Kennedy

Rode Caprice #15 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. Rode Caprice #15: Wow! Was that difficult! I tried and failed to play at the tempo indicated, which is 96 per bar! It felt sooo hectic at that tempo with all the jumps around the fiddle. Even at the tempo I ended up with, one still has to find quite the disciplined bow arm to stay very composed and clean. What tended to slow me down the most were the articulations (accents mainly) and the string crossing jumps. I wonder if the metronome Rode used was a different tempo than the one I have at home?!!? Here, I am quoting from the beginning of my Singer Edited edition: "In consequence the violinist must pay the greatest attention to every possible mark and sign, in order to imbue his [her!!!] playing with that artistic finish which Rode's studies invariably impart, if studied with earnest and careful devotion." And, "The studies are presented in their original form, supplied with careful and practical fingering and bowing in accordance with modern demands and requirements, and contain no possible indications which might increase their original difficulties." I kinda disagree...if the bowings and fingerings were Singer's or another editor's, not Rode's, there are a few changes I would prefer to make that would be better, at least for me. I could not find anything written about the metronome marks. Does anyone know if they are from the editor or from Rode himself? I did adhere to everything else on the page, best I could...some may prefer more accent sound and more contrast in dynamics. These were things I sacrificed a bit to keep things moving along and avoiding harshness. The easiest notes to squawk were the high note 8ths before and after g string notes. Super easy to sound tight and out of tune! The most difficult passages were the top line of pg. 31 with the B double flat at the end, and of course the double stops with G flats!! Most important when learning this - even at a slower tempo while you learn the notes, is to feel this in one, not in 3. It needs to dance! I am looking forward to hearing my student, Nikolas, work this up!!

Kreutzer Etude #4 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, YouTube, Google Drive and I share my screen in zoom lessons.) Kreutzer #4: (Peter's Edition) This etude is very straightforward, it is quite clear how it should be played, especially if you read French or German;). I used Google Translate to read the text at the top, and it basically says to learn staccato slowly, to keep the bow on the string between staccato notes, and put an accent on first and final notes to create a good line? My International Galamian edition does not have any instructions at the beginning. (Reminiscing...,my book has my teacher's handwriting in it asking for the first bar all in one bow in the upper half of the bow, and another variation all in the lower half, still all in one bow. I don't remember if I ever did this exercise as indicated by Kreutzer.) The tricky part (done as Kreutzer intended) is how to handle the end of the bars into beginning of the next bars. You are always at the frog at the end of each bar and only ONE note starts the next bar. Should you use an ENTIRE bow to do one note down bow? I indeed did it this way ONE bar only, the bar after all the f,f,f,f's. All the other bars where I ended at the frog, I replaced the bow toward the upper half so the single note on one bow was closer to 6 inches long rather than 20. Is this cheating? I don't know, but I do know I hated how each start of each bar sounded when I tried it the other way. One would never play that way in real life, so there is no need to play like that here, although, learning to cleanly replace the bow to start fresh is a VERY useful technique. I highly recommend applying that while playing this etude. Another obstacle to overcome is getting EACH of the staccato notes to speak evenly, similarly and slightly crisply. Notice the accents are only on the first and last notes. It was very easy to accent other notes along the way or make them all sound accented. I'm sure you can still hear notes with accents that are not indicated in my recording. I did not get 100% scrupulous about that if the emphasis was helping somehow (harmonically, direction, rhythmic pillar etc). Being able to do a clean and even up bow staccato in this fashion definitely prepares students to be able to do a nice easy back and forth staccato. Side note: This is my first recording with my new sound equipment. Definitely an improvement over the last two with the incessant running fan! (It is possible I will re-record those.....)

Kreutzer Etude #1 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, YouTube, Google Drive and I share my screen in zoom lessons.) Kreutzer #1: (Peters Edition) This etude is sneaky hard! The slower you go, the harder it is, and of course the markings indicated are important to obey, so that makes it near impossible. I decided to take an "easier" tempo so as to create a more lovely experience AND to be ABLE to obey the edited markings. I stayed true to ALL the bowings and fingerings marked in this part. My first few takes were slower and I was happy with how I sounded BUT, when trying to create something musical and meaningful, I definitely found the faster tempo to be more enjoyable and more listenable. What is NOT listenable nor enjoyable is the constant hiss of my computer fan throughout. I am going to ask for some assistance to get rid of that hiss, and if I am successful, will re-produce this etude and re-upload, so any insight?, please share!! When I was a youngster, I and my teachers completely ignored this etude, probably because it would have been too painful to attempt for the ears and the self-confidence. I have also avoided assigning it to my students, mostly because I was unfamiliar....but now it's time. I believe this etude teaches amazing bow control and ability to shift smoothly and decrescendo on up bows as well as keep some kind of rhythmic subdivision... (don't keep too close of track...I know I didn't keep it exact!)

During Covid, music was a big part of how I got through. I kept coming back to Bach's first Partita in b minor. Bach has a way of going soul deep, and it fed me often during these months. This video is a project I did to honor some of the memories and sacrifice and heroes during this time. Thank you to all who put their lives on the line every day, and my prayers are with the families of all who were lost. May God grant you peace through your grief.

Sitt Etude #20 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, YouTube, Google Drive and I share my screen in zoom lessons.) Sitt Etude #20 This is one of the most straight forward and "easy" etudes so far. Really, one cannot afford to affect it too much with vibrato and timing or it will sound contrived and overdone. It needs to stay simple and sweet. I apologize for the fan noise my mic picked up from my computer running. I must be challenging my computer with too many files again. Time to purge! I contemplated a few different tempos for this etude. I liked the rolling feeling the tempo I ended up with. 100% avoid ANY pressure in the bow during this. It doesn't need it. Just let the bow glide easily along, don't get in the way of the sound. This one almost plays itself.

Kreutzer Etude #10 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, YouTube, Google Drive and I share my screen in zoom lessons.) Kreutzer #10: (Peters Edition) This etude is one of the "simpler" ones, pretty straight forward in its expectations of stroke. I like that it is perky and bright and fairly lighthearted. Sometimes, students can get extra noise with the string crossings, the stroke can be uneven and there can be synchronization issues between left and right hand. I prefer to "color" the harmony by varying the length at times. I have no idea what to make of it when I see dots in random places, I assume he meant for the dots to continue, but then they come back for half a bar further down the page....?.....Anyone, please weigh in! Keeping this lighter and jovial yet clean and clear with hints of expression for harmonic purpose is my goal.

Kreutzer Etude #13 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, YouTube, Google Drive and I share my screen in zoom lessons.) Kreutzer #13: (International Edition) There are a few editions that do not include this particular etude. #25 shares the same fate. You will find either books with 42 Kreutzer Etudes or 40 Kreutzer Etudes. So, today, we are mix and matching between the Peter's Edition (missing #13) and the International Edition (which includes it). This etude is reminiscent of Bach's Cello Prelude in G Major, one of my favorite pieces of music! My husband gave me the highest compliment while I was working on this today when he told me he was enjoying my Bach. 😂 . The downfall of this comparison is that there really is NO comparison, first between the composers nor the instruments playing them. I am very dissatisfied playing this on a violin and feel the cello would be much more beautiful. I have often stated I wish I had chosen the cello, the broad, deep, open ringing sound...ahh...But, that only pushes me to somehow find at least a fraction of what could be. I sat listening back to this wishing for more cello sound as the sound so easily gets muddied up and tight, missing that ringing pedal feel. I had to figure out how much vibrato and how straight to play the 16ths. I believe there is room to go either way. This etude is three pages long, so by the time you get to the middle, you don't really want to start all the way over, yet again! And, after many attempts, after listening, I wondered if I had used too much vibrato and if it would have been a stronger presentation had I stayed more strict rhythmically. But, we will NEVER find out, because I have to move on, lol...others to get to, students are waiting! I really do love this particular etude. I hope you enjoy! (At the top of my music (which I erased) it said July 4. Today is January 20, 2021, also a politically important date. I had just finished watching our new President Joseph Biden sworn in when I recorded this. I can guess that I was 11 or 12 years old, July 4, 1986 or1987, the last time I played any of these etudes. What was I doing having a lesson on a holiday!?)

Kreutzer Etude #18 (also known as #19) Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, You Tube, Google Drive and I share my screen I zoom lessons.) Kreutzer #18: (Peter's Edition) (also known as #19 in other editions) This etude once again focuses on left hand trills, and the god forsaken 4th finger trill is scattered throughout (far too many times, in my opinion!). As usual, I have stayed true to the instructions of fingerings and bowings on the page. I have heard this played where the 16th note each beat is an 8th instead, and was also played with a more stop/start sound in this same recording. I guess I like it to be done smoothly rather than choppy, but each has his/her own ideas. Honestly, I am not very fond of this etude. I'm cringing a bit listening back, but perhaps after working it up this afternoon, my trills, especially 4th finger trills are stronger? I wouldn't be surprised if there might be a few accidents with the accidentals, as some of the harmonies are strange, but we are all getting used to such things with etudes, lol! Keeping the bow controlled with so many shifts under the slur and only one bow per bar in several instances was difficult. My favorite moments were the 16th notes leading to the big ends of phrases. We have to keep looking for the bright side, eh?! All I can say is, "Good luck to my student who is taking this on this week!"

Kayser Etude #22 Kim Kaloyanides Kennedy, violin Recorded at home January 2021 Since teaching via zoom, I have had to get creative with how to share sound goals. I have been doing a lot of recording examples for scales, arpeggios, pieces and now etudes. (I use BandLab, Acapella, You Tube, Google Drive and I share my screen I zoom lessons.) Kayser Etude #22: To be honest, I am not very familiar with Kayser. I never studied these exercises myself as a youngster and have only come in contact with them through a few students who have brought them along after switching from previous teachers to my studio. I'm not overly attracted to them, but I tried my best to apply that which I hold dear, to find beauty and meaning in everything, praying that somewhat happened. This etude focuses on a steadiness in the right hand with each bow regathering dynamics with a decrescendo. Some bows begin with subito Fortes after playing piano for several bars. (Awkward and not musically necessary, IMO). I did not treat all starts of the decrescendos equally, nor the ends. In fact, some of the ends needed to lead to the next bar harmonically so you will hear them "reach" up a bit toward the next bow. The left hand in this etude is tasked with a chromatic rhythmically measured 1/2 step trill, essentially. It is very easy to miss some of the accidentals as double sharps are scattered around. I had to do several takes of this to finally get some of those accidentals correct!! It is also very easy for the same note over and over NOT to sound the same pitch, especially 4th fingers. It's also easy for the pitches to blur together and sound like a slow motion siren. One has to clear the sound with the bow to avoid doing that for too long. It's very easy for the left hand to be heard hitting the fingerboard rhythmically...I hear that my second finger is VERY strong, especially on the E string! lol.