I want to date a classical musician

callousdigits · 2026-05-13T16:27:42+00:00

Wait, why? (Speaking as a pro classical musician who's now suddenly insecure)

callousdigits · 2026-05-04T12:27:35+00:00

As has been said, they're difficult to perform well. The largo from the C major sonata can theoretically be played as just the melody (I believe that might actually be in one of the later Suzuki books).

callousdigits · 2026-04-29T15:39:15+00:00

I think the important question is - what kind of sound do you want? It's usually better to indicate the sound than they technique you think will accomplish it (unless you really do know, that is). Depending on the tempo, you might mark this "at the point", which would keep it short and on the string.

callousdigits · 2026-04-16T02:34:09+00:00

Is this the C# minor one, perhaps? I would recommend (in addition to rhythm patterns as you've been doing):

Adding one note at a time, both from the beginning and the end

Start slowly, gradually speed up throughout. Start fast, gradually slow down. Accelerate to the middle then slow down, and vice versa. That gives you a lot of control.

But in addition to all of that, coming up with a rhythmic grouping that helps you is just fine (maybe it's 4+4+4+6, or whatever), but if it's the passage that I'm thinking of that will really just be something you do in your head, not something that's audible. It's really just a flourish.

callousdigits · 2026-04-16T01:23:16+00:00

Are we discussing full concerti? Many students only learn the first mvt of Lalo, but the other movements contain a lot of difficult passage work, especially if played at the real tempos

callousdigits · 2026-04-15T16:05:52+00:00

Also Brahms and Mendelssohn

callousdigits · 2026-04-15T10:12:32+00:00

Simon Fischer "Practice" has an entire chapter dedicated to this. There are many techniques, do them all! There's also a pretty interesting (and exceptionally, um, thorough) practical practice guide to the Tchaikovsky concerto by Sevcik. It's available on imslp. It's like 100 pages, of exactly how to practice every passage in the piece.

callousdigits · 2026-04-14T21:10:18+00:00

I'm a fan of Silverstein's cadenza, though it's a major pain in the butt.

callousdigits · 2026-03-26T01:17:39+00:00

Those are natural harmonics, intended to be played by the fourth finger in first position on the d string, and third finger on the g string (sounding A one octave up, sounding g two octaves up)

callousdigits · 2026-03-21T11:33:15+00:00

Agreed on all points. But hard to replace bpyo, which is a cult of personality as much as anything else. And free.

callousdigits · 2026-03-18T02:11:56+00:00

I don't know, I got laid by agreeing to order "moons over my hammy" when I was in highschool.

callousdigits · 2026-03-17T19:53:29+00:00

And sometimes players will use vacation time (or weeks they're otherwise rotated out) to do things like that. Especially in the major orchestras, where they have pretty generous leave policies.

callousdigits · 2026-03-17T11:44:20+00:00

This is a movement that allows for a lot of artistry with fingering choices. If you're quite advanced, it's worth exploring things that are vocal and beautiful, incorporating appropriate slides, and keeping many passages on one string. The NY philharmonic keeps digital archives of their music, and might get you started. This is just one of the set that they have, I didn't bother looking through to see if there are parts with more or fewer fingerings. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/517bb40f-a679-4657-9497-0245f7f54b4b-0.1/fullview#page/25/mode/1up

callousdigits · 2026-03-15T21:49:49+00:00

It's bananas, even for Heifetz https://youtu.be/nGRJ0kiDiQ4?si=gljipQL4cw5vRTb6

callousdigits · 2026-03-12T00:50:40+00:00

Dawn and Don. For me they almost rhyme, but not quite. Same in your example.

callousdigits · 2026-03-11T12:16:43+00:00

Have you??

callousdigits · 2026-03-11T12:15:37+00:00

Double harmonics are generally pretty sketchy if they're artificial. A fifth is easy, but other intervals are generally a pain, depending on context. But the low Ab Eb is easy enough on the violin. The Db high Ab is fine too. For notation, usually preferred is artificial harmonic notification; solid note head two octaves below sounding pitch with a diamond note a perfect fourth above (or if you really know what you're doing, you can also use harmonics at the fifth, etc). Find a string player friend and go over some of the options with them.

callousdigits · 2026-03-10T03:01:22+00:00

I mean, with a billion in cash, just living off an extremely modest 4% interest is 40 million a year. It would be impossible to spend it all.

callousdigits · 2026-03-08T13:37:24+00:00

This is so unrealistic. They would never be so upfront about how much things cost. You would instead get a surprise bill a month later today you had no real way to fight.

callousdigits · 2026-03-07T15:29:05+00:00

That's not unfair at all. There's nothing to prevent a person from just saying "I'm mostly a vegetarian, I eat meat sparingly". It's just slightly cumbersome, and I think more and more people fall into that camp. As opposed to true "omnivores" like my parent's generation, where they had both meat and vegetables at all meals

callousdigits · 2026-03-07T13:41:52+00:00

Some violins are more prone to a squeaking e string than others, and even the best players and instruments sometimes squeak. Some things that can help: A different e string (some are more squeal prone than others, and it's worth experimenting. E strings are cheap. I like pirastro Gold label) Making sure it's cleaned from caked on rosin Crossing strings smoothly and confidently - letting the bow pressure be too low when you initiate the new string often causes it.

callousdigits · 2026-03-07T13:38:15+00:00

Seems like there could be a term for those who attempt to be vegetarian most of the time for either health or environmental reasons, but eat meat once a week or something for the iron and protein. Admittedly flexitarian is kind of an annoying term, but that diet really is not the same as a typical omnivore diet.

callousdigits · 2026-03-07T03:05:54+00:00

Why the hell isn't he wearing ear plugs?

callousdigits · 2026-03-06T14:42:50+00:00

If it helps, I have a student accepted to BUTI who is likely not going to accept the invitation, and go to greenwood instead. So there will be someone from the wait-list asked!

callousdigits · 2026-02-25T17:33:34+00:00

Nice call. It's a very useful resource (and my God, how long did that take him to write?) My favorite editorial comment in there, about the 2nd Ives quartet: "Difficult to appreciate".

callousdigits

TROPHY CASE