Update

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted. Norma and I have spent a lot of time together in the last month. Orchestra NAPC activity ended Sunday, so now I have no commitments until Play Week Virginia at the end of July. I still haven't received my music assignments and I am panicky over that. Hopefully they will arrive before I head to FL next week.

Put new strings on last night. The Larsen A was marvelous from the first pull of the bow. I'm not sure the new Obligato G and D are any better than the Dominants I was using. We'll see after they break in. At least they don't have the metallicky sound that Dominants have for a week when new.

name change

Well, I've just learned that viola is a feminine substantive, so Norm will have to be renamed Norma. I can live with that. I always enjoy making new girl friends, don't you?

And BTW, I played my first rehearsal this morning without my fingerboard dots. All the intonation practice this week with the electronic tuner payed off. I did not panic when I was out of tune, just made adjustments, and found that I listened more carefully than before. I think I can do it!

YYM

85 minutes til Yo Yo Ma! Headed out the door in a few minutes. Sooooooo excited.

LTF and bye-bye stickers

Well now that I've put myself out there and risked "looking the fool" (LTF) with the flute quartet, I must move forward with my new love, Norman. I took the stickers off the fingerboard today....never to return. That is a huge step for me, I guess, since it's taken 5 and a half years to do it. I gave up the full finger board tapes 3 years ago, but have not been confident enough to let go of the mini dots I've used as landmarks for finger placement. You really have to look to see them - Cooper was my stand partner for 8 months before he noticed them. The few times I've attempted to give them up have not lasted. I get to a rehearsal, can't "find" my notes and I panic. There has always been a performance "coming up" and I've used that as an excuse to put them back on. Talk about insecurities!

Today after I removed them, I spent nearly an hour playing scales and phrases slowly with the electronic tuner. I was amazed at how off my intonation was at times. And yes, there were times I could not find my home base, middle C. It rings the clearest when in tune on a string instrument and is my most consistently in tune note. However, after an hour or so, I was making improvements. I was forcing myself to really listen and was beginning to recognize if I was high or low on the first finger especially.

How many hours do I have to practice before July 19th? Oh panic! I do not want to LTF!

Successful Norm debut!

The flute quartet performance at NAPC yesterday went very nicely. We played Mozart's K285, Allegro for the offertory. John came to the service and his review was not glowing, but good. That's probably more accurate than the rave reviews from church peeps. I was satisfied with my playing although I know it was not perfect. I tried very hard to play musically rather than just play the music. I was able to tell myself to relax while we played - less tension improves the tonal quality of a stringed instrument immensely. I was able to actually listen to the other players at times - again a must for good chamber music. Overall, it was fun and I'm ready to work up a new piece to perform.

My Norman

I'm into day 5 of playing my new (to me) Norman Bernal handmade 16" viola. I've wavered from absolute delight to utter frustration. This is a wonderful instrument... so light, so responsive, so incredibly easy to play. But that's where some of the frustrations lie...it is unforgiving. I've told several people that it's like learning to play on a K Mart guitar and then being handed a Gibson.

I think I love it. I'm trying to break in the new Dominant strings Nathan included. I've never used them before and on top of the usual pitchy-ness of new strings, they sound just weird at times. I did a little searching on the net today and found several mentions of Dominants sounding metalically for a 7 to 10 day period. I think that must be what I'm hearing. The flute quartet plays the offertory at NAPC Sunday, so I hope the strings have settled and mellowed by then.

I want to play all the time!!!! I will post a picture soon.

Woot!!

I was just notified that I have been accepted at the Princeton Chamber Music Play Week in Virginia! It is in July on the campus of Washington and Lee University and I am so stoked. 6 days of coaching and playing with 3 different groups. I cannot wait!!!!!!