Week of June 13

C#-minor scale
Kreutzer Number 24
Ciaccona

My approach to Ciaccona week began with the "afraid to play it, so just won't practice at all" strategy.  Now that the week is half over, I've decided to just enjoy playing the Ciaccona and being able to scratch out the notes, even if they aren't all played the same tempo and without stopping and scratching my head and being annoyed that my old teacher changed the bowings and fingerings, which just makes things more ambiguous. 

I was amazed when I learned that there wasn't anything magical about playing the notes to an amazing piece of music, like the Ciaccona or the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.  You don't have to be a perfect violinist to play those pieces and get a kick out of hearing the music you love coming out of your violin.  It's a long stretch from playing them well, but there's something cool about it.  I think it's better to experience them as an amateur than to say, "Oh, I can't play that," and never try.  One can also argue that it's sacrilegious to play such special pieces badly or without putting in enough sweat.  To each his own.