German Christmas Carols

We went to a concert of Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols this past weekend. Not only did we get to hear the lovely piece in an old church, but after the presentation the audience got to sing along with the women's choir some Christmas Carols. Some I knew pretty darn well - O Come, All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, and even Stille Nacht (auf Deutsch).

But there were two in German that I did not know, so I can add them to my repertoire.

The first is O Heiland Reiss de Himmel Auf. You can listen to a version of it here. A little internet searching led me to find out that it is by Brahms, and the translation is here.

The second is Es Kommt ein Schiff, Geladen. This is one of the oldest known German-language Advent Hymns. This youtube video is particularly lovely.

Peghead Nation

And if Fiddlevideo isn't enough to chew on, I just discovered Peghead Nation. Where Fiddlevideo focuses on Scottish and Cape Breton tunes as well as some Old Time tunes, Peghead Nation has Old Time Blues, Improv Fiddle, and more for fiddle as well as online lessons for all other manner of string instruments (banjo, guitar, mandolin, dobro and ukulele) with a variety of well-known teachers. So when it's cold and snowy out there this winter, I will be cozy inside with my fiddle.

Thinking About Teaching - Next Year

It can be hard to get motivated to think about new ideas for my music classrooms when I won't see a student for about 10-11 months. Then I went on Pinterest this morning. I use this site for 1) general music classroom ideas 2) string classroom ideas 3) fiddle techniques 4) recorder classroom ideas 5) women's choir 5) recipes 6) some odds and ends of inspiration. So it's not like I was specifically thinking about string classes this morning, but when you hit upon a new blog that has many great ideas, then you just have to read it all.

The more I read the blog, the more I realized that I had already pinned some of the posts, but now I must follow this blog on a regular basis. It's called Orchestra Classroom Ideas. One of the things that caught my attention was that she is now selling a piece for beginning string orchestra that she wrote, and it occurred to me that I could be spending part of my sabbatical also composing music for elementary string orchestra, and perhaps figure out how to sell it.... as well as use it for my own students!

Stay tuned!

Fiddlevideo

I am working my way through Rhythmizing the Bow, little by little, and I am also looking at all the free videos on Fiddlevideo.com which focuses on Fiddle and Scottish Fiddle. When I finish getting what I want from the free videos, I will probably subscribe for a month or two or more to access more of the content.

So far I have focused on bowing, so I've worked with Hanneke's Scottish Groove videos for the Jig and the Reel, and also with Casey's Advanced Bow Techniques. I am hoping that I will be able to integrate these techniques into playing the tunes.

As for playing on the off-beats, I am going back to fundamentals and working with the metronome. Funny how that seems to work....

Playing Off-Beats

Playing off-beats should be simple, right? Should be, but they aren't. I think I am pretty good at clapping the off beats, but playing them in orchestra is another matter. Today I almost skipped over a section of music I was practicing for orchestra. Just off-beats, I thought.

Then I decided to play with the metronome, and I found that even at a relatively relaxed tempo, I would be good for about 3-4 measures, and then, wham! The notes would change, and I would get off just a little. And when you get off just a little, you are completely off when it comes to off-beats.

Since I have a year to play around and work slowly on things, this will be one of my goals. To develop that inner metronome (by using the outer one) and internalize the groove. As I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that I have a video called Rhythmizing the Bow that I brought with me. It was always one of those "someday I will go through that video", and I think that someday has arrived.

Fiddling in Switzerland

This blog has taken a hiatus with our move to Zürich, Switzerland three weeks ago. Now that we are here, and the violin I ordered has come in,  it's time to really think about my goals for music this year. 

I find it harder to have goals sitting in my own little flat, but I have created some opportunities for myself. On Monday I am going to an Old-Time Music Jam at an Irish Pub, and I just got the set list for the tunes. I am going to try to familiarize myself with the tunes before I go, so I can at least act as though I know what is going on.

I also want to work on my chopping, and I have pulled out this video I bought from Homespun and my goal is to practice chopping at least 5 minutes / day. Little by little I hope to get better at this. 

I also want to keep working on the tunes I learned at Sierra Fiddle Camp in June. Not just the tunes, but the accompaniments. Either learning or creating them.

In a few weeks the string orchestra that I have contacted will start rehearsing. That will give me some specific goals for classical playing.

Now, if I could just figure out what my composition goals are for this year.....

Elna Claire Valine

A thousand years ago when I was in 4th grade, I started playing the violin in the school program. My teacher was Elna Claire Valine, and I just found out that she passed on last week after a long career in music. She taught in the Wichita Public Schools for 33 years and was the principal second violinist for the Wichita Symphony. She probably never knew that I grew up to be a string teacher in the public schools.