HuangKaiVun

If it's so easy to play fast stuff, then let's hear some Bazzini from David and you guys.

You'll do great on this piece, cremona. You're a wonderful player and you know how to play with others. Are you going to memorize the work, or play it from sheet music on stage?

You can always make your own arrangements of stuff. I have one of my own arrangements of an unknown little melodic piece called "Life Let Us Cherish" by a guy called "Henry Farmer", and I will eventually build many more of these.

Let's make it August. I will be there and will try to get my students and luthier show up. Longhair, I just saw you this weekend and talked to you about this. Unfortunately, we didn't pin down a DATE. Could you give us some suggestions as to good days to do this? I would be willing to put up people at MY place too.

But that's my point exactly, Gray Violiner - there ARE lots of programs out there that teach violin and provide opportunities that aren't in school. Any violin teacher, no matter how young or unfamous, is doing his part to provide opportunities for students of ANY age to enjoy music and shine. Besides, a bad orchestra teacher (and I've dealt with a few of those) can be even more discouraging than no teacher as all. Kids rejected by those teachers eventually find their way to me and thus back to the violin.

For your information Mrs. Mazas, I do scales and practice religiously. In fact, I practice in MODES. I wouldn't be able to hit all the notes in those UNPRACTICED other pieces if I didn't. Those pieces I hardly ever touch. Some of it, like the Ravel, I don't even have the music to. The Bazzini I've messed around with for years, but I haven't SAT DOWN with it until February. In June, I'll play a recital featuring the Bazzini - this time with PIANO. I'll repost the results for your scrutiny. Don't worry, I won't do any edits or tricks. You can judge my scales THEN.

But not everybody is that fortunate to have a "Music in the Heart" school system. I've got people who are out of the schools that I'm teaching for free since they lack funds. One doesn't need to be in the school system to be able to teach ANYONE the violin.

Not everybody is going to like what you play. The question is do you keep playing, or do you hide? I'll play - and encourage others to do so.

Dorothy DeLay's legacy lives in on her students - most of whom could probably be considered worthy of "successor" potential. If anybody could be called her "successor", I'd imagine it would be the great Itzhak Perlman. He's now a Juilliard faculty member, and he even played "Mrs. DeLay" at a humorous presentation at one of her birthday bashes. Fortunately, Mrs. DeLay was very well-appreciated by her lifetime. Students paid her the highest tribute imagineable - they chose to learn violin from her! It's good to see people recognizing her for all the effort and work she put in toward furthering interest in the art of the violin. Dorothy DeLay's legacy was that she was capable of changing a person's life for the better. This lives on in her students, of whom there are very many great players to listen to and study with.

just do it.

Whatever instrument I'm playing on, I just try to make the best of it.

Cutting string programs in schools forces students into the hands of private teachers like ME.

Exactly, Mark_W. My Eugene Morizot bow? Same thing - only a wooden splice was used instead of pins. I call this bow "spliceheaded". Such a repair should be attempted only by a skilled bowperson.

When I met her, I was surprised to see that she was slightly taller than me but had SMALLER HANDS. I asked her if she was doing anything for exercises and her reply was "fingered octaves". Does anybody know if her injury was the result of a violint or violent injury?

I use all-gut strings regularly. The thing is that my sound doesn't go well with the shrillness of modern synthetic strings and the boomingness of concert grand pianos. I don't have gut strings right now, but I'll probably order a set real soon.

Journey, didn't you post a picture of yourself playing a while ago? Do you have the same basic posture?

The original post did ask for "current" groups, but the 50s/60s were mentioned and the post asked for "notably great or poor orchestral concert listening experiences recently". I first heard Celibidache on CD about 3 years ago and was utterly bowled over. As far as I was concerned, THAT was the way music was supposed to be played. Celibidache appeared with "2nd rate" orchestras (according to a biographer), but he managed to make them all sound like HIS group. Admittedly, Celibidache has passed away. But in today's CD era, EVERYTHING is "current".

I'll take Sergiu Celibidache and the groups he conducted.

In the OLD (pre-Spohr) days, there was no chinrest to my recollection. My students and their parents say that the violin "sounds louder" and "feels better" without a chinrest. When I have the violin in an erect position, I can touch my left hand to my right shoulder even without a chinrest and with a protective cloth. This is the posture that Aaron Rosand taught me - though he thinks I'm crazy for having ditched my chinrest. In this posture, I use my left hand to raise the scroll so that the strings are parallel to the floor. However, I do not hold the violin "flat" - I keep it at an angle consistent with my clavicle. When I go into higher positions, I don't have to contort my spine to play really high positions. I can stand there with a straight up and down spine and just play. I've gotten a lot better at this since last year when I first ditched the rest. Now I stand pretty much without head tilt. I also feel more natural with bowing and vibrato nowadays. When I vibrate, I vibrate in the plane of my neck and not in a vertical fashion. My assistant has a long neck, and she's taller than me. She has to have a chinrest. As a beginner violinist 22 years ago, I didn't have any physical discomfort until my mother started warping my posture due to the physical theatrics she saw violinists doing on TV.

Nope. No discomfort. In fact, you can always recognize my students because either they have no chinrest or no shoulder rest and often BOTH. I never force them to go without the chinrest, though I'm pretty adamant about the shoulder rest because the style of playing I teach doesn't work that great with one.

The flautando Mr.Woof describes works great, though I don't always do it that way. In general, I tend to grab the bow more firmly and play with flat hair while p-ing. I don't usually p on the fingerboard, but I do suspend the bow's weight using my pinky.

And staylor, WHO CARES? One should foot the bill for the damages he incurs on his own instruments

Exactly, stewarts. I am a totally different player than Kreisler.

not cheating. Use the fingers of the right hand to effect the subtle dynamic changes.