First lesson in three weeks, so of course I felt less than well prepared. We started off with a scale, but today I began with F for linked half notes, then T- asked for d in quarter notes, and finally Bb in eighth notes. I found that I needed more time to get oriented to the fingerboard than I had available with the faster notes. That is, with linked half notes, which are really whole note duration on each note, I have enough time to think of the next note coming so I don’t notice how much I need that time. I should surprise myself occasionally by jumping into a scale with a faster tempo to get a better handle on how well I really know it.
The other major comment was about how my sound when I am playing a whole note and thinking about it is so much better than when I play four quarter notes on a bow. They optimally should be the same, since I am using the same bow speed. T- suggested that that be a specific goal in my practice, and that when my ear tells me it’s not so I should pause to play a few whole notes to recalibrate and then continue.
He also had me try a kinesthetic exercise to help with that. I began by using my right elbow to “write” with, as though it was a big, fat magic marker. Gradually, I lowered my arm into playing position, then drew the bow while still imagining that I was writing with my elbow. It reminded me a lot of some Alexander Technique work I have done, thinking of leading with the elbow when moving my arm away from the body. T- also reminded me to think of my elbow diving back toward my body on each up bow. This improves the weightiness of the arm, while keeping the elbow pointed away effectively lifts the bow up out of the string. Effective, but undesired.
Next was Bach 2nd Suite, Minuet II. The only real technical difficulty I had was in the A section, shift from F on IV to D on II, then descending scale down the D string. Rather than awaiting instruction I started practicing that in a structured way, and I think T- was pleased. It really helped to clarify the positions – 3d position shifting to 5th – and I knew my hand pattern on arrival, whole half. Thinking about the positions contributes to my moving the whole arm, rather than reaching with the fingers to hit a particular note. Then the following notes are also more likely to be in tune.
That took hardly any time at all, so I also played the Gigue. There were just a few technical instructions.
- Play the droning quarter note D’s vigorously. Voicing the upper notes is not the point here.
- Since I am playing those eighth notes two to a bow, play them strong-weak rather than equivalently.
- The non-held note in a double stop should often be played as only an eighth note to facilitate fingering. There is one bar in each section in which that trick helped immensely. We spent a few minutes looking at the performance suggestions in the Alexanian edition, which were very useful in that regard.
- Make a big deal about the final arpeggio the second time through – after all, that’s the end of the whole suite.
Otherwise, all the coaching was to just play. T- really did seem to be happy when I went for it in spite of a few wrong notes, though that also meant that in general I was getting them pretty well. We did a bit of grinning (effective at keeping tension out of my face) and also focusing on what my right hand was doing. I didn’t think I was prepared enough to stop supervising my left hand, but was again surprised when the music improved as I shifted focus. I need to do that more often when I practice.
It was remarkable that we covered so much in one lesson, and quite unusual. More typically we do one or two phrases, not one or two movements. I’m pleased that I was able to figure out so much on my own during my preparatory practice, a real sign of growth while studying this suite over the last year and a half.
For next week? No specific assignment. We haven’t worked on the Allemande in a lesson yet, so I think I’ll switch my focus there while reviewing the other movements. That will be the last dance.
