# You have ONE WISH for your playing - what will it be?



## Ingélou

You are a strings player, and you can have ONE WISH to improve your ability. What will it be? 

For myself - it will be speed.
I want to be able to play Scottish and Irish reels at full tilt. 

At the moment, it's beyond me. And at my age, it maybe always will be. 

I'm getting faster, but very slowly. Frustrating! 

Share with us your ONE WISH - and I wish you luck.

Thanks in advance for any replies. :tiphat:


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## Merl

As a crap guitarist I'd go with speed. My picking isnt wholly accurate but at least if it was faster I'd be able to cover up the bum notes better. Hahaha


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## Pugg

Does wanting to be a string player in the first place count?


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## Bettina

Pugg said:


> Does wanting to be a string player in the first place count?


That's my wish too! I'm a pianist, and I totally have a case of string envy! I wish that the piano could do a long drawn-out swell on a single note, the way that string instruments can.


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## Pugg

Bettina said:


> That's my wish too! I'm a pianist, and I totally have a case of string envy! I wish that the piano could do a long drawn-out swell on a single note, the way that string instruments can.


I am a amateur but I have the same feeling, or how to control a contra bass.


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## Dan Ante

As a double bass player I realise I should have stayed with the clarinet.


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## DavidA

I could play better!


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## senza sordino

I don't know if I have one wish, like the opening post has asked. My speed is pretty good, though my intonation is wobbly at higher positions when I play quickly. I can play double stops, but not without lots of practice. Fast string crossings and arpeggios are coming along. But I'm crap at memorizing pieces. Perhaps that's my one wish. I would like to play a piece from memory.


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## Tchaikov6

Correct my terrible bowhold... I'm fine at musically interpreting the piece, dynamics, memorization, fast finger passages (to some extent)... but my bowhold is terrible- I remember meeting a prestigious violin teacher in our area, and after playing for him, he said- "I don't think I've ever met somebody who plays as well as you do with a bowhold that crappy."

Also, my bow tilt- I tilt it backwards and it's a habit that I can't control unless really concentrating.


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## NishmatHaChalil

Bettina said:


> That's my wish too! I'm a pianist, and I totally have a case of string envy! I wish that the piano could do a long drawn-out swell on a single note, the way that string instruments can.





Pugg said:


> Does wanting to be a string player in the first place count?


Exactly how I feel! In find that side of string instruments so expressive! I abandoned the violin after childhood, and now I'm only with the flute and the piano. Practicing one instrument is hard enough, two even more so, and I eventually decided to stop, as it was not easy trying to save the time and the money for new lessons. Also, God, I was bad at it. My cousin did not play any instrument at the time, and she really loved the violin, so I gave my instrument to her. Even so, I sometimes feel some remorse when I think of the unique traits string instruments possess and I'm never going to experience as an interpreter. One should not be greedy, however. I had the resources to learn and keep playing my two favorite instruments, and in that I'm more fortunate than most.


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## hpowders

As a violinist, learning how to play Unaccompanied Bach with minimal vibrato and no portamenti or slides, and still move people with my playing.

In other words, signing up for two years of lessons with Rachel Barton Pine.


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## Azol

As an amateur banjo player that would be speed and accuracy and I guess playing slowly a lot is the key to achieve it someday (considering I started at 40 this day might never dawn for me ) I have a classical violin background, but that does not help me with my right hand picking at all (I learn the 3-finger style)  Fretting hand is much, much easier!


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## Ingélou

Azol said:


> As an amateur banjo player that would be speed and accuracy and I guess playing slowly a lot is the key to achieve it someday (considering I started at 40 this day might never dawn for me ) I have a classical violin background, but that does not help me with my right hand picking at all (I learn the 3-finger style)  Fretting hand is much, much easier!


Ah - I always fancied the banjo! Happy picking! :tiphat:


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## Dan Ante

An under rated instrument great in traditional jazz.


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## violyona

I'd like full control on scene. If I could concentrate full I could play better for public. I try to fight with it but this doesn't always work


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## Pugg

violyona said:


> I'd like full control on scene. If I could concentrate full I could play better for public. I try to fight with it but this doesn't always work


What instrument are you playing if I may be so bold?


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## Dr Johnson

I wish I could sight-read.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

I wish I practiced 2 hours a day and found a way to get through my (too) many scores. Would also like to have more recitals and play interesting new music and some standards. On guitar, that is.


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## Taplow

Flexibility!

I lost all flexibility when I gave up playing for about 25 years. The violin demands tortuous and unnatural contortions of the left hand to correctly position fingers, move between the positions, and maintain fluidity, agility, vibrato etc. I have much more confidence in my playing now than I ever did, but am quite rigid so every aspect of my playing suffers - intonation, coordination, expression. Oh to be 21 again!

I also wish I had skinnier fingers. But I don't think I'm alone in that wish.


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