| |
In the last couple of days building up to the concert, I worked on refining the concert pieces and added musicality to them. For “Of Glorious Plumage,” I began by focusing on 23-27 for the musicality aspect. Here, the mood shifts and the contrast needed to be brought out, beginning with the crescendo at measure 23. I decided that the best way to add this contrast would be to get even quieter in as the notes go down in the measures before so that this pp to mf crescendo appears even more significant. At the same time, I worked on balancing the mf just high enough to where I could still make an observable crescendo to a fortissimo by measure 27. For refining the piece, I looked at measures 43-54. While the rhythm was just a simple pattern of repeat sixteenths, the simple nature of it made perfection paramount. Holding any note for too long makes the whole part seem shaky. To begin, I worked on open strings making my string crossing slow and getting used to the feeling of it. Then, I worked my way up to a faster tempo, keeping the constant rhythm. When I then added the notes, the piece sounded much more cohesive than originally, as I had a better feel for what even spacing should feel like when crossing strings at the tip of the bow.
For the first movement of the Rutter Suite, my primary focus was measures 152 -170. While I knew most of the notes, I would still fumble around with some of them and misplace certain notes. I began by slowing it down, playing one note at a time. I realized that I actually had a different idea of what it sounded like at the beginning because the fingering pattern wasn’t what I thought it was. I then practiced it at faster and faster speeds, and fixed I-J by changing the shifting I was doing. For the second movement, my only major focus was on musicality from the beginning to B. Being the start of a movement that so heavily emphasizes musicality, this part needed more interpretation, which I achieved by adding in decrescendos and changing bow lengths. Lastly, I looked at letter C in movement 4 for intonation. The second measure of the section had odd accidentals that I couldn’t just use my ear to figure out. I improved the intonation by comparing each note of the measure to lower octave equivalents, so that I could actually understand how it was supposed to sound. This is the first blog for the 2016-2017 school year! My name is Anooj Arkatkar. I am currently a senior who has been playing violin for 8 years. In addition to violin, I also play ocarina, an instrument I picked up just two years ago. Over the summer I practiced around 5 times per week for roughly half an hour each. The practice was more leisurely than technical, but it was overall still an enjoyable way to maintain my skill with the instrument. For this year, I am looking forward to festival. Not only is it a chance for us to test our talent and hard work as an orchestra, but it also pushes us to work extra hard on those pieces. I absolutely love playing in those rehearsals where everyone is playing confidently, and I've noticed a lot more of those during Festival season. For the last three years, this class has been a splendid break from academic rigor, as well as an opportunity to express myself freely and energetically through music. I expect nothing less from this year.
Today I worked on intonation and rhythm in Bogdan's Castle. I first focused on the rhythm in measures 32-36. In these measures there are changes in time signature and I tended to drag when going between measures. Simply playing it through a few times was enough for me to understand what it sounds like and thus play it correctly. Going in order of the piece, I found the next trouble spot at 70-77. Here I needed to shift and play accidentals, so it needed some work. I practiced by playing the bottom part first to understand the general sound before playing the top part. Playing with a tuner also helped me maintain intonation. The last part I worked on was 91-96 for the rhythm. While mostly straight-forward, the bowing made me prolong notes and threw me off. I first played while breaking up the slurs, and then added them in later on in order to keep the rhythm correct.
In the days leading up to the concert, my biggest focus was fluency. While I had the rhythm mostly right and the intonation sound, there was a lack of overall clean-ness in my playing. This was something that could only be resolved through practice, but luckily I received an item that made practicing much easier for me. One week ago I got an electric violin, which has really helped because of its quietness without an amp. While I previously had to wait for my mom to finish her music classes before I could practice, this new instrument is quiet enough where I can practice whenever I want to. With a more flexible practicing ability, I first worked on Alleluia. Many of my slurs were mushy, especially around measure 35, so I practiced each one, focusing on my left hand. When I subsequently practiced the Fugue, it was immediately improved because I cleaned up my slurs. For Palladio, the lack of clarity came from sections where I had faster notes (like measures 11-18). I started the week practicing these slowly so that I could define each note. I then gradually got faster and faster until I worked myself up to concert tempo. Lastly was the Star Wars. I noticed that in this piece most of my blurriness in sound could be resolved by playing with more confidence, especially true against the loudness of the band. I worked on exaggerating not just my dynamics, but also my bow movements so that I felt like I had a stronger grasp on what I was playing. In the last moments before the concert, I will work on the intricacies of the dynamics which, in tandem with my heightened clarity, should allow me to perform in a more definitive manner.
|
Archives
February 2016
Categories |