Q. They are with me about 2 1/2 weekends per month. My son just learned to ride without training wheels, and they can both doggy-paddle across the pool, but when they go back to their biological mom's place, they are not allowed to bicycle (she tells them there is no bike pump available) and since she can't swim, neither do they when they are there. They sit in daycare until 6:30pm or so, and they watch endless videos. They are not allowed to pray either of course. When she asked them to prove that Jesus existed, they couldn't. I give the ex-wife child-support equal to that required for 4 or 5 kids (her family is all lawyers and somehow got away with that), but they are not even given piano lessons. I can't afford it, but I can teach them some on my own. In particular, what are ways that I can bond with my son given that he is trapped over there for so much time? When she moved them 5 hours away after the separation, I was able to find work a little over an hour away.
A. Nothing much you can do to control what goes on in the other parents home, as long as it is not abusive.
You can make suggestions to the other parent, politely and with respect. You can use your knowledge of her personality to try to approach her in a way that she will make her more receptive to hearing you.
You can teach the kids how to speak their own minds, how to appreciate exercise, how to respectfully ask for more exercise time at your home and, by extension, at mom's.
But, the only thing that you can control, for sure, is their time with you. Make the most of it & get as much of it as you can. Are you tied down where you're at now? If not, why not move closer & get more weekends, more days, more hours?
Teach them what you want them to know when they're with you. Hope that your lessons will strike a chord with them, enough that they internalize them & make them a part of their life all of the time.
Can someone make suggestions on Praeludium and Allegro?
Q. I need help with the second page on the double string and the 2 bars after that where it completely uses the 4th finger to rise. I also need help playing the high notes on pg. 3 fast and not make it sound bad. When I play it fast, I make the notes unclear like something is covering the notes. Please help!
Here is the music sheets that can been seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDFntCTVdy4&NR=1
A. Yeah, those are basically the hardest spots (that and the chords in the last section). I assume you have a teacher? If your teacher isn't able to give you adequate help... maybe it's time to think about a new one? Even if you're not going to make a permanent change, you might see if your teacher could get you into a masterclass with someone.
Basically, the sections you mention are really hard to play in tune. When you say the high notes sound "unclear," it could be because they're out of tune. Once they're in tune, you can get the clearest sound by using lots of bow. Since they're just 16th notes you can't really use your whole bow--but try, and you'll wind up using as much bow as possible, and the tone should ring out.
Now let's work on getting them in tune. That "cadenza" passage on the 3rd page is hard just to know what to expect the right note to sound like! You have to be able to do that--to know what it sounds like when it's right--before you can play it (otherwise, if your intonation is off, how do you know what to correct it too?). The best thing is if you can get someone or something to play some notes with you to help you stay in tune. You need to do two things: you need to have someone (or something) play the actual violin notes with you, in unison, so you can align your intonation with them, and you need to have someone play the chords that your arpeggiated notes create (e.g., halfway through the 4th line, your individual notes add up to create an E minor 7th chord, an A minor, and an E minor. Play slowly, with someone holding these notes on a chordal instrument like a piano, guitar, or (actually, best) organ, and tune each note into its spot in the chord. I say someone or something for these because if you don't have a devoted parent willing to spend hours practicing with you, you might have to use an artificial substitute. For one thing, you can practice that whole section against a B drone--that's all that's in the piano part anyway! You could probably find an mp3 of a B pitch, or maybe your metronome/tuner can play it. Another thing you could do is use tempo-altering software (built into Windows Media Player) to slow down a recording of the piece to play along with.
I can't overemphasize the importance of practicing slowly. You say you can't play this section fast and have it sound good yet--then practice it at a speed that *does* sound good! And then sneak the tempo up on yourself. Let's say you start at a speed of 80 to an eighth note. Move up to 100, then 120, then turn it into 60 per quartet note (the same thing), then 70, then 80, and so on. Somewhere between "way too easy" and "way too hard" is the zone where you'll actually be learning instead of just spinning your wheels.
For the double stops, the same advice as the cadenza applies--practice slowly with the piano accompaniment. Don't just think of the notes you're playing at that moment; think about how they relate to the next pair. For example, in the first measure of that section, you play F# and B with 3rd and 2nd finger--but think also about how the B 2nd finger relates to the A 2nd finger (on D string), and how far from it the 1st finger for the G is. In other words, think in a whole position at a time.
The 4th finger extension shifts are challenging because for a second you're actually in two positions at once! Try to "reach" into the new position with that 4th finger, and then bring your other fingers along so that the next 1st finger is the right distance from the 4. The typical error, though, is that the 4th finger note comes out flat, because either your hand reach isn't big enough to actually reach the new note without shifting to it a little or just because it's hard to hit a note accurately when you stretch to it. So I recommend a combination of reaching and shifting--point your 4th finger toward the new note, but go ahead and move your hand a little to reach it. Make sure you have a really clear idea of the distance between 1st and 4th finger, or else the next note will be out of tune (you can work on this by practicing octave double stops). Finally, remember that these shifts aren't really that big--they're just one position. They're not even all the same size--they each move up a step, but some are whole steps and some are half steps. Make a note of which are which.
Is there piano chord finder?
Q. Is there a web application what i can input the notes, and it tells me what chord is being played for piano?
A. You can make one.
You need:
several sheets of cardboard or poster board
a pencil
a felt marker
a compass
a ruler
a protractor
a copper pin fastener
a pair of scissors.
Here's what you do:
1. With the compass, draw a circle on one sheet of cardboard or posterboard.
2. With the protractor and pencil, divide that circle into 12 slices of 30 degrees each.
3. With the scissors, cut the circle out.
4. With the felt marker, label those slices on the edge as C, G, d, A, E, B, F#, C#, Ab, Eb, Bb, F.
You have now finished making the Circle of Fifths.
5. Cut out another circle the same size as the Circle of Fifths.
Cut out peepholes for C, G, and E.
Draw an arrow pointing to the C.
With the felt marker, label this as "major."
6. Flip the major wheel over and try laying it on the Circle of Fifths.
You should be able to adjust it so that you see C, G, and Eb.
On this side also, draw an arrow pointing to the C.
Label this side "minor."
7. Make another wheel like the major wheel, only this time, cut another peephole for the Bb.
Again, draw an arrow pointing to the C.
Label this one "seventh."
8. For "diminished seventh," cut out peepholes for C, Eb, F#, and A, but don't draw any arrows.
This same chord can go all four ways.
9. For "augmented," the peepholes are at C, E, G#.
This chord can go all three ways.
To find a major chord, put the major wheel on top of the Circle of Fiths, fasten in the center with the copper pin, and rotate.
Whatever the arrow is pointing to is the name of the major chord.
The same procedure serves for all the other chords.
For French sixths, the peepholes are at Ab, C, D, and F#.
For Italian sixths, the peepholes are at Ab, C, and F#.
For German sixths, you can use the wheel for sevenths.
But that's getting into advanced theory.
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