The Violin Column v1 n1

Group Lesson on Vivaldi’s Concerto in A Minor 3rd Movement

Reproduced with kind permission from Sensei Ireland, May 1989:

When we have a group lesson on a specific piece, like Vivaldi’s Concerto in A Minor, 3rd movement, we aim (a) to play the piece together, (b) to play it in tune, and (c) to have uniform phrasing. I am going to explain how, as a teacher, I will work on these points.

To play together: It is difficult to set a tempo for this piece because the first two lines are relatively easy, but thinking ahead to the middle of the second page, I must set a tempo to which everyone can play the arpeggio passages. To start the class, we will work on the bowing of the first two lines; perhaps the rhythm on open strings only. First, bow them softly. I will demonstrate the sound I want—not too short, but not smooth—slightly detached with a quick bow. We must listen to each other to make a uniform sound. Good, now we are together.

Intonation and left-hand technique: I shall pick out the difficult bars and hear everyone individually. If necessary, I shall ask the child to request help from their teacher in their individual lesson. First, however, we work at the 5th line, bars 1 and 2, listening for a good ringing harmonic. Secondly, 9th line, bar 1. Does everyone understand that we shift into “high” 3rd position, with a semitone between our 1st and 2nd fingers for the trill? The same problem appears again on page 2, line 2, bar 2, followed by a difficult shift back into 1st position. Thirdly, the arpeggio passage played slowly; the 1st arpeggio is not too difficult, the next one is complicated and physically awkward. The third one requires a shift into 3rd position with an extension, and the fourth includes another awkward one with semitones across the strings. Next are two scales where we shift into 2nd position; the rest of the semiquavers are manageable as long as we remember whether we are in 1st or 2nd position. Right, now let’s play it slowly: we’ll increase our speed gradually and see how we go. Perhaps I’ll have just the last two lines of the movement to check the accidentals.

Now we are ready to play it up to speed: That’s the part I enjoy best—making music. In my experience, children who are taught by the Suzuki method have such fabulous facility that often, when they aren’t thinking, they just enjoy speed. But seriously, we must avoid this, and always think about where the phrase is going, follow the dynamics and marks of expression in the copy, and try to play much better than the tape!

Phillipa Less