Forget vinyl, cassettes, CDs -- a lot of us pluck our on-demand music from thin air these days -- from the Cloud, from Spotify, etc.
Of course, CDs (and even vinyl) remain something that we can buy and collect, tangible objects that bring us music and also have liner notes, photos and illustrations to bring us closer to the artists who made it.
While I listen to a lot of music through my phone's various music-providing apps and procure new music through my computer, I still do have a CD collection.
My teenage kids -- I think they barely have a dozen CDs between the two of them, and most of those would be mixes made by friends. Digital natives that they are -- they are virtuosos with various apps and seem to be able to call up any kind of music in any genre, at any time, anywhere. Keep reading...
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High Tech 35 Exercises for Violin/Viola: In this book, I've gathered a lot of the numerous secrets of Paganini. If you search YouTube, Eun Hwan Bai, High Tech Exercise, you can see related clips. When you try these techniques at first, it is very hard, but if you keep trying with patience, eventually you can learn great techniques: Available on Amazon (Ad)
The great Juilliard violin teacher Dorothy DeLay famously said that almost any technical problem can be boiled down to two notes, and how to get from one of them to the next.
As usual, she was right! In fact, sometimes the way we practice actually causes those problems between two notes. Have you ever played a note out of tune, then slid around on your finger to get in tune? Have you ever shifted to the wrong place, then fumbled your way to the right place? Have you ever taken several bow strokes "in between" while you are trying to fix something that went wrong? Then you may have actually been "practicing in" your mistakes. Keep reading...
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My musical life since moving to CA has been a little "all over the place." So far I've taken this year to sample different orchestras and different instruments. Do I want to play violin, viola, or both? Which orchestra has the best fit for me with respect to rehearsal venue, concert venue, conductor, repertoire, and community?
One great thing about the SF Bay Area is that there are so many groups to choose from. The local public radio station, KQED, just did a story about it: Silicon Valley Really is Having More Fun Playing in Community Orchestras. They interviewed several people I know from having played in the Nova Vista Symphony last fall. But I didn't actually play Tchaik 5 in the concert they're writing about there. Instead, this concert cycle, I am playing Beethoven's 7th with the South Bay Philharmonic, which was also given a brief mention in the article.
The South Bay Philharmonic is more informal than Nova Vista, with a number of adult starters and re-starters in its ranks. It evolved from the former Hewlett-Packard orchestra. I first found out about the group from its concertmaster, fellow violinist.commer Gene Huang, whom I knew from participating in the Rockin' Fiddle Challenge a few years ago. He's performing a movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on this concert. Keep reading...
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