The violin lesson.

 

Okay, as you know, I've spent a week playing solo violin in an art gallery. I actually got a lot of positive feedback but, for me, it was all about the positive experience of spending a lot of time with my violin.

My violin.

Robert came in yesterday. He flicked through some music on my stand and settled on a piece called Manha De Carnaval. He put his hands out to take my violin. I said, "No." I knew that he was going to sightread this piece. Hey, it's an easy piece to sightread. I refused to hand over my violin because he had missed the point of my experiences during the week. Hey, anyway, I already know how that tune sounds. 

Those little 'habits' that I practise every day have really paid off. I'm also into playing the violin like a singer sings and copying the approach of a solo jazz guitarist. To get really inside a solo piece you have to really know the chords and their voicings. You have to find good sounds. You have to listen beyond the obvious chords. You have to stretch out a bit.

This piece is called Nature Boy.

There was a boy
A very strange, enchanted boy.
They say he wandered very far
Very far, over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he.

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way,
And while we spoke of many things,
Fools and kings,
He said to me,
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return."

I think, yesterday, I probably played my violin for close to three hours, if not longer. The instrument really started to feel like it was part of me. I'm going to try hard to really increase the time I spend holding my violin and, hopefully, my double bass. I'll also play as many tunes as pop into my head - thinking like a singer would. 

Today is pack up day, at the gallery, so I'll be spending my time with a hammer, scissors, a knife and plyers. Then a bit of putty and paint. I won't be taking in my violin, but I will have a good play before I go. I'm also popping in to see my two best friends Harrison and Henry. They still live with their mum and dad, so I'll wish dad a happy Father's Day. Ha, ha, I always feel that it should be called Fathers' Day because there are a lot of fathers out there. 

That's it.

Sii gentile.