I am currently writing a book on computer programming in the R programming language. This leaves me little time for blogging. However, I will be posting my orchestral experiences after the Orchestra breaks for the summer.

So, even though I have several different tuners, not counting the ones on my phone, I decided to plunk down about $30 for a pair of A440 tuning forks, each attached to a resonance box. I wanted to see if I could make the forks vibrate sympathetically when I played a perfect A. The forks come in pairs so you can hit one and hear the other vibrate sympathetically. They are available from most scientific supply stores, but you want to get them pitched for music, not the 256 Hz that many kits come with.

Haven’t been totally successful, but my A ear training is getting better.

Had a minor injury that kept me away for two days, but some heat and ibuprofen and I’m back on it. No, you don’t care about these minor old people matters, but as this is a blog about the challenges of playing in midlife, it’s somewhat relevant.

It also means I lost the beginning of my thumb position callouses.

My Intonation is rusty and focused today primarily on extended second position for the Humoresque. Lots and lots of target practice. Once I get that D to C shift on the A string, life will be peachy.

I also want to set my goal of paying more attention to my right hand, which is tricky at times because I’m left handed. I always wondered if I would play better with a Charlie Chaplin left handed cello. Unfortunately, those are expensive, and it’s more than a matter of just reversing the strings and moving the soundpost (which is itself not trivial).

This has been my teacher’s mantra lately and is emphasizing that I get the arm into position early as I get near the third octave of my scales.   The arm should be guiding the fingers instead of the fingers finding the arm.  We are applying this to the C# minor scales. Does anybody know why we do melodic on the way up and natural on the way down, btw?

The scale is coming into focus now, although I’m still working on scales 30 minutes per session.   But I’m glad I’m tackling it instead of avoiding it.

Moving to the Suzuki Piece, Humoresque, I’m trying to use this idea to shift more confidently.

As my New Year’s gift to you,  I encoded Lewandowsky’s version, as ABC notation, which I am showing here, and also as a PDF file.  It is the baseline for the K-N that is commonly sung in Synagogue, with ornamentation added by the cantor as well.

I’m not quite done putting the words in, and you’ll notice that the number of notes per measure is arbitrary, as this is written in a free meter for one voice. I used EasyABC in Windows to do the work.

For those who like to see the answer first, here is the score as a PDF File: kolnidre2

This is still VERY rough. It’s meant to show what is possible, and I plan to edit this a bit further.  But if you know some abc notation, you can copy and paste and play with it rather than wait for me to be done.  I was a bit inconsistent with my use of note lengths; I have groups of four sixteenth notes encoded in different ways.  This is because I was exploring.  As I said, I’ll neaten it up.

Still to do: Some marks such as “ad. lib” and some cello fingerings, as well as finishing entering the lyrics.

Want to know more about abc?  Here are some Links:

• • A page of abc tutorials
  • Software Guide from abc blog
  • The documentation for abc notation


X:1
T:Kol Nidre
C:Traditional, Notated by L. Lewandowsky(1821-1894)
K:Gmaj
M:free
L:1/8
E,6E,2|(E,2^D,4)(3.D,.D,D,|(^D,2B,,4) (3B,,B,,B,,|(B,,2^D,4)(3D,D,D,|
w:Kol nid-re_ ve-e-sa re_ va-cha-ra-mei_ ve-ko-na-mei_ ve-chi-nu-yei_ ve-chi-nu
(^D,2E,4)(3E,E,F,|(E,2G,4)(3E,E,F,|G,2F,2E,2^D,D,|(F,4E,2)z2|
w:mei_ ve-chi-nu-yei_ ve-ki-nu-sei__ u-she-vu-ot
(A,B,CB, A,DCB, A,2E,2 )(E,2 F,2)|[M:4/4]G,4zG,3/2G,/2|(G,2B,4) [L:1/16]A,G,F,G,|[L:1/8](A,2G,2)F,2z F,3/2F,/2|
w:din - - - - - - - - dar __ na. u- de ish_ta - - - va - na u-de
F,2A,4 (G,/2F,/2E,/2F,/2)|(G,2F,2) E,2 z E,|(E,2^D,4) D,2|[L:1/4]^D,B,,2B,,|(B,,^D,3)|
(^D,E,3)|(E,G,2E,/2F,/2G,F,E,^D,|F,2)E,z=D,/2|
[L:1/8](D, (3D,)D,D, (3(D,E,F,){E,F,} (E, D,)z z (B,, (3B,,)B,,B,,|[L:1/4]D,C,B,,A,,G,,A,,B,,A,,!fermata!zG,,/4B,,/4(D,2E,F,|G,2)|(E,2F,2)|G,3z|G,2(F,E,)|D,2B,,G,,|(B,,2B,,)z|
(E,2F,2)|[L:1/8](G,6(3E,F,G, (3A,G,F, (3G,E,G, B, [L:1/16]A,G,F,G, [L:1/4]A,G,F,)zB,,/2|(G,(3F,/2E,/2D,/2){E,F,}(E,B,,)z/2B,,|
[L:1/8](E,3B,,) (E,2 D,^C,B,,2) z B,,|(E,3B,,) (E,2 D,^C,B,,2) z D,/2D,/2|(D,2(3D,)D,D, (D,2E,)E,{E,F,} (E,2B,,)|
B,,3 C, [L:1/16](D,C,B,,A,,)[L:1/8]G,,2zB,,|D,3 D, (E,F,)|G,6z2|E,4F,4G,4 ((3E,2 F,2 G,2|
(3A,G,F, (3G,E,G, B,2 [L:1/16]A,G,F,G,) [L:1/8]| (A,2G,2) F,2 z B,,|G, (3 (F,E,)D,{E,F,} (E,2B,,)z|
B,,3 C, [L:1/16](D,C,B,,A,,[L:1/8] G,,2B,,2)A,,4|G,,A,,/2B,,/2 (C,/2D,/2E,/2F,/2) (G,D, E,F,) G,3 z|
[L:1/16](G,F,A,G, B,A,CB, (D8 D2)CB, A,G,F,E,| [L:1/8]D,3) D, (E,2 F,2)|!fermata!G,8|

The PDF file is a little choppy, but once I install a proper ghostscript, this should be working a lot better:

It’s been a month since I got back from SCOR! New England.  I thought I would have written about it immediately upon return, but It is tough to condense an intense week of workshops and making new musical friends into a few paragraphs. OK, it’s not tough for good writers.  But I needed some prompts to get over the writer’s block, and Beth and Kyle were kind enough to provide some:

[Note: I did not discuss the workshops or the Orchestra Practice in this article.  I will address those separately]

Although the message in the adult learning workshop was a consistent “you must accept where you are now”, I really was hoping I would be capable of higher grade pieces by now. Our first attempt at working a quartet piece was hilarious.  We were all lost by measure 3.   The experience of getting four strong personalities to communicate effectively was as satisfying as making the music.  I definitely want more, although I think I’ll make the 3-hour drive to Rochester next year instead of a 6 hour one to Rhode Island.   Still, the people were terrific and the schedule fit a lull in the workplace, so who knows.  It may indeed be RI again.

The other significant experience for me was my private lesson.  I recommend everybody take a yearly private lesson with somebody who is not your regular teacher.  They will notice things that will enhance your playing, and they know not to disrupt your existing pedagogy.  In my case, Carly Fleming pointed out that my tone was too forced, and that I need to let the string ring a little more.

Oh, and book early, especially your hotel.