work with the metronome, practising all the “B” material first. Don’t move up to the next speed til you’re comfortable and accurate at the speed both on the day and at the start of the next practice session.

Mon 19^th Apr 2021

Keep checking your posture this week – weight equally on both feet and elbow off your hip.

Scales

• Give each scale a rating, 1-3. Make sure you practice the 3s every practice, plus two 2s and one 1.

Valse Lente

• Use your 4th finger for the harmonics.
• Do a teardrop-shaped retake after your first 3 harmonics.
• Aim for a nice flowing feeling.
• Just work up to bar 20.

Allegro ma non presto

• Make sure you settle really well in bar 20, counting 3 beats before starting the next bar.
• Listen to the sound quality at the start of each note – sometimes it’s a bit harsh. Can you make it bright and light?
• At 24 and 25, keep track of the crotchet pulse to keep you moving through, but also make sure you’ve got a high 3 on the D string and low 3s on the A and E string.
• Learn the rest of the piece.

Mon 29^th Mar 2021

Allegro ma non presto

• Careful with your rhythm in bar 4.
• 5-12 is really improving! Make sure your Gs are #.
• Work on light quavers from 13, and set your metronome to crotchet = 60. This will actually be a great speed to practice the whole of this first section at!
• Look at the rest of the piece. Remember the bouncy quavers everywhere!

Take Five

• Make sure your first 4 notes are swinging the right way! Think “Laura Laura”.
• How clear can you get the B and D either side of the grace notes in bar 5?
• On the last note, let the note die away, towards the fingerboard with your bow.

Keep practising the technical exercises this Easter. Start looking at Valse Lente on p. 12.

Mon 22^nd Mar 2021

Allegro ma non presto

• Great metronome work on 13-20!
• Keep all your quavers light, even if they’re not staccato.
• Practice 5-8 with the metronome, starting at 90, first with just a semiquaver and dotted quaver, then add the G#s. Keep your right shoulder down – quick down bows, slow up bows. Make sure you’re only doing 3 beats per bar!
• Try 9-12 one bar at a time with the metronome.

Mon 15^th Mar 2021

Scales

• Learn the fingering for the chromatic scale. Keep it slow, but when it’s confident, add the slurs.

Allegro ma non Presto

• ALWAYS think about your key signature before you start.
• On line 1, try not to hesitate on the bar lines.
• Practice 13-20 with a metronome, starting at quaver=90. Be super careful about your 2nd and 3rd finger tuning. Ask someone to listen and see if you’re with it before you increase the speed.

Take Five

• Work on your swung quavers, especially if a string crossing is involved.
• From 13, super low 2nd fingers and nice and clean on your quaver rests.
• At the end, die away to nothing, including your vibrato.

Mon 8^th Mar 2021

Scales

• Practice your F minor scale very carefully. Get the first 3 notes in tune and sounding neat with the bow before you try the whole thing.

Allegro ma non Presto

• Add some bounce to your quavers.
• Practice bars 1-4, then bars 13-20, then do some troubleshooting practice on bars 5-12.
• From bar 5, each bar should start on a down bow. Try to keep the semiquavers even, despite the slurs, no matter what speed your’re practising it at.
• Practice 5-8 as quavers without the G#s. Then change the rhythm to a semiquaver and a dotted quaver. Next, do the same whilst making sure your 1st finger is resting right behind the 2nd finger. In all these exercises, aim for the best sound quality and tuning possible. Ideally all these exercises should be played at the same speed you’re playing bars 1-4.
• The try 5-12 under tempo and only speed it up if you’re feeling confident.

Take Five

• Think about how tidy this is as you play through it.
• Work in sections tidying it up – section A then C, then B then D.
• At the start, make sure your 2nd finger is in the right place before you start.

Mon 1^st Mar 2021

Scales

• Learn them! Ask for my help on any you need to next lesson.

Estampie Royal

• This sounded so much better once we started thinking more about the beat.
• I loved seeing you start to use the piano part to help you play in time. Any time you play withe piano now, try to work with the pianist. You’re on the same team after all!

Allegro ma non presto

• Clap the first line a few times before you start playing.
• Play an A Major scale as a warm-up.
• Keep the quavers light.
• Try to get up to the double bar.

Keep practising Take Five, and try really hard with your posture this week.

Mon 24^th Feb 2021

Scales

• In the rhythmic exercise, remember the piccadilly rhythm and hold your last note for two full beats. Try it in second position.
• In E Major, work on getting the first fingers really in tune. Maybe even play the E and A before you start. This applies to F minor too – think of Heigh Ho!
• Try practising your scales with your eyes closed to listen really carefully for tuning and sound quality.

Estampie Royale

• Lighter quavers.
• Try to land a bit lighter on the double stops.
• Practice with the piano part to perform next week.

Take Five

• Make sure you start up bow.
• Be a bit more precise with your grace notes.
• Keep the chromatic quaver passages relaxed.
• Troubleshooot any untidy bars by just working on that bar.
• Memorise as much of it as you can.

Mon 8^th Feb 2021

Scales

• Keep your violin up nice and high as you practice these.
• When playing with the track, be ready to play before you press play.
• Be your own teacher as you practice and think of ways to improve.
• Try to cover all your scales at least every two practises.

Estampie Royale

• Aim for neater landings on retakes and lighter quavers.
• Always be listening for neatness in tuning and rhythm.
• Practice this in as much detail as we did in the lesson and aim for a performance for me at the start of next lesson. Maybe your descendants piece too?

Keep practising Take 5, also in this much detail!

Mon 1^st Feb 2021

Scales

• Practice the scales alone, then with the backing tracks, focusing on tuning and slurs.
• In the dotted rhythm exercise, careful you’re tight enough with your semiquavers. Try it in 2nd position.

Technical exercises

• Check last week’s notes for these.

Estampie Royale

• As this piece is more familiar now, use it as a chance to work on your bow hold. Set it very deliberately before you start, maybe even doing some pinkie push-ups.
• Take care of crotchets with a quaver rest afterwards – they should be finished off neatly.
• Start to introduce more lightness to your quavers.

Take Five

• You’ve got the style of this piece really well!
• Make the crotchet before the grace notes a bit longer, eg. bar 5. How precise can your string crossing be there?
• Practice any chromatic sections a bit more and at a steadier speed so they’re really secure. It’s actually getting the tones big enough that will really help here!
• From 26, aim for the crotchets so your last semiquaver isn’t too long.

Mon 25^th Jan 2021

Scales

• Get used to the slurs.
• I’ll record a track.
• B major rhythm exercise – longer dotted quavers, smaller gaps.
• E major is in 4^th position. Careful of the tuning of your 4^th note in particular (it’s like We Wish You a Merry Christmas).
• F minor – careful of the tiny angle between strings.
• Chromatic scale – light up bows so they don’t stick out. Try 0112234 on GDA strings and 0123 on E. Try with your old fingering too and pick the best.

Technical exercise 1

• Lighter bow – let the vibrations be free!
• Don’t start til you’re sure of your first note’s tuning.
• Careful to keep at 6 notes per bow!

Technical exercise 3

• Higher F#.
• Can the crossings back to the lower string be just as smooth?
• Practice the last bar and a half to get no hesitation.

Mon 18^th Jan 2021

Technical exercises

• Ex 1: Much better with the fingers this week! Now try 6 notes per bow, really letting it flow, especially on the bow changes. Aim for olympic swimmer bowing – this requires looking ahead so your fingers know what’s coming! Set metronome for 50.
• Ex 2: Great start! Listen to make sure it’s as neat as possible.
• Ex 3: No slurs, and with C natural. Middle of the bow. Why not put a bit of string on the middle of the bow as a marker as you get used to it?

Estampie Royale

• Practice the section from 23 the most, with a metronome to make sure you’re not skipping ahead anywhere.
• Practice bar 23 (minus the last note) on a loop at a speed you can rely on for tuning, then speed it up when the tuningis secure.
• Careful of the dotted crotchet in 27.
• Playing from 19, make sure the start of 23 sounds confident.

Mon 11^th Jan 2021

Technical exercises

• Ex. 1: Practice 6 notes per bow for now, planning how much bow to use on each note and letting the bow flow freely.
• Remember to honour accidentals for the whole bar.
• Ask someone to play along on the piano until your tuning is more reliable.
• Work out the hand shapes of each bar and trust them instead of what you think you should hear.
• For exercise 2, practice the second half of each bar first, curving your pinkie, relaxing your shoulder and raising your elbow slightly to help the off-the-tring bowing.
• Exercise 3: make sure you follow all 3 instructions.

Estampie Royale

• Read last week’s notes.
• Careful of your 1st finger tuning in the section from bar 12.
• Use more bow at the start of 24 to help with the two ups after.

Check previous weeks for practice tips for Take Five.

Mon 4^th Jan 2021

• Print off the MTB exercises and scales (see links above).
• Always play a relevant scale to warm up for each piece.

Estampie Royale

• Think about posture and bow hold at all times.
• Watch out for slurs and bowing in general.
• Keep double stops strong for the whole note.
• Keep the semiquavers flowing in 21.
• Practice the first two notes of bar 23 on their own, then bar 22 plus one note. For each exercise, play it 3 times right in a row before putting it back into context. Do these exercises EVERY prcatice session til it’s bullet-proof.

Mon 14^th Dec 2020

Take Five

• Count the beats in bar 1 really carefully.
• You’re playing this with really good style!
• Try not to hesitate in the semiquavers, especially when changing string for a C on the G string.
• See how you get on with the whole piece!

Take Five

• Start in the middle of the bow with an up bow.
• Clean string crossings at the start.
• Aim for a longer B before the grace notes, and no slidy fingers! Remember it’s like a chromatic scale.
• Practice from 14 with a metronome at about crotchet = 80 til it feels easy, then speed it up a bit.
• Can you disappear to nothing on the last note?
• Check the top of this page for links to the MTB technical exercises.

Mon 7^th Dec 2020

Scales

• Remember there are three things to focus on: intonation, sound quality and fluency.
• Aim to find your starting notes silently.

Estampie Royale

• Google what a Hurdy Gurdy is.
• Add the accents at the beginning and in bar 6.
• Practice up to bar 11.

Take Five

• Remember to start with an up bow.
• No need to clap the rhythms anymore, but approach the music with as much care as you would if you were clapping.
• Carry on and see how far you can get!

Pick some Christmas tunes to do next lesson and send me a copy (unless they’re in Fiddle Time Christmas, as I have that book here).

Mon 30^th Nov 2020

• Start EVERY practice with at least 3 scales from your pots. Try to get into the habit of doing this so it’s second nature.

An Chloë

• If you practice this at all, work on cleaning up the last section, from the upbeat to bar 23. Otherwise, well done!

Estampie Royal

• Work on getting your rhythms really strong, both by clapping and playing, but think just as carefully about them when you’re playing!
• Try to get the balance between waiting on crotchets and hitting the ground running on semiquavers.

Don’t forget to always ask if you don’t understand something!

Mon 23^rd Nov 2020

Rhythm challenge: Which of these two pieces is in 7/8? And what time signature do you think the other is in?

O Come, All Ye Faithful

• Start up bow and don’t forget the retake after the rest on the 2nd line.
• Great dynamics!
• Practice repeating the whole thing, going back to the 2nd violin part.
• Practice with this guide track. It has 3 full bars of metronome at the start, plus 3 beats. Use headphones and have one ear in.

An Chloë

• As neat as you can in bar 10, finishing the last phrase and then starting the next one cleanly.
• Practice bar 13 for the bowing (it starts with a down bow).
• From 17, longer bows to connect the crotchets in a flowing line.
• Practice bars 29 and 30 the most – the quavers need to be quite fast and definitely neat.
• Practice the last line, thinking about the semitone between 3rd and 4th fingers on both strings.

Mon 16^th Nov 2020

To improve your rhythm, read last week’s notes on how to do the post-it note challenge.

An Chloë

• Aim for good sound quality throughout – your first full bar sounded great when you started today, so try to match that.
• Flow from one line to another.
• If bar 9 feels like hard work, practice it like we did in the lesson, getting rid of the semiquavers at first and then adding them back in, keeping your bow just as relaxed and flowing.
• Longer bow stroke for crotchets at 11 and 12. Making each crotchet progressively longer will help achieve the crescendo really well.
• How tidy can you make bars 15-20?
• How beautiful can you make the last line?

Practice O Come, All Ye Faithful. Think how you want your posture to look on video!

Mon 9^th Nov 2020

Read last week’s notes if you haven’t already.

Sound quality – I think you can fix 90% of this by curving your little finger and thumb. Take a moment before everything you play to rest the bow on the string and tap your little finger. Check the thumb each time too, and make sure your right shoulder doesn’t shrug.

Joshi’s Dance

• For vibrato, make sure violin is secure on your shoulder and keep your thumb gently resting on the neck.
• Don’t always start from the beginning – practice the secion from bar 24-41 more than the rest. Get someone to listen, following along with the piano part, to give you a score out of 10 for your rhythm.

An Chloë

• Use post-it notes so Mum, Dad or Matthew can set you a rhythm challenge each day. Find 10 post-it notes:
  • One one, write a 4/4 time signature
  • On three of them, write one crotchet rest
  • On three of them, write one crotchet
  • On three of them, write a pair of quavers.
• For the rhythm challenge, clap a few bars of 4 crotchets, then when you know you’re feeling the steady beat, change to clapping the rhythm they have set you.
• Then practice the piece, remembering the up bow start, curved little finger and to count yourself in.
• Watch these videos whilst following your music through and let me know what you thought next lesson:

Mon 2^nd Nov 2020

LISTENING – we had a good chat about how to achieve your full potential today: imagining the sound you want to make and listening to see if you have achieved this. Don’t let yourself get awau with less than your best!

Listen carefully in everything you do in your practice, from now until… well, forever!!!

Scales – make sure you always warm up with at least 3 scales from your scale pots.

Joshi’s Dance

• Remember this is a grade 3 piece – how can you get 30/30?
• In the rustic sections, see if you can up your speed even more using a metronome.
• In the cantabile sections, imagine the soft sound you want to hear. Light bow, fingerboard and a bit of relaxed vibrato (careful not to press in your left hand).

An Chloë

Mon 19^th Oct 2020

Scales

• Try to get through them all over the next 2 weeks and let me know which ones you need help on.

Joshi’s Dance

• We were working at minim = 70. When you’re happy with that, go up to 90, then 100, then 112.
• Don’t forget the marcato bowing!
• At 12 go into daydream mode – a sweet sound and whispy bow.

Air de Ballet

• Make the dynamics super obvious.
• Can you make the repeated down bows have poise like a ballet dancer?
• Stop to think about the F naturals and C naturals before you start playing.
• I’d love to hear a performance of this next lesson!

I’d love to mark some theory papers for you soon too!

Mon 12^th Oct 2020

Joshi’s Dance

• To warm up, play C Major scale, arpeggio and Dominant 7^th (what note does it start on?).
• Try it at minim=50 for a few practises, then try it a bit faster.
• Hold your up bow semibreves for their full length with no gap before the next note.
• Practice the section at bar 24 for bow co-ordination.

Mon 5^th Oct 2020

Vibrato

• Same as last week – so read last week’s notes carefully!
• Keep your thumb relaxed but secure and try to keep your violin stable so you can bow smoothly.

Air de Ballet

• Try with a metronome so that each 4 bar phrase is the same speed.
• If anything is a bit messy, stop to neaten it up – you know how!
• Listen for the sound quality at the start of each repeated down bow note – can it be smoother, like your bow is travelling in one big circle?

Have a look at Joshi’s Dance if you like, but make sure you observe all the details!

Mon 28^th Sep 2020

To really get the most out of practice, have these notes to hand for reference – if Laura can bookmark them on her device that would be great!

Vibrato

• Keep going through the vibrato book – I’d love to hear a report at the start of next lesson telling me what you’ve worked on from it this week!
• Memorise the vibrato scale (see last week) and practice it slowly – maybe even with a metronome – at about crotchet=60.

Air de Ballet

• Play C major scale as a warm-up to help get your ear used to F and C naturals.
• Practice the first line just for F and C naturals – trust your finger placing more than your ear!
• Always stand up straight and use your bow with care – control placing the bow on the string and the timing of your string crossings (practice this on the very first note of the piece, and on bars 5-8).
• Read through the piece without your violin to spot the dynamics, then play through aiming to make them really obvious.
• Practice with a metronome a few times: are you playing each section the same speed?

Mon 21^st Sep 2020

Vibrato exercise

• Start with a high violin, then slide the hand up and down the fingerboard by closing and opening the elbow. Then make the movement progressively smaller until you land in 1^st position.
• Use a slow, full bow.

Romance

• Start with a relaxed left hand and aim for a constant light vibrato.
• Here are two vibrato champions – watch their left hands!

• Keep an eye on how straight your bow is – this will help with the next point:
• How clean can you make it? Listen to the sound – is your bow crossing the strings cleanly and is your tuning pure (yes, it IS important!! The head of strings at my music college once told us tuning is the one thing you can’t get away with in an audition! If you’re out of tune, you’ve lost the job straight away!)
• Take a quiet moment to look through the piece for dynamics. Play it through once each practice JUST for dynamics.

Air de Ballet

Start looking at this, but read the lightbulb at the bottom of the page first!

Mon 14^th Sep 2020

Scales

• I have written which position to play Cs and Es in on the list above.
• Think in halves of octaves to help with thinking ahead.
• Close eyes to concentrate if you need to.

Viva Vibrato

• Revise what you had done before and keep going!

Down By the Riverside

• Press play on this track and follow the music through to see where we have rhythms together:

• Get ready to play – little finger curved, violin up, first notes ready – then press play. Remember the staccatos!
• Check last week’s notes to see if you can improve any of those points even more.

Baklanova Romance

• Check last week’s notes.
• Try to start your first note smoothly, in the mood of the piece.
• Practice bars 7-10 for tuning and rhythm.
• Practice 19-38 for bowing. Maybe try to memorise the bowing?

Mon 7^th Sep 2020

Baklanova Romance

Before you start:

• Violin up nice and high, so your left elbow can swing freely.
• Play EFA so your first 3 notes are ready.
• Don’t forget it starts on a down bow!

Then:

• Slow crotchets in bars 8 and 44.
• F naturals from bar 16.
• Spend a few minutes working on the bowing (especially slurs) between 29 and 38.
• B flats from bar 50

Down by the Riverside

• Don’t forget the rests!
• Full length minims in 17, 25 and 33.
• In 18, 26 and 34 – make sure the crotchets are on beats 3 and 4.
• Practice 20-23 for the top notes in 21 and 23.
• Play along with this track if you’d like to play it as a violin duet with me!

Wed 4^th Mar 2015

Your first violin lesson! 😄🎻