Violin Tips & Tricks

Discover Tips & Tricks about violin playing from award winning Canadian classically trained Celtic fiddler! katherinemoller.ca

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Am I Normal? The Question all Fiddle Students Ask

Recently I have been asked the same question several times. “Do others of your students have this same problem?” “Is my child learning at a normal speed?” This is fascinating! These are students of all ages, so this seems that we don’t grow out of this concern as we grow older.

Many times I have taught students who struggle in their first year of lessons, but who flourish later on. I have been running a string program at an elementary school for the past three years. It is great to see that some of the kids who were having difficulty in the first year are now some of the stronger students. It is great to see their confidence growing as time has gone on.

I try in my lessons to encourage students to improve without worrying about where they are compared to others. In the end it does not matter whether or not other students have the same problems. What matters is where you have are having difficulty and how we can fix it! You need to keep improving and moving forward.

I am not immune to this issue myself and am always comparing myself to other violinists, fiddlers and professional musicians. At times I feel like my career is moving very slowly compared to some other people. In the end, I always find that it is best for me to travel at my own speed. When I think of all that I have accomplished, my career is moving along quite well.

My hope for all us (me included) is that we can concentrate on ourselves, and continue learning and improving.

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Tips & Tricks: The Magnificent 7 – Techniques for Practicing

I spent time a couple of weeks in August and September recording a new CD and here are a few things that I was reminded of while practicing:

Start slow:  The best way to be able to play something fast is to start slowly and make sure you have everything in place before you increase the speed.  If you can’t play it slowly, you sure can’t play it fast!  I started almost all of my practice sessions playing slowly!

The metronome is your friend:  I spent a lot of time working with my metronome speeding my tunes up making sure that all of the notes were clear.  http://www.katherinemoller.ca/tips-tricks-why-the-metronome-should-be-your-best-friend/

End slow:  Even after I got my tunes up to speed, I would still work on them slowly to make sure everything was crystal clear and to make sure that my fingers did not get ahead of me.  http://www.katherinemoller.ca/tips-tricks-why-playing-slowly-should-be-your-first-and-last-step/

Practice with different rhythms to get even sixteenth notes:  Lots of my fiddle tunes were made up of sixteenth notes.  It is really easy for them to not be really steady, so I practiced them in different rhythms before returning to straight sixteenth notes.  This is one of my favourite tricks!  You can see the rhythms that I use in this old blog:  http://www.katherinemoller.ca/tips-tricks-four-easy-steps-to-playing-sixteenth-notes-evenly/

Remember to breathe:  This is another big one.  There were a couple of really tricky passages on the new CD.  I have to admit that I was feeling anxious about them, but taking in a deep breath and letting it out as I was playing the passages helped immensely!  http://www.katherinemoller.ca/keep-calm-and-play-violin/

Playing with a drone:  When working on my tuning, I often like to play with a drone note.  If the tune is in the key of D major for example, I will set my tuner to play the note D for me.  I’ll play the whole tune while listening to that note and whether or not all of my notes sound in tune with it.

Recording yourself:  This one is the scariest of all…  Recording yourself and listening back.  It really amplifies all of your little mistakes and every little squawk and squeak.  I need to do this one on a more regular basis to keep myself on my toes!  http://www.katherinemoller.ca/tips-tricks-four-reasons-why-a-recorder-should-be-in-every-fiddlers-tool-kit/

The entire recording process was a lot of fun.  It was great being able to spend time working on my fiddle tunes and revisiting so many of my tried and true practicing techniques. Feel free to let me know what techniques you have come to use and love!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Fiddling Around – Strategies to Write Your Own Fiddle Tunes.

I have been writing fiddle tunes for the past 15 years or so, but only started doing so with any regularity six years ago.  At the moment I write all of my tunes with my fiddle in my hands, and have come up with a few strategies.  Since I am currently in the process of recording a CD of all original material, I thought this would be a good time to share them with you!

If you want to take a run at writing some of your own tunes, you can try out some of these strategies.  You can also check out my blog about the form of a fiddle tune here. Happy composing!

Mess with it:  Sometimes I just pick up my fiddle and mess around.  I always keep my phone handy so that I can record anything that I think sounds cool.  Sometimes it is only a few notes, sometimes is a full phrase, sometimes it is half a tune –  I record everything! This isn’t the time to worry if it all works into a complete tune. Pick up your fiddle and just mess around. Record everything!

Challenge yourself:  I like certain sounds and because of that I know that I would write very similar tunes over and over again if I just went with the sounds that I like.  Because of this, I will give myself an assignment that may look like this: “Write a jig in D major”.  By giving yourself an assignment it will give you some parameters and force yourself out of your usual ruts.

Break it down:  Take time to examine some of your favourite fiddle tunes and try to figure out exactly what it is you like about them.  Is it a certain rhythm?  Is it a chord progression?  A bowing pattern? Etc.  When I break them down, and figure out what exactly it is that I like –  I will then try to incorporate that into my own tunes.

So why do I record on my phone?  I do this so that I don’t have to take the time to write the music down.  When I first started writing tunes, I would write them down right away, and found that it took me away from the creative space that I was in while coming up with the tunes.  By recording, I can stay in my creative head-space better.

I encourage you to take these three tips and incorporate them into writing your own music! Remember to Mess with it, Challenge yourself, and Break it down. It will be nothing short of rewarding to look back at something you created yourself.

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The Tortoise and the Hare

I am sure that you are familiar with this parable…  The tortoise works away slowly but surely while the hare gets distracted, and ends up losing the race.  Perhaps I should have put a spoiler alert before that!

There are three different events that have occurred in my life (and in the lives of those around me) over the past few weeks that have reminded me of how true that parable is in so many aspects of our lives:

Music – I just had three students complete their exams recently with varying degrees of preparation and varying degrees of success.  We do not yet know the results, so I am judging success on how the students felt as they exited the exam.  We all have the best of intentions about practicing, and especially practicing scales…  They are not particularly fun, and are easy to skip when practicing.  Here is the issue though:  you really can’t cram with music.  You really can’t learn all of your scales right at the last minute right before the exam.  Even if you were to spend a lot of time working on scales right before the exam – it would not produce the same results as if that same amount of work was spread out over time.  The good old tortoise wins again with regular practice plodding toward the goal.

Exercise – A friend of mine just recently had surgery on his knee and is now doing physio to get his muscle tone back up to par around his knee.  Due to life getting in the way (as it seems to do so often); the first week he did not accomplish the exercising he had planned on, so tried to make up for lost time in the second week.  Yet again, this is a place that one cannot cram.

Weight Loss – This is kind of related to the exercise story above…  I have decided again that I want to lose some weight.  I have noticed at Pilates that I am just not able to roll into as small a ball as I was last year.  I still feel quite good, but have noticed a few differences.  I have returned to watching what I eat and walking several days a week on top of continuing with my regular Pilates routine.  I have noticed a change in some of the exercises since I started behaving a bit better again, and have managed to lose 5 pounds over the last month and a half.  I should be happy about that (and actually am), but I want immediate results!  I want to feel slim and trim right away after changing my eating habits instead of waiting.

So, I hope to keep our dear friend the tortoise in mind as I continue on my journey of learning music, exercising, and trying to maintain a healthy diet.  There is no quick fix, and by getting distracted like the hare, we get off course and may lose the race.  In all of these areas of life, slow and steady wins the race. This is true even though it is not necessarily fun, and even though there are not immediate rewards!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Music – A Universal Language

Through the years I have had a variety of teaching experiences.  My first job was teaching remedial violin at a fine arts school in Montreal.  All of the students at the school had to either play an instrument or sing, so my job was to bring students who had come to the school late up to the level of their classmates.  It was a bilingual school, so some of my students spoke English, some spoke Friends, and one girl only spoke Mandarin.  It was quite an introduction!

Since then, I have taught a variety of students.  It is currently my pleasure to be teaching two Syrian girls who are newcomers to our community.  This has been a lovely adventure!  The girls did not speak any English when they first came.

Music is such a great way to work with these girls.  The first things that you usually learn in a new language are the alphabet and how to count.  In music, knowing the letters A through G and being able to count, from 1 to 4, will get you started!  Between that and showing them how to physically hold the instrument and bow; as well as demonstrating what I want them to do, we are moving along quite well!

So what have been my contributions to their English?  The word “again”.  As all of my students know, “again” is one of my favourite words in lessons!  We have also worked on bowings and the idea of “up” and “down”.

I am enjoying the adventure, and hope that the girls are having a good experience too.  I have had other newly arrived students in past years whose parents have worried about the language barrier.  This is one of the things that I love about teaching music!  Even though there are things that would be easier to explain with words, music truly in a universal language!

*Please note the picture that another student had given me with a note on the back! Sometimes I doubt myself and then they give me this. I am blessed!

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Words of Wisdom from the Fredericton Music Festival

Music festival is over for me for another year.  It is always a stressful event for both students and teachers.  It is impossible to know what someone else is going to be looking for, so you prepare the students the best you can and hope they will succeed on the day.

Having said that, I am always interested in what the adjudicator is going to say and what themes will be recurring.  Here are some nuggets from this year:

Prepare your left hand with slow practice.  You need to know where the tones and semitones are in the music and on your instrument so that you can be prepared when playing faster.

Keep your bow moving.  Bow speed is important.  Play around with it and try to use as much bow as you can without compromising the sound.

Experiment and challenge yourself.  When the music is marked quiet, see how quietly you can play while maintaining good tone.  When the music is marked loud – push yourself until the sound breaks, and then back off.  Don’t just accept what you are doing as good enough, but push it even further to see what is possible.

I was of course happy to have my students reminded to practice slowly.  That is one of my favourite practice techniques (and I have written several blogs about it).  I know that it is not an exciting technique, but it is incredibly helpful.

I plan on working more in my own playing and in my students playing with the idea of experimenting and challenging ourselves.  It is too easy to become a bit complacent and remain in our comfort zone as far as bow speed and dynamics go. It is time to step it up!

I hope you find these three points helpful and will join me in breaking down the boundaries and seeing how far you can push yourself!

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Keep Calm and Play the Violin – 3 Ways to Remain Calm when Playing

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, practice, practice…  I am sure that you have all heard that old chestnut!  Sometimes even once you have practiced a difficult passage until you can play it, it will still cause you anxiety!  Here are 3 tips for overcoming anxiety while playing:

We naturally lean forward toward the music stand when we get to a difficult passage.  By leaning back a bit, it sends a message to your brain that you are feeling calm and relaxed.  This will often improve your playing.

Breathe out:  Often when you are trying really hard, you hold your breath.  Breathing while you play is important in general; but if you breathe out as you are playing the hard passage, it will calm you.  I often use this trick!

Focus on only one element:  I find that it sometimes causes me anxiety to think about playing a whole passage correctly, especially if I have been struggling with it.  Instead of trying to get everything right, focus on trying to get just one more element right each time.  This takes some of the pressure off, even for me, and I can often play the whole passage.

Have fun practicing and performing!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Home is where the Performance is!

“It sounded so much better at home!” How many times have you said that to your teacher?  Trust me, we all have!  I know that I had that thought many times!  So why does this happen?  There are three reasons: 

Environment – At home you are in your own comfort zone.  At your lesson, you are no longer in that zone.

Performance Anxiety – Even just going to a lesson you will experience some performance anxiety.  I have had students comment on the fact that I am not intimidating at all as a person, but they are still really nervous at their lessons.  We all have that desire to please our teachers and show them our best; even if our teacher is not putting pressure on us, we continue to put pressure on ourselves.

Comparison – You compare your last run through at home to your first run through at your lesson. This is the big one!  We are comparing our best run through at home (possibly after working on the piece for 15 minutes that particular day) to our first run through for our teacher.  Even if you warm up before your lesson, it is not the same as spending a period of time working on a passage.  You really need to compare the first run through at home to what you are able to present to your teacher.    Keep this in mind as you practice.  The goal is to have the first run through Performance-ready”, not to be able to play the passage properly after several tries.

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Tips & Tricks – The Road to Success is Paved with Frustration

Recently two students came to me with the same concern.  “One moment I can play the piece just fine, but when I try again, it is terrible!”  Welcome to life as a musician!  This is a normal part of progressing toward your end goal.

If you are on Facebook. I am sure that you have seen this meme:

This is true for learning an instrument as well.  Sadly, progress is not linear.  When you are learning a new skill, initially you might only get it right 2/10 times.  Then, as you practice more, you will progress getting it right 3 times out of 10; then 4 times out of 10.  Eventually, you will get it right 9/10 times, possibly even 10!

Even though it feels to you like you can do it one minute and not the next (which is really happening), you actually are getting better over time.   This is much easier for your teacher to see since they only hear you once a week, instead of every day.

This is also the very reason why when you play something right once, you should not walk away, but play it again.  Being able to play the same piece correctly several times in a row is more difficult than just getting it right once.  You need to be able to get it right every time to increase the chance of getting it right in performance or for your teacher.

I wish it were the case that every time you played something it got a little bit better, but sadly, it is not.  It will be good one time, and bad the next, you just have to trust that over time you really are improving.

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Tips & Tricks – Starting from the End When Practicing the Violin

There is an intrinsic flaw with the way that many of us practice.  We tend to start at the beginning, play until we make a mistake, go back to the beginning and start again.  We do this over and over!  Does this sound familiar?

So, what is the problem?  Well, by practicing this way, you know the beginning really well, but do not learn the ending to the same degree.  The best way to counteract this is to start at the end and work your way back to the beginning.  You can start with the last phrase, the last eight bars, or whatever works as a natural point to start.  Once you have worked on this last section, add on the section prior to that.  I like to play all the way to the end of the piece each time, unless there is a specific problem spot that I need to fix.  Continue adding sections on until you reach the beginning of the piece and play all the way through.

My students at the high school always know what is coming when we work on the last eight bars of a piece of music and joke about this technique however, it has 2 advantages:

You will end the piece well.  The fact of the matter is that a strong ending is important.  Ideally you want to be able to play every part of the piece well, but the ending is the last thing your audience will hear, so even if you make mistakes in the middle of the piece, if you end strong, they will leave feeling good about your performance.

You will be able to start your piece from any point.  I have seen students who only ever start at the beginning who are incapable of starting part way through.  This is not efficient for practicing, but also will make it more difficult to pick up from the middle should you run into a snag during a performance.  Being able to play well from beginning to end is one skill, but being able to get yourself back in gear in the middle of the piece is another.

Happy practicing!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Tips & Tricks: The Power of the Number 3

I know this is kind of silly, but I have a little superstition about the number three. I try to avoid making the same mistake three times in a row. I always feel like once I have made that same mistake, it becomes harder to break. There has been research to back this up, although I think the number of times you need to make the same mistake before it is ingrained may be higher than 3, but that is the number I work with. In order to counteract this feeling that I have, once I make the same mistake twice, I will take that section of the piece, slow it down to a point where I can play it without a mistake, and then play it. I want my fingers to get the feeling of playing it correctly. 

My violin teacher (and also conductor at various points) also had a rule of three. Once I played a section properly, I had to play it three more times to reinforce the proper notes/rhythm, etc. The important part of this is to play it three times in a row correctly. This means that if you play it twice, and then make a mistake, that you start over again at one.

I would like to leave you with a quote that I found the other day about making the same mistake three times:

“If you make the same mistake 3 times, that becomes ‘your arrangement’“- Jorma K

Happy practicing!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Tips and Tricks: 7 Steps to Making the Best Use of Your Recording Time

This past Friday, my new band Atlantis was in the recording studio laying down some tracks. We had a great day and got a lot done.

1. Be prepared for varying temperatures. This past weekend I needed a sweater in the studio, but I have also recorded when it was really hot. Layers are your friend. 2. Take breaks. Recording is hard work, so it is important to take breaks so that you can recharge and do your best work. 3. Tune often. My partner and I re-tuned before every new track. 4. Bring snacks. I mentioned this in my last blog as well. This past weekend I packed what I thought was way too much food, but I went through it all. Snack breaks are great for refreshing yourself in-between takes. 5. Drink lots of water. Keeping yourself hydrated is always a good idea. 6. Be picky and make sure that you are happy with the tracks. It is really important that you are satisfied because the recording is going to be around for a long time. 7. Understand that there will always be a killer of a track. Every time I have gone to the studio I have had a track that was difficult to record. Take your time, and be forgiving to yourself.

We will be going back into the studio in January to record some more tracks so we can release a collection of wedding songs in February or March.

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Tips & Tricks: How to Prep for the Recording Studio

So I am preparing to go the studio again next week. This time I will be recording pop covers on the cello. Kind of wild! This is not something I had imagined doing, but it will be fun! I have been in the studio numerous times to record my own four CDs, tracks for three other musicians/bands, and to record several demos. By now I have learned many things about the studio. 

Practice a lot beforehand. This should be pretty obvious… You need to be prepared, and ideally have your arrangements worked out ahead of time. When you are recording you usually pay by the hour, so the more rehearsing and arranging you do in the studio, the more you are paying!

Record yourself ahead of time. It is amazing the things you hear when you are listening to a recording of yourself. You will pick up a lot of things (tuning, small sounds, inflections) that you did not hear when practicing. This is also a good idea because there is always more pressure when you are recording (even just at home), so the practice of having a little added pressure is good!

Make sure that your equipment is in good repair. Put new strings on your instrument (long enough before so they have settled in), bring along spare strings, tuner, and whatever else you may want to have in the studio with you.

Bring snacks. It is hard work, breaks are often needed, and having a snack and some water with you means that you don’t have to take time going out to get something.

I am excited to be going back to the studio, and I am excited, and nervous to be recording only on the cello! I am sure that it will be fun!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Practice Every Day that You Eat

Many years ago, when I had just started playing the violin, my teacher told me and my classmates that we didn’t have to practice every day, just every day that we ate. 

Well, I have to admit that even as a professional musician I do not manage to practice every day that I eat, but I can assure you that you are better off practicing more days of the week, even if you can’t fit in a long practice.

Sometimes we think that a bit marathon practice session is the way to go when learning an instrument. One of the most common questions that I am asked is “How long should my child practice.” How long is not usually the issue. The issue is how often.

Every time that you practice, you reinforce both your understanding of what it is that you need to do and also the physicality of playing the instrument. Here are 4 advantages of practicing often for shorter amounts of time:

You remember what it is that you are supposed to be working on. The longer you wait in between sessions, the more likely you are to forget.

Your body remembers how to accomplish the task. Like your brain, your body remembers better when you do something more often.

You are at your best mentally. If you practice for too long at a time, you will lose focus, start playing in a sloppy manner, and start reinforcing bad habits.

You are at your best physically. If you do a long practice session once a week instead of 5 shorter sessions, you will become physically tired, and start taking short cuts. This leads, yet again, to reinforcing bad habits.

So, how often should you practice? Ideally every day that you eat, but I tell my students to aim for 5 days a week. This allows you a bit of time off, but keeps you practicing on a regular basis.

[katherinemoller-blog]

Playing Violin in the Pit

I love playing in a pit orchestra. It really doesn’t matter the style of music. In high school I played for our school production of “Oklahoma,” in university I played for several Gilbert and Sullivan productions, and now in my professional life I have played in the pit for several baroque operas. I have loved it all!

The term pit orchestra comes from the fact that often the orchestra for a production usually performs in a pit in front of the stage. This way the conductor can cue both the orchestra and singers. Now the term pit orchestra has come to mean accompanying orchestra whether the orchestra is in a pit or not. I have played in a space made by removing chairs in front of the stage, in a room behind the stage with video monitors and microphones, or behind the singers on stage.

I know that a lot of musicians do not love playing in the pit. It is repetitive for sure. This past week I played for a modern oratorio for which we did six shows. For the Gilbert and Sullivan shows we would do 12 shows over the course of a month. Usually many of my colleagues would get bored and be ready to move on, but I am always a little sad as the end of the run nears.

I enjoy the fact that every night the show changes a bit. Both the musicians and actors/signers gained confidence and experiment a bit with various aspects. You have to remain on your toes the whole time because you have to respond to these changes and also adjust to any mistakes that either you or anyone else makes. I also enjoy the theatrical aspect to these shows. It is fun having the costumes and acting, even though I am not a part of either. I also enjoy the comradery of working with the same people for an extended period of time. I do sometimes feel like a bit of a lone wolf with my teaching jobs.

It has been a great week for sure, and I look forward to my next chance to play in the pit!

[katherinemoller-blog]

Learning the Virtue of Patience

It is so hard to be patient! I see this so many times in my students, interestingly especially in my adults. It is very hard to practice and not see progress. All of us want results right away! I have to admit that I am struggling with a lack of patience myself at the moment.

I am currently struggling with patience in my health and weight loss goals. I gained 14 pounds this year. Not a huge amount, but a lot over the course of 8 months. I am now back into trying to eat more healthful foods. I have been doing well at walking and going to Pilates, so I feel like my physical activity level is good.

So, I have been getting back into eating my salads in a jar, I have been packing all my food so I won’t eat out while I am in town, and I am trying to cut out eating late at night. I feel good about all of these changes, and have managed to lose 6 pounds since I started these efforts.

This is where the patience comes in. Now that I am trying to be a good girl and eat healthful foods, I want to lose all the weight right away. Sadly, it does not work that way. As they (whoever they may be) say, you don’t gain weight overnight, so you should not expect to lose it overnight either.

[katherinemoller-blog]

Tips & Tricks: Setting Goals for Your Fiddling

It’s that time of year again. My students are coming back for their first lessons of the school year. I like to take this time to talk to them about what their goals are for the next 10 months. It is very easy to fall into the routine of learning piece after piece without having a bigger goal, and without feeling like you are getting somewhere. I find that talking to my students about their goals helps to make sure that we are both on the same page.

What kind of goals should you be setting? Well, it can be anything. It can be learning a new technique, improving an old technique, playing a concert, being in a competition, taking an exam, learning a piece of music that you love and have always wanted to play, increasing your repertoire to a certain number of tunes, or having a certain number of tunes memorized. So, my advice to you is to take stock of your playing. What do you feel that you do well? What do you feel like you could improve? Take some time to think about what you might like to accomplish, talk to you teacher about it, and work on a plan for the year!