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This morning I changed out my viola strings. I put Obligatos on them. I guess it was time. The strings I removed were like limp wet noodles. They may have been the originals when I bought this Fiddlerman viola.
I played Memory after changing them. My husband heard me and told me it was darn good. Cool.
The Bumble Bee Flies
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Since I just putthe string on my viola, I am just tuning periodically. I was going to play it tonight, but I would have to stop to tune too often. It was pretty much off a bit when I finished Memory.
The Bumble Bee Flies
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My new Obligato strings re settling in nicely on my Fiddlerman viola. I just played Ashokan Farewell with my Fiddlerman Pro Series violin bow, yes violin bow.
I love this bow and I really found it fantastic to play on my viola with it. I posted the audio of it in the Share a Video
Ashoshan Farewell on Viola with Fiddlerman Pro Series Violin Bow
The Bumble Bee Flies
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For a while, the area that I sit and play was being used as we turned a room just used for machine knitting into a spare bedroom/machine knitting room, It used to be a spare bedroom, but was rarely used so we took the bed down and put a table and shelves in for a machine knitting room.
I did some measuring and there was room for that bed and the machine knitting, just some rearranging. While doing that, my area for playing became one of the storing places. The mattress and box spring came yesterday and everything is back in place. That means that I have my playing area.
I am going to get my cello out later and see if my arm will hold up a little better. I feel so free with that area opened up. I don't know why. I notice when I am not in a familiar area to play, and it does affect me, I think. Plus, I did not have my comfortable chair for a long while. I tried to put it where I was playing but there was just too much shuffling around to remove a chair to put that one in. By the time I did that, my back was sore. There was a lot of machine knitting items just waiting to be put back in its place, so room was limited.
I am hoping my arm holds up when I give my cello another go. I hope that I have not forgotten much,
Does where you play affect other people?
@Violaman Have you ever noticed anything like that? @wtw? For some reason I really noticed. I did manage to do a couple of fairly decent pieces, but in between those successes, it just did not feel right.
The Bumble Bee Flies
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I haven't noticed that, however I did notice that the room I play in affects the sound. It sounds better in the living room (=bigger) than in my bedroom - and when it sounds better, it feels easier too. I think it has to do with the size of the room, and maybe the furnishing of the room too.
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Maybe that is behind it. I am very in-tune (no pun intended) with sound produced.
The Bumble Bee Flies
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It certainly affects the satisfaction I experience. My gf's kitchen acoustics are pretty much the same as those of my teacher's room, I suppose, maybe a bit harder, yet it's always less satisfying playing for my teacher, but there are other psychological things going on there. My own living room has softer acoustics than either of theirs, and is the one I least like to play in (although I was happyish sight-reading Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet yesterday after putting on new G and D strings on my violin two weeks ago. I guess it's with pieces for my teacher when I can't notice any improvement that I'm unhappy at home), but I have read that you should practise in a room with soft acoustics. I forget why - prolly so that your sound isn't affected by anything but you. A beginner shouldn't listen to their violin of course - they should learn to listen to the sound it makes in the room they are in.
My string orchestra rehearses in a church (modern, so soft acoustics) with an adjoining hall and stage and backstage area which is big enough for us (it's where we always rehearsed when I joined 5 years ago). We played there three weeks ago, and I much preferred it to the church. In the church all I can hear is myself if I play up, so I can't judge both how to play up and belong; whereas backstage with hard acoustics, I hear everyone including how I fit in, so I can both play up and moderate myself to be a part of the whole.
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Interesting.
The Bumble Bee Flies
Learn Viola on Violaman and Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk
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Sorry. It has been a week. I seem to be in a funk, or just a little frustrated or something. I can't seem to get myself back into playing mode.
Maybe it is because I have some projects I need to get finished before the last half of August and the clock is ticking. I am finding it hard to make myself take time away from these projects. I have some little visitors arriving and am excited about that. We need to get things ready. It will be a short visit, so we want as much out of it as possible.
Maybe, I should just get myself in the mindset that I have to put the playing aside for a month and a half, unless I find some spare time. I just hate to do that, but not playing is not fun.
I need to shed the guilt trip about not playing. The short time it took to add this to my blog was not enough time for any serious playing.
I guess serious playing is what I am talking about. I have taken my viola, and violin, off the wall and run through my warm songs. That is about it, though. I can't take the time to learn anything new right now, though.
Mouse Emoji would be here if emojies were supported, 🙂
The Bumble Bee Flies
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Hey, time in a day is limited and our 'mental' energy is, too. And "serious" playing, as you call it, takes energy and concentration. It's fine if you put your priorities elsewhere for a while, after all you're doing this as a hobby, it's not a job - shouldn't feel like one.
Taking the instrument off the wall randomly and just playing the songs you know - for fun - sounds alright to me.
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Thanks, wtw. The way you play, that gives me confidence that it isn't going to set me way back. I love your playing and know that you are much more knowledgeable than I am, so thank you very much.
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I think the worst you can expect, as long as you don't drop playing altogether, is not making progress.
I've spent months and months (too many…) not playing seriously. I think I'm more or less at the same point as I was a few years ago. Feels that way to me, anyway, when I listen to old recordings: not very different from now.
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I was able to get a little cello time in this morning, ?. I was very surprised. It needed very little tuning. But, I was also able to play the songs I was playing before, just not for as long as before. I also didn't lose that much of the ability to actually play in tune. Where I missed a note, I was able to correct the flat or sharp that I hit.
Very encouraging.
The Bumble Bee Flies
Learn Viola on Violaman and Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk
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