I stopped at grade 6 and intend to complete to grade 8. But after 11 years of not touching my violin, I basically have forgotten every single note on the violin. How can I get back all that I learnt fast ?
Add a comment
|
4 Answers
My recommendation based on my own experience is that you find a teacher and start over as though you've never played before. That way, the things that return to you more quickly will be obvious, and the things you've actually forgotten, you'll have a guide to help you get them back.
This approach can be taken even without a teacher. Pull out the books you used to use, or buy "How to Play Violin Book 1", and work through them, paying careful attention to the parts you don't remember as well. The drawback, of course, is that you won't have the feedback of a teacher for things the book doesn't cover or mistakes you don't realize you're making.
If you reached grade VI, you weren't a bad player at that time! Like riding a bike, you won't have forgotten, just that the skills have become supressed. So deeply that it feels like they've been forgotten. As Aaron (and most of us) say, a teacher is always going to be one of the best options, but attaining grade VI, you could (at that time) possibly have even taught beginners yourself!
With a teacher, you'll re-discover your previous skills within a few weeks/months, and move on from there. Without, it will take longer, but since you're older, things you struggled with 11 yrs ago should have more obvious solutions. As in, you played as a child, but are now an adult. That in itself, though, could be problematic: children have far more time than adults to practise, for various reasons, and often see things in rather different ways!
Dig out your exam pieces (I suspect that's all you ever played) from around grade III/IV, and resurrect those as a start point, if working alone. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks to polish them up again! Watch your posture in a mirror - you'll probably ache for several weeks starting over again, but get as comfortable as you can standing and playing again. Good luck!
Just practice and play stuff. I've returned after a quite longer hiatus than you and a stroke, and the main problem is that all my fingering and position reflexes and memories are pretty much there, but the necessary precision to follow them isn't. So the intonation for classical play (where I lean towards keeping phrases on one string if feasible in any position) is rather lacklustre even though first position play appears to be more or less hardwired.
Also remember: if your ensemble colleagues/conductor decide to promote you to first violin (say), that's their decision, not yours. It's reason to work on your play, it is not reason to feel guilty because you don't feel up to par. You'll get back there in due time.
Like with any skill benefitting from obsession, see whether you can turn it into a habitual occupation, something you do to unwind or relax. Neighbors a real or imagined problem? Get yourself a practice mute. The sound sucks, but if helps you relax about others, it may help.
The main thing is making violin practice habitual. If there are mental obstacles, try to design workarounds. Making your practice more effective takes a second place to making your practice obsessive. Obsession does not run out of steam. But just what makes you obsess is personal.
I was in kind of the same situation and from my experience, this is my advice while waiting for a teacher :
- Start by trying out your posture with the violin and then the bow
- Try making sound, (open strings) and pay attention to how your bow is positioned, how it moves, your right elbow positions (as you move onto different strings).
- Try using your fingers, make notes and pay attention to your right hand (there needs to be empty space between your index & your thumb), your left elbow positions (as you move onto different strings) and just experiment (trills, glissando, ...) and make the "purest" sound you can hear.
- Experiment with different finger patterns on each string (no string crossing), always practice slowly at first. (Beethoven's memorable ode to joy theme melody can almost be played on a single string)
- Try string crossing (scales & arpeggios) and be careful with your bow (the elbow positions I mentioned earlier is now more important)
- Try playing 2 strings at the same time and just continue experimenting with different techniques and melodies.
In general, I'd recommend doing at least 45 min-ish a day, just to keep up your technique and then just experiment fun techniques and even go on to learn small easy pieces like the [Easy Concertos & Concertinos for Violin & Piano, Bosworth] or whatever you want really.
It is also useful to just have workbooks if you have any left from your past years and if you aren't sure about something or are having difficulty with it, look up some resources on the internet and just experiment following their advice. If you still don't get it, you have something to ask your teacher when you take lessons with them.
All of this though is just to get you started while waiting a few weeks / months before you can take violin lessons. I would also recommend to "study" (look up) a bit of music theory to be back on track while reading partitions.
