Violin Stars Study Group Lesson 12

Your first assignment today is to examine your left hand. Go back to lesson 2 and review the section on left hand technique. Pay careful attention to the pictures showing left hand errors. Then examine your own hand position, use a mirror if needed. Are you squeezing the neck with your thumb? If you can't see daylight between your thumb and the violin's neck then you are probably squeezing. Also make sure that you fingers are landing on their tips, the knuckles should be pointing up. You will need to keep your nails clipped short in order to use your fingers correctly.

Now it's time for you to go through your flower song drill. Play along with the midi and don't stop until the midi does!

Now before you begin the Lizards Drill you can rest your arms for a moment because I want to show you something. As your bow moves from the E to the G string, both your elbows are going to move. The right elbow is going to move up slightly, and the left elbow is going to come around the violin as your hand moves over to the other strings. There is a BIG difference from the Estring position to the G string position. Take a look at these pictures.

E string position of elbows.

A string position of elbows

D String position of elbows

G string position of elbows

So you will notice a big difference from the E string level to the G string level. You'll want to practice this in front of a mirror. And make sure that you don't raise your right elbow too high, that's a common error that many beginners make. We'll talk more about this subject again later. But now it's time for you to play your lizard drill!

Now I would like you to try out the Mama oh Mama rhythm on the D Major scale. You should be getting pretty good at these rhythms now! There is a midi file of this scale located in your lesson 12 folder.

Now you can put the Wish I had a motorcycle rhythm on the A Major scale. The midi is in your folder. It should be fun!

Okay, now I would like you to review both your A Major and your D Major pizzicato scales. Do you know all of the note names in those scales? Do you know the finger numbers? If you do, then good job! I will no longer be assigning you these pizzicato scales.

Now I would like you to practice Mary had a little lamb. Keep your bow strokes smooth and even. If you push too hard you will get an ugly crunchy sound, but if you don't push hard enough then your bow will not grab the string and you will get a faint weak sound. So experiment with bow pressure.

Now it's time to work on twinkles. At this stage in your learning you need to practice twinkle everyday. Trust me, it's well worth it! The trick is to constantly be changing it so that you are playing the same melody, but in many different ways so that you are always learning something new! Today we are going to put the Mama oh Mama rhythm on twinkle. Many people struggle with the Mama twinkle, but since we have been practicing it on scales, it should be easier for you. There is a midi file for you in your lesson 12 folder.

Now we get to begin Jingle Bells! What fun! The notes and midi file are provided for you in your folder. Today I just want you to pluck the notes. And make sure that you go through the song and identify the names of all of the notes and their finger number. You will notice that I did not include the names of the notes for you this time. There are not any unfamiliar notes in this tune, and so you should be able to identify all of them on your own!

So that completes Lesson 12. Do you notice the lessons are starting to get longer? We have a lot of material to practice now! Good for you!

Here are your assignments for passing this lesson.

1. Recording of Down Pony Twinkle2. Recording of down pony D Major scale3. Recording of Mama oh Mama A Major scale

Keep up the good work!