Bach to the Classics

Now that my big brother is home for the summer - and even if he were not - it's going to be a musical season.

First of all, a new choir is forming at my church and we are once again being called upon to give our talents, something we gladly do. This means delving again into traditional liturgical music, including Gregorian chant.

My brother showed me a score for Bach's violin partitas the other day and just seeing the notes on the page brought a smile to my face. My fingers are itching to learn the Partita No.2 in D minor...
 Ah, the crisp feel of pages scribbled over in black dots and lines! New music has always held a particular appeal for me, just as old music does (of course, this is old music printed on new paper).

With the prospect of new violin students, I delve back into my roots - Suzuki training, old method books, scales and other learning tools. Many of my students are new to violin and so I get to advise them on what type of instrument to look for, the best deals for a beginning student and what they can expect.  I like to provide theory along with technical training for my students, a holistic method that I think helps people to learn better because they understand why they are doing what they are doing. It also helps students to train themselves to recognize mistakes and correct them autonomously, through aural training - learning to recognize pitch and intervals, and listening to different dynamics and tone qualities in their playing. Music is beautiful, and it is also complex. At the basic level, music is made up of vibrations with some sort of rhythm and occasionally variation in pitch. The diversity in musical instruments and sounds lies in the technical aspect of the materials used to make instruments, the shape and size of resonators, and the method of sound production.

There is so much to learn! And life is too short to pass up something as wonderful as music.