It's Over

Well, my Beginning Violin class has come to an end. The 8 weeks really did go fast! Our last lesson was probably one of my faves. We spent lots of time laughing, squeeking through a 3-part Harmony of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, more laughing, and hearing B say “No, really! It did sound good!” Followed by, of course, more laughter, because she totally had just lied.

I can’t believe how much I learned in just a short time. The sad part was having to turn in my violin at the end of class :o( No more violin for Liesl, unless I take another class and/or rent a violin. B also provided names of some private teachers, but I’m not sure that will be in my future or not. I followed my dream of learning to play the violin…now we will see where I go from here…

Tonight I will be able to rejoin my Tuesday night Ladies Bible Study, which I have been missing for quite sometime. Steve and I have been absent from HHBC the past couple Sundays, so it will be fun to see all of those girls again!

Playing With Our Eyes Closed…

Yes, you read right. We had to play a little bit with our eyes closed at last Tuesday's violin lesson! She said "muscle memory" should kick in (Ha). I think the second time we played the D Major Scale, my bow ended up in the same place it started, um, almost. I do have to say, though, that we played almost non-stop the entire lesson, and I am not nearly as sore as I used to get. I'm still deciding if this is something I want to continue, or if I want to change to learning the Cello (just like at Justin and Jessica's when I was playing my violin as a cello…hehe), or take voice lessons…or nothing :o) So many options! Unfortunately, I don't have any fun stories about our lesson on Tuesday, other than the fact that we can play a mean version of "Variations on Hot Cross Buns" now. With CD Accompaniment, too! Only one more lesson…where have 8 weeks gone?

D Major Scale…and some squeeks

Well, I have been a bit delinquent on my Violin Lesson blogging of late. I apologize to my faithful readers. I can’t believe I only have 2 lessons left in the Beginning Violin class. Hopefully there will be enough interest in an Intermediate Class so we can have one in the spring and don’t have to wait until next fall!

At our 5th lesson, we learned 4 more notes, and we are now able to play an entire scale! This adds a few selections to our song list. The cool thing about this class is that we repeat things often, yet our teacher, B, has such variety in her teaching that we don’t even realize we’re repeating things! That is good for an impatient learner like myself…I need to repeat to get better, but don’t have the patience to get there. So this is a perfect situation for me.

Our class continues to have fun together as banter back and forth with B. I think she enjoys having adults around (since she’s used to teaching 5th grade thru High School). Oh, so there is one story from today. Sometimes our teacher forgets that people don’t know how to read music (I admit, I forget sometimes, too). So there is this one girl who has a STRONG personality (to put it nicely/mildly) and does not know how to read music. So when B forgets and rushes through something assuming people know what she’s talking about, this chick throws attitude. I tried to step in nicely to try to explain to her what the “key signature” and “F sharp” all meant and she totally bit my head off. Wow. She wanted to be sure I knew that she didn’t know what that meant because she doesn’t read music (um, hello! That’s what I was trying to explain to you…but whatever). So I decided I should refrain from that point on. Everyone else in the class is sweet and fun, though. We laugh when B tells us we sound good (because honestly, I don’t think it’s true!). Haha.

Ah well...more excitement next week…

I AM Smarter than a 5th Grader!

At our violin lesson on Tuesday, the teacher informed us that we were "way ahead" of her 5th graders. We were all pretty pumped about that. They haven't even started using their bows yet...they are still plucking. We are SO past just plucking. Ha.

We learned one new note...however, before you get too excited, it's just another way to play a note we ALREADY KNOW. Really, are you kidding me? How is that going to help me expand my repertoire? Well, I am still unfortunately limited to a few songs: "Merrily We Roll Along" (which also happens to have the same tune as "Mary Had a Little Lamb"--voila! 2 songs in one!), "Hot Cross Buns," and...um...that might be all. I know, I should play at parties.

This last lesson marks the halfway point of my 8 week violin lesson stint. It was by far my favorite lesson so far. We are getting to know each other better, and our class has a great time with our teacher. We all know we are pathetic compared to the child geniuses that play symphonies when they are 3 1/2...and we're ok with that. :o)

I really do need to start playing at home...I will be so sad when I have to turn my violin back in!

Getting better...

We actually didn't learn anything new yesterday in our violin lessons, but all the review was very helpful! I have never been a "practice at home" kind of person (just ask my parents...they were always on my case about practicing piano and oboe when I was younger), so it was good for me to actually keep working on the things we learned while in class. But, since my violin is a rental, I need to take advantage of the time that I have it and play at home, too! Not sure how Norman will feel about that.

I did feel like a real violin player yesterday because we were continuing to bow, and on different strings! And we learned how to move from string to string silently (ok I lied, we did learn something new). B really is a great teacher. I feel like I am forming correct habits right from the start. I am enjoying myself a lot. But I always get so sore (my shoulders and neck get such a workout), so I'd better start playing more!

3 More Notes and a Bow

After much anticipation, and a request from my faithful reader (you know who you are), I am here with an update on Violin Lesson #2 :o) I was almost late, because I miscalculated the time it took to get there (and my co-worker was telling me a story as I was packing up to leave...I do love stories!), but I slipped in just as the teacher (I'll call her "B") was walking around tuning everyone's violins. After that, we went right into some warm-ups and we plucked our way through our first accompaniment (as B played along with her Violin and Bow). Then...drum roll...it was time for the finger calluses. By that I mean you have to press down hard on those strings to change notes! I had little lines at the tips of my fingers on my left hand by the end of class. No pain, no gain. I was starting to feel impatient (hey, I have played piano for 23 years...I know the notes, just show me how to play them on the violin!), but remembered that learning correctly and being patient is key to my experience (can you tell I was never good at "group work" in school?).

I was starting to get nervous, as the clock neared 7:00 (the end of the lesson) and we still had yet to take out the bow. Then, the moment came. She told us to get out the pencils she had given us last week to practice our "bow hold." I knew what was coming. After a quick lesson on what was what on the bow, and where to hold it (along with B going around to each person to see that they were holding it correctly...again, lessons in patience AND violin), we got to make our first sound. It was beautiful. Except that I was going cross-eyed looking at the bow on the strings and couldn't tell which string I was "bow-ing." I wonder if all violin players have that problem? I totally thought I was bowing a different string than I was...maybe I'll just have to close one eye while I play...haha.

By the time 7:00 rolled around, I felt confident that I took enough away from the lesson to practice at home. Oh, and with the notes we now know (7 total!), I can play Hot Cross Buns. Who could ask for anything more?

I am TOTALLY a violin player now

Well, sorta. I started violin lessons yesterday with the OKC Philharmonic “Be the Orchestra” program. I've wanted to play the violin since I was about 4, so I am really excited to finally be learning! We haven’t even gotten the bow out yet, but I can sure pluck strings with the best of ‘em. Only 4 notes (the notes where you don’t have to push down any strings), but I’m sure I can make a beautiful song out of those 4 notes!

I think Norman will enjoy my at-home practicing immensely. Especially once we start using the bow (next week!) and I am squeeking out note after note. He howls when I play the piano (actually, I prefer to call it “singing,” thank you) so I know he will enjoy accompanying me on the violin as well.

Stay tuned for next week’s recap of “the first lesson with the bow”…insert music of frightening anticipation here…