Matthias Lesson #1

Today was my first lesson with Matthias for the fall semester, although I did take several lessons with him last summer when I visited in May 2010.  Now I'm one of his students!  


A typical lesson will last for 1.5 hours, and we will meet at least once a week.  I have already scheduled all my lessons for the entire semester.  Some weeks I have a couple of lessons just a couple days apart.  I will be video taping each lesson so I may go back and watch for further study.  


Below is a list of the notes I took during the lesson and after watching the lesson back on video.  Most of the comments are really specific to my playing, but I thought people might be interested in what I am learning while studying abroad.

Friday, September 2, 2011 @ 10:00-11:30, ZHdK

• Technique Program (1 hour) - Chose specific scale and play in program; 1 technical etude; 3 excerpts - use two tempos in the beginning 
• Play straight, focused, and stable
• Practice making a musical idea
• Warm up with low notes to relax
• Beginning of practice is like jogging
• Always play with a big sound, straight sound to start
• Big soloistic sound
• Practice with every connection - all difficult notes and unstable notes - chromatic
• Feel really comfortable when you play
• Stay focused and in the music
• Be totally inside what I'm doing
• Make air in change of the notes, and do air to the end of the notes
• Hear the phrase to the end of the note (small crescendo)
• Make everything attractive
• Practice all the systems
• Air, phrase, intonation
• Activate everything, all senses should be really focused
• Create "tension" in the sound
• Incorporate all your body and nerves
• Focus to the air 
• Fingers close to the instrument
• If you feel relaxed, you do not work
• Play up and down
• Feel good connections - helps with legato
• Just write it down one time (Technique Program)
• Do many times
• Watch fingers
• Make different patterns with difficult passages
• Start on different notes, go fast 
• By keeping your fingers close, you have more time to think
• Start with short phrases and add
• Practice conditioning, controlling breath, and long playing with control
• Play with good air and straight notes
• Lots of sound
• The head always finds something to stop the exercise, so just keep going!
• Don't make a stop, and don't take it off
• The body will learn to relax
• Give character to the phrase
• Not maximum of sound - balance of sound and phrasing
• Have inside phrasing
• Play slower for good intonation
• 20% talent, 80% work - practice - playing, playing, playing!

This year is going to be awesome.