My Longed-for Instrument ⑦ ～Complimented on my elbow angle～
This is a continuation of my violin challenge diary, which I started on a whim in May.
July has five Mondays, and three of them are violin lesson days.
By the way, the other two are scheduled for my daughter's club concert and the Suntory Dream Match.
I got so excited (perhaps too excited) that I booked an Excite Seat for the Suntory Dream Match. Just looking at the participating players makes my heart race. I'm really glad my lesson doesn't overlap with this day.
Now, last time, I visited a karaoke box for the first time in 20 years to practice the violin by myself, and I decided to do a 'Manekineko practice' (that's what I call it since I go to Karaoke Manekineko) at least once a week.
However, since it's been 20 years, I'm not really familiar with the current pricing systems of karaoke boxes.
Last time, I accidentally went on a holiday evening and ended up paying a fee that I couldn't tell was expensive or cheap.
Looking into the prices carefully for the future, I found that the room rate is very cheap at 50 yen in the morning. Since a drink is 350 yen, it's 450 yen for an hour of practice. Isn't that much cheaper than renting a lesson room?
So, this time I did my Manekineko practice on a weekday morning when I didn't have work.
In the last lesson, the Captain (my teacher) demonstrated a practice method, saying,
'There is a way to do this to get used to playing with your elbow fixed.'
You stand with your right side pressed against the wall, fix your elbow to the wall, and play by moving only the part beyond it.
(I don't feel like I'm explaining it well with just words.)
I put this into practice during this Manekineko session.
I pressed my right side against the wall of the room, fixed my elbow, and repeated basic exercises intently.
From the outside, I must look like a slightly creepy woman stuck to the wall of a small karaoke box playing an instrument.
There might be ghost stories like that.
After practicing for about 40 minutes, I felt tired and took a break.
As I was drinking oolong tea and zoning out, the thought crossed my mind,
'Since I'm at karaoke, why don't I try singing at least one song?'
I picked up the tablet and thought for a moment.
.........I don't know what to sing.
Wait, what do people sing at karaoke again!?
Sadly, it's been so long that I don't have a repertoire, I don't know recent songs, and in fact, I'm not even sure about old songs anymore.
I was left stunned alone in the karaoke box.
I have made impersonating Kiyoshi Maekawa my personal life's work, and one of my goals for this year is to sing Southern All Stars' 'TSUNAMI' while imitating Kiyoshi Maekawa (I have no plans to let anyone hear it), but I hesitate to sing that as the first song at karaoke after 20 years.
If by any chance it leaked outside, it would be awkward.
I'd be 'the woman (or ghost) who was playing the violin against the wall the whole time, only to start singing TSUNAMI while imitating Kiyoshi Maekawa'.
I gave up on singing, went back to serious violin practice, and finished my Manekineko session.
...
That night, I prepared dry curry and fruit salad for dinner before heading to my evening lesson.
The temperature had dropped somewhat by night, but the humidity was intense. When I entered the lesson room while sweating, the Captain, with a Disney-like smile as always, said,
'It's hot, isn't it!'
They were dressed in a somewhat Japanese-style outfit. Even so, it's strange that the atmosphere they exude is still like a Disney cast member. There is no one else around me who is this Disney-like.
Will there ever come a day when I can tell them, 'You're very Disney-like'? They'd probably wonder what I'm talking about.
Anyway, we continued with the textbook, and today I finally finished the basic exercises for the A string. I moved on to the next, the D string.
The open string of the D string is D. It is the second lowest string on the violin.
I used to play in the same range on the mandolin, and the D string was my favorite sound. So I'm happy that I was able to move on to the D string.
'Which string do you practice after the D string?'
When I asked the Captain,
'We do G, and finally the highest E string. The range of the E string is a range that only the violin has, so in actual orchestras and the like, the E string is played the most.'
I thought, 'Oh, I see.'
The ranges of the G, D, and A strings overlap with the viola. I didn't realize they overlapped that much.
'Then, if you can play the violin, does that mean you can also play the viola?'
'That's right. Since the size of the instrument is different, the angle of the elbow changes, but basically it's the same. ...Oh, but the musical notation is a little different.'
"A symbol?"
"The viola uses the C clef."
C clef!?
"C? Not G or F?"
"It looks like this. Kind of like a K."
The Captain draws a small C clef in the corner of my instruction book.
Could it be that I learned this in music class? But I have absolutely no memory of it. The instruments I've played until now only ever used the G and F clefs. There are still so many things in this world I don't know. I gaze at the shape of the C clef, feeling deeply moved.
...
During this lesson, the Captain said to me,
"You're keeping your elbow steady. The angle is good, too."
I was happy to be praised with a smile. I continue to write 'Maneki Neko practice once a week' on the loincloth of my heart. I also make a small note to 'learn at least one song for karaoke.'