O/T bariolage question

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MichelRE
Posts: 251
Joined: 07 Aug 2021, 17:11

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by MichelRE »

hehehe, no, I'm always making little changes, particularly for clarity and playability.

I'm certain the violist who's premiering it will have her own comments to make. but I'd like to give her the least amount of work to do, other than learning the notes and making music out of it.
Ander
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Joined: 08 Apr 2023, 08:39

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by Ander »

MichelRE wrote: 05 Feb 2022, 15:28 So, I'm attempting to write a bariolage passage in a work, and have my doubts about whether it is comfortable to play or even possible.
I mean, I can play the notes myself on my viola, but since I'm a very raw beginner, I obviously don't have the technical skill to actually achieve a bariolage effect...
My dad, a first-call LA studio musician who always found time for promising students, used to tell them: "You can play anything if you play it slowly enough."

It's entirely unintuitive—but it's actually faster to learn to music by playing it as slowly as you need to, to play it correctly—even if that means at an utter snail's pace.

When you play correctly, you build on your own progress. When you play something too fast and play it wrong, you've taught yourself to play it that way, and must un-learn the wrong way before you can learn the right way.

What I'm trying to say here (and I know it's a slight topic-drift from your actual question—sorry), is that I think you can play anything, if you give yourself enough time to play it.

We're all in such a rush these days... Music is our chance to not be in a rush. There's no doubt in my mind that if you slowed down and enjoyed yourself, you could play an alternatingly stopped and open string. It's something new to you, but it's a technique you'll find useful in other music, too, so it's worth learning. Cheers, A.
MichelRE
Posts: 251
Joined: 07 Aug 2021, 17:11

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by MichelRE »

this week I had a rehearsal with the violist who is supposed to premiere the concerto, and she played the bariolage passage beautifully.
its not a fast passage, nor particular virtuosic, but it was beautifully expressive.
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John Ruggero
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Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by John Ruggero »

Anders, your dad and you probably know this story. But just in case...As a child, Heifetz was never allowed to practice by himself. He was always supervised. And he was never allowed to make a mistake. He always practiced slowly enough that he never made one. So he never knew what it was like to err and never did. We all the know the result. A flawless violinist. On the other hand, there have been more imaginative musicians. But there is definitely a lesson to be learned from the Heifetz "experiment."

But the real trick is to understand the technique of an instrument well enough that one can do slowly what is required at a rapid tempo. I used to do this experiment with an occasional piano student as a lesson to the others: The student promised to practice only at a tempo in which they could play with the proper technique no matter how slowly this was, and this was usually quite slowly. They were never to play it at a performance tempo and I never heard it in a lesson except at the same tempo they were practicing. Then at a weekly performance class, I would surprise the student by asking them to play the piece for the other students at tempo. Invariably they amazed themselves by being able to play very well at a good performance tempo without ever having done so before.
M1 Mac mini (OS 12.4), Dorico, Finale 25.5, GPO 4, Affinity Publisher 2, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard maestro

http://www.cantilenapress.com
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John Ruggero
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Joined: 05 Oct 2015, 14:25
Location: Raleigh, NC USA

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by John Ruggero »

Congratulations, MichelRE! That's great to hear.
M1 Mac mini (OS 12.4), Dorico, Finale 25.5, GPO 4, Affinity Publisher 2, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard maestro

http://www.cantilenapress.com
MichelRE
Posts: 251
Joined: 07 Aug 2021, 17:11

Re: O/T bariolage question

Post by MichelRE »

thank-you John.

by the way, this is actually the first piece I entirely composed with Dorico (instead of Finale).

(to be precise, I use pencil and paper as well as the software.)
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