I listened to Tambourin. Well, it certainly sounds like it's easier to play than it really is. There are also a lot of little problem spots I'm not sure how to fix.

And I need a new printer.

Fuga - one more line learned with melody. Sort of. I have a hard time paying attention throughout an entire line.

Tambourin - recorded 3 times, need to listen before next practice and mark consistent problems.

Fuga - more measures learned with melody brought out. I think I'm on track with this one?

I listened to another version of Fuga, and tried to copy bringing out the melody, and while doing that realized that's what I whistle after I finish playing it.  Hopefully, that will make it more interesting.

The fiddle is coming along. I can get some decent sounds out of it. But not when it's raining, which may pose a problem in Portland, OR.

Wrote up a new practice schedule yesterday focusing on Fuga and Tambourin for now.

Tambourin: I still need to work on: opening trills and 2nd page trouble measure.

Fuga: Practiced opening and closing. Closing may need more work.  Next need to work on trouble spots and experimenting. Maybe alternate between left and right hand.

Got all recordings matched up from most recent recording session.

Glisses in Giga alternate.

Test recording:
Tambourin is definitely not a piece to start with when performing, it requires warm up.  Also sounds a little better fast. Ok slow, but not as interesting. Still need to work on 1st measure trills. And 2nd page turnarounds.

Rigaudon definitely sounds ok slower than indicated. It's a fun piece.

I wasn't playing Giga as fast as I thought, which could be due to recorder.  REALLY like the variations.

Fuga is going to require a lot of work not to sound boring.

Pavane Ok not muffling bass notes. Also boring.

Not surprisingly, I messed up more with the recorder on.

Fuga and Rigaudon are ready for test recording.

Rigaudon is ready for polishing at 80. I seem to have this memorized, too!

And upon further reflection, I need to learn how not to do the same thing with my mouth while playing the harp that my lovely grandmother did while she was knitting.

Video recorded myself playing last night. Not as bad as I thought, but very boooorrrrring. I got a recommendation for a performance coach, so I'm definitely keeping that in mind for later down the road.

I keep forgetting about Giga. I think maybe I need to focus on less pieces. However, worked on a couple measures today.

I am putting together the two tracks of my recording sessions and realizing I really need to clean up my playing - very buzzy.  I don't know if that means I'll need to re-record.  My chair is also very creaky and poppy. Ditto on the re-recording.

Finished one page and almost another page of Rigaudon.

Learned the remaining page of Fuga.

Tried to work on pg 2 of Tambourin, but no headway. The other two went very easily. Almost too easily.

Worked on Italian Pavane and felt I didn't really make any headway. But I probably did.

Why playing the harp is hard

I maybe should not have taken up the fiddle.

Yesterday, when I was "practicing" the fiddle¹, and thinking about how incredibly hard it was, I had an "Oh yeah? Well I used to walk 2 miles to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways" moment.

Playing violin/fiddle is really difficult. However, the harp is way harder.

I present the following arguments:

The harp is really heavy. Like, ridiculously heavy.  Sure, pianos are heavy, but they're everywhere. Chances are if you're playing piano, you don't bring your own.

And speaking of pianos, violins are so lightweight if you start to drop it, it's pretty easy to catch. If you start to drop a harp, it will take you with it, conceivably falling on said piano, which you would then have to explain away by saying you "meant to do that".

The harp has approximately a metric crap ton of strings.  The violin is set up with an economical four strings. They are also set up in 5ths making scales and transposing a snap.  The harp has pedals for that. And they require a little bit of strength to move. And you have to move them fast. Sometimes so fast you can give yourself shin splints. Or so I've heard. From my shins.

The harp requires a significant amount of finger, arm, and back strength just to pluck the strings, not to mention the foot dexterity that I mentioned above and am mentioning again.  The violin does not require any force of any kind. At all. Even though I'm trying to make it that way.

You can fudge notes on a violin. If you don't land exactly, you can move your finger slightly and achieve noteness. On the harp, the targets are anywhere from 2 mm to less than 1 mm, and you have to land that sometimes after flinging your arms over a span of two feet.

Oh, and don't even get me started on tuning. Or rather do. I certainly need a head start because harp tuning = 10 minutes, and that's IF everything's already relatively in tune. Fiddle? 2 minutes tops.

Rebuttal:
As opposed (really, reeeally opposed) to the fiddle, it takes no effort to make a good sound on the harp. You can literally sneeze on it and it makes a better sound.²

And the harp is so pretty. Kind of like this if unicorn = harp and fluffy = pretty.



If I had started on the violin, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it.

Soooo.... in conclusion: fiddle = hard, and possibly worth it. Harp = harder, but definitely worth it.

QED?


<sup>1. some might say "torturing" the fiddle
2. probably not the best way to get the aeolian effect.</sup>

I had forgotten about Giga. Got a few more lines done. I think the combo of giving myself breaks in between sessions of at least one day, chaining and creeping up to speed is the best. Things just fell into place with the measures and lines I was working on today.

Fuga - Tried to work on the whole page by creeping up on the speed instead of chaining and it seemed to work better.  Is that a better way to cement lines I've already learned?  126 - 126.

Tambourin - Still really uneven - I can play a line once, then not, then again. ???

And my 2nd octave E broke. I had just replace it this past July. >:(

Things went a little better today. I still don't know how I'm going to start Rigaudon as the pages other than the first one seem to be a little easier to play. Trying to play faster seems to be the ticket to playing in time.

Violin hilarity rating on a scale of one to ten, ten being funniest: 32470830127

At least I'm amusing myself. My neighbors, probably not so much.



Rigaudon - 1st measure chaining clicked, then unclicked. I tried to play faster than the metronome and that's when it clicked. Then lost focus?  Could feel the muscle strand in my bicep I was using. Wleuagh!

Spent another inordinate amount of time on one line. This time in Italian Pavane. The 3rd and 4th finger rt hand trill is difficult on the larger gauge strings, but only if I think about that. If I think about them as one octave up, I can play it. Didn't quite get it good enough to my satisfaction.

The fiddle is still excruciating, but not as much so.

It took me and HOUR to convince my brain to focus on one line. I basically had to tell it we weren't going anywhere until I could play it 5 times perfectly. The subsequent two lines went much more quickly.

Dear Brain,

See, Brain? We do things MY WAY.

Sincerely,
Brain