Dot the Dragon's Eyes

[sabrina]

Casey,

I need a little help with Hanneke’s tune : Dot the dragon’s eyes. In the performance video, Hanneke does a little variation (mostly on the E string) at the end of the tune.

I know that the instructors don’t write their variations on the basic sheet version, but the problem is Hanneke doesn’t talk about it either in the advanced melody tutorial.

So i’m kind of lost here….i can slow down the performance video but it’s still remain difficult since the tune is not an easy one….That makes a lot of things to figure out.

Any help please ?……

Thanks,
Sabrina

[Casey Willis]

Hi, Sabrina. I hear what you’re talking about. It seems Hanneke does a groovy kind of lick where she rocks between A and E strings whilst aiming for a G natural (low second on E string)…and then resolved the whole lick to the A note (3rd finger on the E).

I would recommend putting the downloadable MP3 file on your phone or other device so you can listen to it and get the lick in your head.

And yes – slowing the performance down and looping that section seems like a good approach as well…but if it doesn’t click, Hanneke might be open to doing a quick Skype lesson with you. Lousy let me know if that’s of interest and I’ll shoot you her contact info.

C

[sabrina]

Thanks Casey for your answer,

I don’t have camera for skype because i don’t use it : it doesn’t work where i live (my internet connection is pretty slow since i live far from town).

I’ll try to figure out with mp3 file + slowing down the video performance. I will see my violin teacher next tuesday and i’ll show him the video.

I’ll let you know how i manage with all of this.

S.

[sabrina]

Hi Casey,

Soooo, i’m not more aware of what’s going on with Hanneke’s variation because i can slow down the tune and ear/see the notes that she plays but the problem is the bowing because she’s doing a shuffle (that the “groovy kind of lick where she rocks between A and E strings whilst aiming for a G natural” that you talk about on your previous post).

Meaning that even if i can see/ear the notes of the variation i don’t have the bowing since the shuffle includes notes that i can’t barely ear/see : Hanneke’s moves are too tiny for me to understand what she’s doing.

If i can make a suggestion : perhaps Hanneke, if she agrees and when she’ll have time for this, could do a little tutorial of her variation (from bar 18 to bar 23 of the sheet = from 1 min 20 to 1 min 25 of the video performance).

That would be great and all the students would have the variation of the tune.

S.

[Roland White]

HI Sabrina, Just thought I would chime in on your dilemma here if you don’t mind. I have consistently found that I cannot pick up the most intricate parts of some tunes no matter how hard I try. Over the years this has caused me much frustration not being able to decipher these difficult master gymnastic musician licks.

I have come to acknowledge that of course with my experience and knowledge how would I be able to master a lick that has taken players years & a lifetime to be good enough to execute with such mastery? That being said, how do I now approach the music I’m trying to learn?

So when this happens I do the best I can to capture a feel of the lick, not necessarily the exact lick, but it has to make musical sense in the tune, so I will play with subtle variations until I find a pleasant solution. This helps me evolve to a higher level for the tune until my ability raises up another notch and then I’m able to grasp more of the lick I’m working for.

Last I love Trad music and for some of those years I felt you needed to play the tune exactly one way. Then I discovered that regionally and world wide tunes are played with different variations, and then discovered the best musicians have reworked the tunes into a version that is personal and unique yet embodies the spirit of the tune. This is now where I have evolved is to make the tunes my own while containing the spirit and melody of the music. This provides me with a constant inspiration to make the music beautiful & personal blending my spirit with the music.

I hope this helps you relax about those moments when a tune becomes impossible and further away just when you have learned most of it one part can continues to elude even the most advanced players . So keep fiddling and don’t lose hope you will overcome your challenges. Happy fiddling, Roland

[sabrina]

Hi Roland,

Thanks for your answer,

I totally get what you’re saying here : of course, fiddling music is not “frozen”. There’s no one way to do it but many and we have to explore, learn by ourselves for a big part.

However, i discovered, since i’m here on FV, that i made a lot of progress by taking the bowing and fingering of the instructors (and i think it’s the purpose of all students here). Whatever i do, there is no way that i can do better with my own bowing and fingering.

Now, for Hanneke’s tutorials, i played some of her tunes to my violin teacher’s (including not easy ones like Blackberry Footrace or Waiting for the dawn) and he was pleasantly surprised.
He knows me and he said that i really improved my playing and he saw that i can follow her even when things become difficult (but not at a too fast tempo of course).

For the tunes that the instructors wrote, and it’s the case here with Dot the dragon’s eyes, Hanneke composed the tune with her own things (especially the bowing) : meaning that if i miss something, i’ll change the tune. She’s doing a shuffle almost everywhere and, for the variation, if i don’t make it, i won’t get the groove.

S.

[Roland White]

Hi S, I understand your dilemma when it comes to groove. Keep trying I think you will get it and I see you’re quite dedicated and perseverance will get you to your goal. Keep up the good work. Roland

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