Day 5 of 5 of #violympics with Nathan Cole complete! Today is my 613 day of consecutive violin practice. I’m beginning to feel a difference. Familiar things are feeling even better. Today’s Day 5 was all about strategy in preparation for our performance recording. Step 1: write key words or thoughts for each rehearsal letter. Make sure the words evoke the proper mood and character of that section. I struggled with this the most, but ultimately, created a narrative based on rock climbing. Step 2: embody the key words and test them out by playing each section with the key word in mind; make sure they are a good fit in that they set up your mindset for success. This is all about centering. It’s great. It’s not the easiest thing for me, but, like all skill sets in violin playing, I will practice. We focused on transitions: play the last bar and the first bar of each transition. Make sure they work. Expand the transitions to two bars back plus two bars forward. Continue expanding outward. Next, listen for note matching, in one beat, in one measure, in one phrase. Choose one note at a time and rehearse it. Last but not least, make a test recording to ensure all the tech works for the recording performance set to come in the next few days. Do not be judgmental of this test recording. Check out Nathan Cole’s Violympic Trials Day 5 Video here.
