Re: Practice Suggestions…

[vince-pierce]

Oops…I should have been a little more specific!

I will be taking lessons over the summer. I will begin Lariviere and Chanson dans la Nuit, and I am currently working on Syliva Woods’ arrangement of Canon in D, La Joyeuse by Rameau/Salzedo, and exercises from the Salzedo/Lawrence method book. I seem to be working on a lot of scale patterns and finger crossings (Canon and La Joyeuse), and I’m trying to clean those up. Also, I’m working on oscillation (which is definitely a weak point for me), avoiding buzzing when replacing on scale patterns in the low octaves, and trying to stay relaxed and comfortable when playing. I’ve noticed that it seems to make my finger crossings better when my thumbs are higher on the strings and third and fourth fingers are lower. I also want to work on my left hand; when I place all four fingers, as in a scale pattern, I feel like I have no control and I don’t get much sound. Also, I want to better observe and eliminate extraneous motion from my playing and make that more fluid. I think I might videotape myself. I will keep you updated on what my teacher says. I’m not sure how many lessons I will be able to get this summer, but they will be very useful nevertheless. I think that’s it, and if you’ve read all that, thanks! 🙂
Vince

P.S. – Carl, you’d be glad to know we are having a harp maintenance workshop tomorrow. We’ll be replacing strings and each of us gets to refelt a pedal on our gold Salvi.