Inspiration, Where'd You Go?

Getting motivated to practice is, well, it's hard. Over the past month or so, my husband has found out that he may not have a job after May so I've been looking for work in my spare time. The toddler is figuring out my child proofing faster than I am and the oldest kid is having problems at school. I'm finding plenty of inspiration for sewing and knitting, but musically not so much.

I need a good kick in the pants, something that gets me to stop making excuses for why I can't practice. I know that once I go back to work (well, if) I'll have even less time for this. Guess I gotta put on my big girl pants and just get it done. After I do the laundry. . .

Back to Normal

Had a bit of a break from practicing to get the holidays out of the way. I did a *mostly* hand-made Christmas this year and after all is said and done, I'm really happy with the way everything turned out. People seemed to enjoy their stuff and I pulled mostly from my stock of supplies on hand, so my costs were minimal.

Now that the oldest is back to school and vacation is officially over it is time to get back to it. I did manage to learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over the break thanks to my genius husband. (I swear, he can pick up anything and a minute later be great at it. So unfair.) I also borrowed a book from my father-in-law that breaks down the basics of learning to read music and how the notes on the page relate to the violin. It is really great for me to have that in front of me. Naturally it is in the trunk of our car with a few boxes we left at the in-law's house after the move. *don't judge*

Tonight is my night at home with the kids and I plan to get some solid practice in after dinner. The baby loves to sing along to me playing, so hopefully it'll be a good wind-down before bed.

Nevermind. . .

So. Found my song. On ViolinLab. Under beginner's songs. . . *derp*

THIS

Digging around YouTube for inspiration, I found this. WHAT IS IT?!?! I need to learn this song. It isn't Vale Decem (which I also want to learn asap). 

Word of the Day: Flexibility

I made good on practicing during nap-time today, though I'm not sure how productive it was. I snapped my A string tuning the damn thing, so I don't have a reference point to do my G string scales like Fiddlerman suggests. I'd laugh if I weren't so frustrated. 3 strings in 2 days!

I'm running into a bit of trouble trying to get my notes on the G string (and to a lesser extent the D as well). I can find the right finger placement, but my hands just aren't flexible enough right now to hit that last note. I'm also having trouble getting my ring finger to move independently from my middle finger. It can, just not much. I found this exercise that I think will help a lot and so much advice on improving hand flexibility.

Tonight it knit night and I have a few things to do there, but after I get home I plan on practicing some more. Goal for today: get good and comfortable doing E scales. I think I can handle that. Hopefully my husband won't mind too much.

Let's Do This!

I was given an amazing gift yesterday: an electric violin. It is the prettiest violin I've ever seen in person, though it is just a beginner's instrument. I don't have any kind of reference point, but I was really impressed with what all it came with. This is the manufacturer's site, they have some really cool stuff. I especially like this cello. I may have to get it next if I can figure out what I'm doing with the violin.

It was shipped in a hard, velvet lined case with cover, bow, rosin, cable, headphones, cleaning cloth, and a 9v battery. The headphones are really uncomfortable and don't work very well at all, but that isn't really a huge deal for me. Tuning it for the first time was a pain too. Both my D and G strings snapped. My husband and I took it to a local shop and had it re-strung today though, so at least now I can practice all of the notes!

The sound that comes off of it without any amplification is pretty perfect for learning. It is certainly loud enough to hear, but not so loud that the neighbors are going to complain. That is something that definitely held me back from learning in the past. I just couldn't get over the thought of people hearing my first practice draws.

I've spent about an hour and a half practicing with it so far this weekend. My hands can only go for so long before cramping up, but that'll pass soon. I'm hoping to get enough practice time in before Christmas to play something for my in-laws (since they got it for me) but I also have several presents left to make and now a blog to keep up with. Guess we'll see if I can handle it.