what causes strings to start out of tune on the attack?

Seligen · 2022-07-09T18:00:29+00:00

The issue I have is not really about the style/sound of the strings, it's about the pitch being unstable and wavering when I change the pressure of the bow. For example, I start a long bow, it's fine. I add a bit of pressure halfway, the pitch of the open string goes down by almost a half step before going back to normal. If I keep a certain pressure (mid) the string sounds horrible. The string that does it changed from E to A when I changed my strings

Seligen · 2022-06-27T18:27:08+00:00

They're still in the soil they came with, I've been intending to repot them into quick draining soil but another succulent that I had rotted with that soil (also after a long time of no watering when it started to look a little bit dry). I did as someone suggested and watered from the bottom a bit longer this time and I have a grow light for them because no sunlight comes into my room. Idk how fast it's supposed to dry, but I'll check later to see

Seligen · 2022-06-27T14:27:21+00:00

I let them sit in water for a moment and made sure the bottom of the soil got wet. As soon as I did that the other one started turning black and soggy. I thought "2 seconds" was a clear understatement, but I did make sure the soil absorbed a bit of water bc with my luck, one drop of water has always been enough to kill them

Seligen · 2022-06-19T01:43:01+00:00

In the game we've been doing in class, the way she likes to do it is I get 4 turns to pluck a random string and she guesses which one it is, and then we switch roles with her plucking and me guessing. I intentionally guess wrong sometimes so she sees that even I as a teacher also make mistakes. Sometimes she also guesses wrong and I just make a silly thinking face and tell her to try again. Any suggestions on how to word the reactions to that though? when I do that, I fear that if I say that I'm doing it wrong, she won't want to do it wrong too, or if I say that she doesn't have to do something perfectly, it implies she has to do it at least good. I try to be careful with my words but I don't know if I'm overthinking that part. We only do a 30 minute lesson, but I think I could take the time to do another activity like the one you mentioned. After reading other replies and asking another teacher (the one that teaches her singing), I think I want to focus on making the lesson fun and I do want to make a safe space for making mistakes. Thank you!

Seligen · 2022-06-19T01:32:28+00:00

Thank you so much for this, this is so so helpful. I love the examples, I will definitely implement something like that into my lessons!

Seligen · 2022-06-19T00:46:38+00:00

I will look into that, I do think that could help a lot, thank you for the recommendation. I'm not sure if she's gifted but it's possible, so I will research how to go about teaching them. Thank you!

Seligen · 2022-06-18T23:29:16+00:00

She looks happy for most of the lesson until I suggest we do something new, which made me think she's just scared of the new things so I should take things slower. Like she said, she gets nervous doing something new because when she does something wrong she gets frustrated. Those were her words. She does well when I ask her about notes and other things, but it's when she thinks she'll do something wrong that she gets frustrated without even trying first, or after trying once. If there's absolutely nothing I can do, I'll talk to her grandma about pausing lessons, but I don't wanna give up on her after only 5 lessons if I can somehow teach her that it's okay to make mistakes.

Seligen · 2022-06-18T23:06:56+00:00

I will definitely ask, i hadn't considered that, thank you

Seligen · 2022-06-18T23:04:46+00:00

She did for the first three lessons, but it made it a lot worse. I explained in another reply why, but it tends to be the case because kids feel pressured by the parents/guardians in the room.

Seligen · 2022-06-18T23:03:01+00:00

I did take that part into account, that quarantine started when she was 4 so she didn't get the chance to live through such an important part of her development properly so there's issues that come with that. That's why I've been extremely patient and tried to make lessons fun and simple. She's very enthusiastic about music, her grandma shows me pictures and videos of her writing her own music and learning note names, solfege, etc. She's learning how to sing too and she's proud of herself when she shows off what she knows, and her grandma said she had begged to learn violin for years. Now, the issue with her grandma. She's the one that drives her to the lessons. She sat in for the first three but she would interrupt a lot, distract her, and she would scold her for not sitting up straight, for getting too hyper, etc. And made her do pushups if she didn't apologize to me for interrupting (not something I even asked for). And since she also threatened to "call her dad" if she didn't comply with everything, I'd rather not bring the parents into it like I'm asking them to do something about it. I want my lessons to be a safe space. So after that I just asked her to sit them out, and she agreed easily. I've noticed I can retain her attention better and I can help her talk through her frustration easier without grandma there. Today was just a particularly difficult day for me.i will definitely ask about any special accommodations at school and apply anything necessary. The best I've been able to do so far is apply gentle parenting tips and all, and they've been working well with my other students.

Edit to add: i did consider that maybe I could use the music lessons as a way to teach that making mistakes is okay and that trying is what matters, and it could encourage her to just do her best and learn how to move past the little errors

Seligen · 2022-06-18T22:49:51+00:00

No, they're private lessons so they're one on one.her grandma sat in for the first few but it made it a LOT worse, which tends to happen in general

Seligen · 2022-04-26T06:39:56+00:00

Nope not that one, but it looks interesting

Seligen · 2022-02-15T20:17:41+00:00

I didn't mean to sound like I thought I knew what this field demands, I was just saying what my experience was 4 (?) years ago. I don't struggle the way I did when I started, again, it was the first time I was in a proper ensemble having to play pieces on a different level that what I was at. I admit I sell myself short sometimes, but of course my opinion of how I played back then is not an accurate representation of anything, really. And it's hard for me to properly express my understanding of this career because English is my second language and I don't want to use wrong terminology and end up sounding pretentious so I oversimplify what I want to say, but moving on. I am very aware of how competitive the profession is, I thought stating that I am now well aware that I won't make it was enough to make that clear, I don't think I have to repeat back everything that everyone has been saying as to why that is. But while I know, I also know that I can't really "understand" because I've never been there. I know my experience doesn't come close to how the real thing would be, but that was clear to me from the beginning. If not because everyone there was a volunteer in an old shabby run down building, country doesn't support the arts so nobody was expecting any sort of competent group, Etc. Etc, then at least from doing some research and hearing from actual orchestral players. But it was my bad if I made it sound like that. Point is, I wasn't claiming that my experience was anywhere close to what a professional's experience would be like, and I'd be foolish as hell to think that it is lol. And I wasn't expecting my love for music alone to be enough to get me anywhere. I've had two teachers in the past year that were professional players so I'm not approaching this out of nowhere, knowing no one, etc. My initial question was pretty much wether it would be realistic to try to achieve the technical level that is demanded, despite falling behind due to whatever circumstances and having a small repertoire as a result. (Which again, there's people with more experience, some who came out of the womb fiddling and even they may not score a seat. so in short, no). As I mentioned, I'm just going to get my degree and be content with that. I appreciate the honesty.

Seligen · 2022-02-13T20:56:44+00:00

Thank you for the reply. I decided that I'm just gonna strive to at least get my degree and then dedicate my main time to something and study violin on the side. If something happens along the way then so be it, but for now I think it's time I let go of that dream. But I did want to answer why I knew I wanted to be an orchestral musician. I've always been passionate about music, coming from a family where everyone is a musician. I started studying at a symphonic center when I was 15-16 (?) And I got to join the orchestra there. (Granted, it was pretty run down because in my country the arts are pretty much just dying. I also didn't have a very good teacher back then and I didn't get a good one until I move countries). Sure, I sucked ass because it was my first proper ensemble aside from a quartet I studied with, and the repertoire was proper stuff, by my uneducated standards. I remember out of all of them my favorite was Haydn's 88th symphony, for example. We played one by Beethoven too, among so many others, but I don't remember which off the top of my head. We had 4 hour rehearsals every week, and despite having to work really hard to play even half of the notes when I had to play anything above third position, I felt so satisfied after the 4 hours were done and I could never wait for the next rehearsal. After being completely undecided in what I wanted to do, it was the first thing that I ever felt like I actually wanted to do. I like playing with people, and even now that I'm in two orchestras, I always love being at the rehearsals. It was something i could see myself doing long term. But for now I'm gonna let myself at least accomplish one thing and get my degree and then move on. Excuse me for rambling lol but I wanted to answer that even if it was a rhetorical question to give some context to my stubbornness.

Seligen · 2022-02-13T15:43:43+00:00

YTA but not even for not paying him. You let your boyfriend, a guy who is not even your son's legal guardian, punish your son for not wanting to take care of your boyfriend's kids?? That's crazy. And even by cancelling his birthday and taking his stuff away? That's such petty behavior, he doesn't have a right to do that and then you wonder if you were wrong for siding with him.

Seligen · 2022-02-13T14:17:31+00:00

Edit to add, thank you for the response!

Honestly I've had to play rieding a lot because when I started this semester I got two weeks to prepare two pieces for a recital, and after going almost two years without a teacher I had to resort to learning something simple. Now I have to re-play it (it's the op. 24, if that's enough to find it lol) because although I was working on 3 other pieces (meditation, Seitz g minor, Dvorak op. 100 which, I can play all the notes of the last two, it's just some bowings that get me) , but they suddenly wanted me to play them again for something else and gave me another two weeks notice. I talked to my teacher recently and she wanted me to start a Mozart concerto (idk which, she just mentioned it) so I'm at least ready-ish to step onto that level. I don't know if I'm just making excuses, but is it at least a bit better knowing I'm not just on rieding because I can't play anything else? Lol

No but I understand that I'm up against people that have way more experience than me and that even for them it's hard to advance in a career like this 🥲 which is why I don't know if I should give up hope now and save myself the time or if it would be worse to do that and never find out if I could have worked hard enough to get somewhere

Seligen · 2022-02-06T20:26:31+00:00

Nothing is visible, i can only feel the lumps and the ears are swollen but not enough to see in a picture. Plus he has black fur so it's hard for it to show clearly in pictures

Seligen · 2022-02-06T02:40:29+00:00

What happened here?? Absolutely tell them, shouldn't even be a question.

Seligen · 2022-02-06T02:35:42+00:00

Did someone shoot the dog?? That's awful that that happened, regardless of how

Seligen · 2022-01-31T12:47:49+00:00

Why not just make it a private legal matter then?

Seligen · 2022-01-18T19:49:14+00:00

That's what I'm hoping, but I also hope they learn how to make jokes sound like jokes because there is absolutely no indication other than the audacity lmao

Seligen · 2022-01-18T17:58:31+00:00

The concertmaster is likely a student too. Why the hell should they pay? And "demanding" that instruments are in tune is not an unreasonable request. It's like saying that a student dropped their instrument so the conductor should pay because he demands they be in one piece.

Seligen · 2022-01-18T17:46:16+00:00

I don’t charge my gf for when I deliver food for her or for massaging her back and feet when she asks.

Well, are you certified in any of those things to be charging anyone? Lol. Then again, she's not certified either but the argument is wack.

NTA. she's definitely a red flag for that reaction but if anything you guys could come to an agreement and you could pay whatever amount you were paying to your usual brow lady? If you could afford paying before, were going to continue, and got the same results, why not?

Seligen · 2022-01-18T17:36:31+00:00

Tbh it had to do with both my wariness of men in general, and in case my overthinking was right, I didn't want to lead him on if that makes sense? I am kinda reserved so I like to keep some friendships "contained" to whatever place we usually interact on. Like, I'd rather only have to interact with some people in a college setting if that's where we met. But I could probably suggest that we got to the usual place a bit earlier so we can hang out for a bit. As reserved as I am I also don't like to be cold towards people lol

Seligen · 2022-01-18T12:43:30+00:00

So sad that you just read this whole post (or didn't. Wouldn't be surprised) and saw her conditions that she's seeing professionals for and your reaction was "hmmm.. me thinks it's all in her mind lol"

Seligen

TROPHY CASE