Beethoven’s innate talent for c minor is well known as his fifth symphony, forth string quartet, third piano concerto, op. 9 #3 string trio, and many others can attest. But on closer inspection his e-flat works also stand out; see the Eroica Symphony, “Harp” quartet, op. 127 quartet, “Emperor” piano concerto, and Septet.

There are countless studies and essays that attempt to categorize keys of music with emotion or feeling. C minor and F minor are sad. D major and C major are bold. E major and A major are bright. And so on. E-flat major seems to be the key that a composer writes in if he wants to have a work taken seriously. Let’s take a look at some composers and their masterpieces.

Mozart excelled at writing in g minor. His 25^th and 40^th symphonies and first piano quartet are great examples. But in my opinion, his greatest symphony (the 39^th) and his greatest concerto (the Symphonie Concertante) stand above the rest and both happen to be in e-flat. Both of those works possess a mature and majestic quality rarely found in many of his other pieces. I’ll throw in the Magic Flute overture for good measure.

Mendelssohn wrote what is arguably the most perfect chamber music piece ever created in his Octet (yes, in e-flat) when he was a teenager. No other work of his (and he wrote many wonderful pieces) has ever stood up to this early piece. Schumann, crazy as he was, composed his greatest symphony (the 3^rd or “Rhenish”) in the key of e-flat. Schubert enters the discussion with his wonderful, if not way too long trio in e-flat op. 100. The b-flat trio is more popular, and while it is a great piece, it is not as impressive. Tchaikovsky’s bombastic 1812 overture uses three flats as well.

Mahler and Strauss (Richard) both created almost exclusively masterpieces. However, each composed a great work later in their careers that is special to them personally, and in the world of orchestral repertoire. Mahler’s 8^th symphony (the “Symphony of a Thousand”) was written in a sudden flash of inspiration when he feared he might be out of ideas. The giant symphony was premiered only months before his death with Herr Mahler on the podium (and with just short of 1000 performers). Strauss’ longest, and certainly most self-serving tone poem, Ein Heldenlaben is firmly in the key of e-flat, and although it shows just how much ego he had, it is still arguably his greatest work in the genre.

For the violin, and strings in general, flat keys tend to be awkward and one can see that most of the great violin works are in keys with sharps (D major is the most popular). The two major exceptions to this rule are the Mozart piece above, and the Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch. Both are great examples of fantastic writing for violin (in Mozart’s case violin and viola) and both are also very difficult.

There are sure to be many great works that I have neglected to mention here, but I honestly cannot think of any “bad” pieces in the key of e-flat. Even the few works that I can’t stand are all in other keys. Of course opinions vary, so don’t take my ranting as gospel, but I believe I am on to something…

Honorable mention goes to:

• Great Gate of Kiev from Pictures at an Exhibition – Mussorgsky
• Trumpet Concerto – Haydn
• Symphony #4 – Bruckner
• Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
• She’s Always a Woman – Billy Joel

Learning to play a stringed instrument is hard. Playing a stringed instrument at a high level is extremely hard. Performing regularly at an elite level (earning a good living) is monumentally difficult, and only a tiny percentage of musicians can honestly say they have accomplished this.

The following is not intended for total beginners (although the principles of good practicing will always garner results), but rather these tips will help any student improve from an average player to a good one, or better. There are “dos” and “don’ts” within every aspect of life, and practicing a stringed instrument is no different.

DO have the following “tools” with you at all times when you are practicing:

• Sheet music – never (and I do mean never) practice from memory. If you are trying to memorize music, you will be “playing through” and not “practicing.”
• Pencil – write in your music often. If you make the same mistake more than once (wrong note, wrong bowing, etc.) write something in your music that will make you remember and that will allow you to play correctly. The more you play something incorrectly, the harder it will be to forget the bad way and learn the good way.
• A good music stand – like a Manhasett or Nilton. You need something solid so you can easily write in your music. Wire stands are only good for traveling (and barely good enough for that).
• A metronome – this is essential. Metronomes vary in size and shape, but even a cheap one will help with many aspects of practicing. I use my Dr. Beat for scales as well as repertoire.
• A mirror – another essential tool for checking posture and hand positions. You shouldn’t be watching your fingers anyways…
• Optional equipment and accessories include; a digital tuner (helps with intonation if a student is not adept at checking notes with open strings), a digital recorder (in the old days we used tape recorders) for playing and then listening, a practice mute so you don’t bother the neighbors, and a piano or keyboard for checking notes within chords and scales.

DO NOT just play the music you are learning. Playing is not practicing. You must play the music slowly enough so that you can fix intonation, learn fingerings, and avoid any wrong notes before they occur. As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. An old friend of mine used to play every piece one note at a time with a digital tuner to ensure perfect intonation (imagine how long it would take to practice an entire concerto that way). He is now the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic so he must have been doing something right.

DO play through the music you are learning. Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly. Once you have practiced slowly enough to learn the notes correctly you must play large sections of a piece without stopping in order to learn how to play the piece through. If you never play a piece all the way through, how can you learn to perform it? When you are performing, you can’t stop and fix things. If you are constantly stopping when you play through, that is what you learn. Of course, you should only do this once you have learned the notes.

DO NOT allow yourself to play wrong notes. This goes back to practicing slowly. If you never play a wrong note when you are practicing, there is almost no chance that you will play one in a performance. Practicing involves repetition and lots of it. If you repeatedly play wrong notes or play out of tune, then that is what you are learning when you are “practicing.” Avoid that by only playing the right ones.

DO check notes with open strings or with a digital tuner. If you are practicing to become a good player then you have probably developed a good enough ear to compare every note you play with an adjacent open string. If you have a very well-trained ear, you can even tell if dissonant intervals are in tune (like a C-sharp with open D). Failing that, use a tuner and pinpoint each note as you go for perfect intonation.

DO be hard on yourself. The practice room is your laboratory. The phrase “I only played one or two notes wrong. I’ll fix it later” should never, ever enter your mind. You must criticize, analyze, and correct everything before moving on. Using a digital recorder can be a wonderful practice tool. You will hear things on tape that you didn’t notice while playing.

DO NOT be too hard on yourself. Huh? I know, I keep doing that. Yes, you should be tough on your playing and intonation, but please do not beat yourself up over the music. Being negative towards yourself leads to other problems that will probably require professional and even medical assistance. Remember, you don’t suck, you can do it, and nothing is too difficult to overcome with a positive attitude.

DO set realistic goals for yourself and work hard to achieve them. Start small and then expand on that as you go. For example, you can start by telling yourself to learn one or two lines of music by the end of the day, and then once you’ve achieved that, plan to learn an entire page in a week. Your teacher will work with you to set these goals, then use the tips above and get to work. You will be surprised at how much you can accomplish when you practice correctly.

And finally, NEVER practice under a ceiling fan, unless you’re a cellist. A friend of mine is (barely) five feet tall and she still can get her bow up into the fan. I have done it as well. Luckily I have never broken a very expensive bow (some bows can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) but why take that chance?

I have been pretty busy with a new job (no, I don’t make my living just playing violin anymore) and have had a few gigs during my free time that have pretty much kept me away from the computer. When I have been online, I have been sucked into Farmville and other Facebook buffoonery that has eaten into my blogging time.

I will be playing in the pit orchestra for two shows this summer. HOTT Productions is performing My Fair Lady the first two weeks of June and the St. James Community Theater is doing Annie in July. Incidentally, my very talented wife is playing Miss Hannigan in this show, so I will miss seeing her on stage since I’ll be in the pit playing.

I’ve been hard at work on a new arrangement for orchestra, this time the first movement of Brahms’ C Major Trio. It works very well for orchestra and is coming along nicely. Next February, the Harper Symphony Orchestra will be premiering my arrangement of the Ysaye Ballade that I completed earlier this year. It is a real honor for me and I can’t wait to hear it played by a real orchestra (as opposed to the horrid digital one in my PC).

One other thing, on a slightly more serious note; it appears as though I am losing my hearing in my right ear. For the last few years I have started to notice some hearing loss on that side as well as an increasingly louder ringing in that ear. I finally got it checked out last week, and lo and behold I have lost about 50 percent hearing in that ear. Pending an MRI, the doctor says it is irreversible which is bad, but luckily it is not debilitating yet. I encourage everyone, especially musicians who rely on their ears to please get a hearing test regularly as you get older. At 40 (really 39 plus tax:)) I am too young to be going deaf, even if it is only in one ear. While my hearing loss is not fixable, many times one can get treatment early on which will at least stop any further loss.

Well, that’s the end of my public service announcement for the day. Stay tuned. I’ll have some more content up shortly.

With the Thanksgiving holiday having just past and the Christmas and New Year holidays on the way, I thought I would take a moment to list a few of the things that I am thankful for, as well as a few resolutions that I will attempt to fulfill in the coming year (or however long it takes).

In no particular order, I am thankful for:

• Thomastik Vision Solo strings

• Sibelius music notation software (Finale eats it, in my humble opinion)

• The fact that most music for violin is not written in key signatures found in opera or show music – no one wants to play in 6 flats all the time.

• The Beethoven Violin Concerto

• The Chicago Symphony Orchestra

• The conductor of the orchestra in which I play knowing what the @#$!% he is doing (a pet peeve of mine is playing for conductors who don’t know anything)

• Reese’s

• Beatles Rock Band – still working on the drum solo in The End on “expert.”

• The mild temperatures in Chicago during the Thanksgiving weekend – Mom and Dad were happy too.

• Wireless internet – it makes downloading new songs for Rock Band just so much easier.

• Remembering not to clean my glasses with tissues that have lotion.

• The love of my beautiful wife and family.

I have a few projects that are rattling around in my cranium, and I would love to get some of them accomplished in the next year. In general, I plan to finish at least one or two of the composition projects I have started in the last few months. I finally completed the Ysaye arrangement, but have not been able to stay on point with any of the half-dozen or so new works that I’ve started which include an arrangement for orchestra of the Beethoven Kreutzer sonata, an original work for chorus and orchestra to be performed during the holidays, and the re-working of an old chamber symphony I wrote for full orchestra.

I have always wanted to start my own community orchestra. I am a very good conductor and have several years of experience working with student and community groups. I am also a prototypical community musician; meaning I do not work in the music industry as a way to make my living. That said, there is a wonderful community choral group locally and I have mentioned to the director my idea for a new orchestra and he is quite intrigued. So…I think I have a starting point. Additionally, the local community colleges are unfortunately losing a great deal of state funding which may eliminate one of the popular local orchestras.

So, I wish all of you (those who actually read this – those who don’t, well, you get coal in your stocking) the happiest and safest of holidays, and best wishes from my family to yours!

HD

I’ve got a few things in the works that I would like to tell you about.  One is a new composition project that I’ve started, and the other is a new feature of this site that is in the works.

I mentioned the other day that I’ve started an arrangement of the Kruetzer Sonata for full orchestra, and that will still be finished, but a new project has pulled my interest into second gear.  I am working on some jazz pieces for violin and other sundry instruments.  I’ve finished one tune already (ironically not featuring violin at all), and I have 3 others written that are pending notation and editing.  I plan on writing an “album” of about 10-12 songs and then putting together a CD for anyone who might be interested.  More to follow.

Additionally, I am adding a shopping feature to this site which will allow my intrepid readers to purchase T-shirts, coffee mugs, sheet music, and many other items related to this site as well as the violin in general.  This is totally in the infant stages right now, but I’ve already started working with the code as well as sourcing the product.

Thank you for visiting and keeping the violin “Sempre.”

Updates to follow.  Thanks for visiting!

I am a 3rd generation Chicago Cubs fan (my dearly departed grandmother actually took my father to game 7 of the 1945 World Series – the last series game the Cubs ever played I might add). I also care more than most humans about the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks – a pattern might be detected here re: the city in which I hold my allegiance.

The Bears have recently acquired an elite-level quarterback and that has made for some extravagant expectations as to the future of the team.  After watching the first three games of the season, I can say that I would like to up my blood-pressure meds!

It has occurred to me that Chicago (nicknamed ‘Second City’) will never, ever do things easily.  We recently lost the Olympics, the Cubs haven’t won a world series in over 100 years, and the Bears can’t win a game without first giving their fans congestive heart failure.  Hindsight may be 20-20, but I am wishing we could get to the finish line without me having to see a @!#$! thing!

This is a site that is a blog-style site that deals mostly with classical music as played by the violin.  I am a violinist as well as teacher and conductor, thus the thrust of the site.  I have written and encourage anyone to submit articles on violin technique, repertoire, and current events that are paramount to violinists, students, and otherwise musically educated folk for ingesting through this venue.

Please do not hesitate to contact me, or simply write something and let me know how I can include it here.

Thank you for visiting!

HD

Thanks for looking!

HD