The shoulder rest is gone!

 

BACK TO NO SHOULDER REST!

I think I'll start today with a coffee.

 

Gosh! Going to an opera is very expensive! Fortunately, I don't want to go to any operas. I'd rather have a coffee and face an extra trip to the bathroom. The only obvious cost is some toilet paper.

Oh, and I suppose the price of the coffee and milk.

Still, it's a lot cheaper than going to a silly opera.

Going back to using a shoulder rest has been quite a big decision.

I think I'll go with it though. As I've said, the idea was to look after my smaller fingers. I can't guarantee that this is the correct solution, but I feel like I need to give it a good go. There are probably advantages both ways, with and without the shoulder rest. Sometimes, though, one has to persevere with an idea. Ah well, I can always take it off again if things don't work out.

I'll put in some quality time with the shoulder rest today. I need to do some good double bass practice too.

My elder grandson was calling my violin and my double basses guitars. I've put him right on that and he is now familiar with all their names. I remember the first time I took his dad into a music shop at about the same age (3). At the time I was playing a lot of bass guitar. He looked around at all the guitars in the shop and said, "Look at all the basses!" As it turns out, my son is now an excellent bass guitarist. The double basses in my living room are still a bit too big for Harrison to play. 

I'm thinking that, if I put on my 'Playing With Myself' concert in August, I might charge $200 per person. What do you think? People might think that, at that price, it has to be good. 

[Bathroom time.]

[Done.]

It feels a bit like my bell might disagree with my pricing for the concert. 

"Hey, that's far too much!
Go to the bathroom and think about it!"

As Peter pointed out somewhere, you can hear that old guy in the Cuba Mall play his mouth organ for free.  Do money and the arts have to go together? Like Akish, I do find it hard to understand how a painting can be worth a million dollars. I certainly don't play music to make money. Ah well.

That's about it from me this morning. I see that Robert has written a short post. There is nothing new from Peter, though he did leave a couple of rude comments on my last post.

"Philistines are everywhere." "It’s the only growth strategy in Richard’s Bass Bag."

Who knows? Perhaps he dropped his phone in the bath again and was pissed off? Maybe he has mislaid his bagpipes? Actually, I don't know if he actually knows how to play them. Probably doesn't matter with the bagpipes though. You just carry them around and wear a skirt.

Ciao tutti. Tieni i pantaloni addosso.

Not much time this morning.

 I have an early start - I'm dropping off my elder grandson at childcare and my son at the railway station in the Hutt.

I did see that TC has had a go at Akish, but I won't bother commenting.

"Well, he could have just commented
on my blog, but that seems to be beneath him."

Friends asked if we'd like to go with them to an opera in Wellington in August. It turns out that tickets are $162.11 each.

Ridiculous!

It would be $324.22 for two tickets! That's why we need people like Akish!

See you later, alligator.

"In a while, crocodile."

Nothing new in the Stinks this morning.

 And no comments from Stinks in the Links.

Business as usual, I guess.

The shoulder rest is slowly settling in and seems to be helping the hands. It is taking a while to get comfortable. Hey, I've gone six years without one!

I'm off to work soon. I'll go in early and get some violin practice done. I start at 10am., so there is time to get in some good practice.

That's it.

Ciao.

Ho acceso il riscaldamento.

Potrei anche scriverlo in italiano. Chi lo legge, in fin dei conti?

Another cold morning with little happening around the blogs, though Akish, Evil Dr. R and AG are making a very good effort. 

Peter and Robert?

Same shit, different day. Robert doesn't post when his girlfriend is there and Peter is far too busy walking around Wellington to write regular posts.

It really wouldn't make any difference if they both just buggered off.

I practised for two hours yesterday. Half an hour on the double bass and 1 1/2 hours on the violin. I'm experimenting with using a shoulder rest in an attempt to help protect my hands. My decision? I've decided to go both ways. Sometimes I'll use a shoulder rest and sometimes I won't. Let's see which works best in the longer term.

I'm about to have some little pies for breakfast. Why not?

I'm only having four.

Mi riscaldano nelle mattine fredde. Al momento li sto gustando con un po' di salsa di pomodoro.

Maybe I should just remove Robert and Peter from my LINKS list and move on without them? I'll think about it.

Pies finished. That was nice and worth a trip to the bathroom, if necessary.

I might take my elder grandson out today, to give mummy and daddy a break. Obviously, I'll be getting some practice done too. Getting used to that shoulder rest again. 

Bene, ecco fatto.

Buona giornata. Il tempo sembra buono.

Rifletti se desideri rimanere nella nostra lista LINK e cosa puoi fare al riguardo.

Ciao.

[Bathroom visit. Done.]

Heater on...

 IT'S BLOGGING TIME!

No coffee this morning. Just a banana toasted sandwich.

I see that Monday (tomorrow) is a holiday. Unless, of course, you work in a supermarket.

I don't work on a Monday, but I guess it means that I won't be picking my boy up from childcare.

It's nice to be by that heater!

I don't know any songs about heaters. That's a shame because heaters deserve a song.

"I'm cold."

Said he to her.

"What can I do about it?"

She said, "You need a detour.

Go and sit by your heater."

Heater,

Heater, heater.

You're making this day

Neater.

It's Mortal Sin Day today for Catholics who don't go to mass.

That means a trip to Hell if they unexpectedly die.

When you think about it, not going to mass doesn't really hurt anyone else. All it really means is one clear space on a pew.

I suppose it would get more serious
if no one turned up.

Well, that would save on having to clean the church and it would also save on electricity. It would also mean a sleep in for those people who have to pass the money plates around. Church shop people would get a break too. Quite a few good points there.

[Oops, that banana toasted sandwich is sending me to the bathroom!]

Do bananas contain coffee?

[Back.]

I'm going to have to give my hill walk a miss today. It didn't seem to do me any good yesterday. In fact, it had the opposite effect, but I won't bore you with the details. I think I'll try a flat walk today.

I tried a shoulder rest on my violin (again) yesterday. It didn't really work for me. I'm trying to find ways to protect my fingers. I guess I'll just have to be really careful and not overdo the practice lengths.

Well, that's about it for today. 

Ciao tutti.

Peanut butter, you can eat it in the gutter.

 That's something we used to say when I was a kid. I don't know why. Probably because it rhymed.

On toast. Nice.

I've also got the heater on and I'm having a coffee.

No post from Robert because he has his lady staying. It's good to see other bloggers (like Angry Jesus and Evil Doctor Richard) getting involved in the comments. We even got something from The Wine Guy. It's a cold morning, which is one of the reasons why I'm posting. The heater by our computer is nice and warm. It has to be the warmest spot in our house on a cold morning.

I did quite a bit of practice yesterday, but my hands are playing up. The 3rd and 4th fingers on my left hand are cramping up a bit. Not good. That probably rules out doing any long solo gigs at the moment. But, hey, I've got to play. Softly, softly catchee monkey, as my dad used to say.

I'm trying to do lots of hand exercises. I also went for a walk up the steep path (Harry Todd Reserve) behind our house yesterday. I don't know how that's supposed to help my hands, but it will help with my fitness. I did a quarter of the walk that I used to do. Softly, softly... I plan to do it again today. I'll slowly build up the distance.

[No bathroom trip yet.]

I'll try to do some very gentle practice today. I've been doing a lot of work on violin chords lately. There are three types of chords that are very handy.

1) 3rd & 7th voicings. These give a nice jazzy effect. They take a bit of practice because there is no root to help find them quickly.

2) Major and minor double stops. These sound good when they are shifted up and down the fingerboard. You can also slip in notes, like 6ths and 7ths.

3) Major and minor chords. There are only 6 shapes here (3 major and 3 minor). It sounds good when you roll your bow over these chords.

[Bathroom time. Back soon.]

[Back.]

Well, I'm running out of things to tell you. Maybe one or two of the other bloggers on our LINKS service might write a post? Have a look.

Ciao tutti.