Violin Scratchin'

Because of my homelessness and shingles, I haven't played my violin much, 'cept for in spurts here and there.

I am practicing a piece called "Hundreds" and "Thousands" and I am challenged by these things called "eighth notes". (The spelling even strikes me as strange.)

I am playing in 4/4 time, which means each quarter note gets a toe-tap to the measure (each section of the bar encased in a vertical line). Eighth notes are counted as the beat and the "and" afterwards, so in this measure of music you see here, I would play "F and G and A and B", all in succession. No stopping. The ties mean no stopping, and this measure of music would have me start with two fingers on the D string, then three and then an open A string and then 1 finger on the A string. All in 2-and time.

I seem to jump the gun when I put the metronome to 40 beats per minute, but can't seem to catch up when I put it to 50. And I want to play with feeling. Right now I feel I am playing mechanically, perhaps whimsically at times.

I fantasize about fiddling with some Ol' time band, and doing a salsa step with a charanga descarga, and finally playing the 'Powdered Milk Biscuit" theme song from A Prairie Home Companion down the aisle as my hubby and I walk back down the aisle after saying, "I do."

This will happen. My next lesson will be lesson number 4.

I cannot wait for my fingers to become nimble, create that tremolo sound and quickly switch from 3rd finger, 2nd string to first finger, 4th string and the open 3rd string as easily as I read.

For now I read
with
a
pause
at
each
note.

But the pause
is getting
a little quicker
each
time.

It's definitely a literacy-building exercise.

Until tomorrow's fabulous rehearsal.

Buena cera.