Musical Dawa

Auuuuggg

2008-10-15T10:00:00.001-07:00

It's been a more than a year since I started trying to learn Violin.

And I've made no significant progress. XD

The truth is that I really haven't been practising very much at all.

... And not trying very hard when I do....

And if I wanted to practice, it's hard to find times when the house is empty. XD

Anyway... The next year will probably be the same as the last. XD

But, I'll update again, if I ever make any good progress.

weighty solutions~

2007-11-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

My left arm is toooooo weak. D:
It gets tired very easily...
So, I've decided to repeatedly lift a can of quarters until it doesn't hurt, anymore.
(Or, something like that.)
That way, holding up a violin for a long amount of time should be simple... Right?

But this seems to put stress on my wrist, more than anything... Hmmm....

*shrug*

Nothing new. XD

2007-09-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's almost been a week since my last update.
I haven't had much time to practice this week; therefore, there's been no progress. :C

I'm an artist, so it should come as no surprise that Violin will take a back-seat to that. Recently, I took on a rather large Christmas project, and I'd like to actually finish before then. So, I'll be working on it a lot.

But having Violin as the hobby has helped. It's a good deterrent when I start to get tired with my work. But it'll stay as a hobby. Don't expect me to go pro, or anything. XD

Anyway, I'll continue to practice when I have time (if it happens that no one's sleeping during that time) and I'll continue to update my progress here. :D

-My journey will be a slow one.

Picture~!

2007-09-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

You can't see any of the detail, but:

Just thought you might like to see what the Violin looks like. 8U

That could take a while...

2007-09-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still on Lesson Five. XD
Decided to not allow myself to move on until it sounds like it does on the CD. >:U
Curse that lamb and it's fuzzy fleece!

The CD pisses me off, by the way. Or rather, the person performing all the songs pisses me off. That is SO not the sound of a beginner. XD It doesn't make me feel any better about my own suckage. D:

I'm in the mood for Christmas songs, though. I want to move on to Jingle Bells... >:C

I might skip certain songs in the line up, at my own discretion... Such as that damn "walking fingers" exercise. It makes me want to stab things. >:3

.
.
.
Ok, not really... But I'll still skip it. :P

Never you mind, dear.

2007-09-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to make it work about a minute after making that last post. XD

Now, I just have to get to where I sound presentable; then sound-clips ahoy!

EDIT: Today, I was still on lesson five. I think I memorized "Mary Had a Little Lamb." XD But I need to work on steadying my hand. I noticed this in the playbacks of my first recordings... There's this unintentional vibrato. The name sounds cool, but it's a bad thing. >:U Also, I need to work on timing. Since I still suck, no clips today.

Now, if only I could make it work...

2007-09-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

The last of my packages came today. In it, my recording device. :D
I'm enjoying the MP3-player function... And the radio works, when I point it at the window... But I can't quite make the recorder work properly. I'll have to play with it some more.

Once I do figure it out, I'll then have to figure out how to make my computer understand the file... But, eventually, I'll be able to post clips of my practice. XD

"...This is our last dance... This is our selves... Under Pressure~..."

Huh.

2007-09-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

I'm learning my ABCs. C:
It seems like my left arm gets tired pretty quick, though. I'll have to work on strengthening it, or something. D:

If you want to keep track, I'm working on "Lesson Five" today. It's pretty long, when compared to the previous lessons, so that'll probably be all I work on today. *nod nod*

Gotta say, I'm not looking forward to learning "Mary had a little lamb." I'd rather start with Tchaikovsky. >:U

Is it bad that I'm amused whenever the book refers to the violin's "nut?" XD

Learning!

2007-09-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Woooosh!

Today, I'm going to try to learn a bit about the violin.
The day that it came (monday afternoon) I didn't have much time to play with it, before going to see Rara; but Papa-Bear tuned it and stuff, and we worked on getting the sound to come out. Apparently, you need to get a lot of rosin on the bow, before it'll do anything.
Also, it takes a bit more force than I would have thought. XD Somehow, I thought that using too much force would make some sort of horrible noise come out, so I tried to use the bow as lightly as possible... But it did nothing. D: But now I know basically how to get a bit of sound out of it, I think.
The next day (yesterday) all I really had time to do was glance at the books and stare at the violin... X3 Basically, I took a few minutes just to admire the... wood. It's pretty.

So! Today, I'll do some actual learning.
So far, I only know the names of the strings, as well as a few vocab words that I'll probably forget later. :C

I'll try to learn how to properly hold the violin and bow, too. >:3

Violin!

2007-09-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Violin and the books have come, so I'm going to start learning soooon!
But the recording device won't be here for a few more days, though.

I'll write more laterz. :D

Still waiting~

2007-09-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

My Violin and accessories (from E-Bay) are on the way, and should come in the mail within the next few days... But Amazon doesn't seem to have gotten my money yet. (Hopefully it didn't get lost in the mail.) AND they (Amazon) said that they won't be able to send out my recording device until October, at the earliest. (But I hope my educational books come before then.) So, I won't be able to post any sound clips until next month.

In a stroke of weirdness, though, Amazon sent the batteries for the recording device separately, and they arrived last week. (I have some credit on the site, due to past cancelations, so that's how the batteries were paid for.)

I just thought that it was strange that they'd send such a small item all on its own, when it should be obvious that I'm going to use it with the recording device. D:

In my next post, after I get the violin, I'll review Mendini Musical Instruments (the company from whom I bought the stuff); and, hopefully, I'll have a good group to suggest to others who want to try out an instrument, without dishing out a large sum of cash.
I should go ahead and mention now that Papa-bear showed me a catelogue from a local music store, and one of the violins pictured looked exactly like the one I bought. (Only it costed a LOT more in the music store.) Also, Mendini does sell instruments to a lot of stores. (Wholesale.)

It's always best to order straight from the source. That's why I love the internet. C:
(Or, rather, it's one of many reasons.)

Bye for now! >:3

The Beginning!

2007-09-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

Yo ho, Blogland~!
Firstly, introduction:
I am Dawa-Chan (other acceptable suffixes include (but are not limited to) -San, -Sama, -Sempai, -Sensei, -Kun, -Dono, -Pyon, -Chi, etc.) ... Or, simply Dawa. XD
You may remember me from such other community-based websites as DeviantART, Gaia Online, Live-Journal, or even Myspace (barely). I most suggest checking out my dA account, because that's where I spend most of my time on the interwebz.

The purpose of THIS blog is to chronicle my quest to learn an instrument.
I selected the Violin, because I love the way it sounds, and I'm good with my hands. (In fifth grade, I tried to learn Trumpet; but didn't like it, and was never any good. I realised that it was because of the blowing and the need for a good lung-capacity that made me no good for it.)

So I checked around the internet and found/ordered everything I need:
Violin, case, bow, bridge, rosin, strings, those tuney-thingies, educational books, etc.
Tomorrow, I'll send out the money orders and soon I'll be able to begin trying to learn Violin.

And, once the stuff comes in the mail, I'll try to update daily on my progress. :D

Also, I'll possibly upload and link to sound clips so you can hear how I progress. (But I'll wait until an at least half-way nice sound comes out, before subjecting the internet to that.) D: