Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother - Amy Chua [55]
*Also, it goes up 3 times, make them different - maybe LESS on last one
* Last measure of line 2 is DIFFERENT HARMONY - so bring that out
Line 3: Bring out melody notes, less on repeated notes. Then “rolling down”
Line 4: Make sure to play important notes with MUCH LONGER BOW
Line 5: Bring out WEIRD notes
Line 6: So many As! Boring - so make them quieter and bring out the OTHER notes.
Line 7: Huge long 2-octave scale - start LESS and make a huge crescendo!!
Page 3
Line 5: At the f, use almost the entire bow - make it exciting! - then diminuendo to tiny
Line 6-7: Follow pattern - less, then suddenly EXPLOSION at f!
Line 8-9: same thing - quiet and then sudden EXPLOSION at f!
Line 10: Bring out TOP 2 notes, bottom note less important.
Mendelssohn
Opening:Andante -a bit faster
Make this much more relaxed, intimate, like you are ALL ALONE WITH SLEEPING DOGS.
Same thing happens 2x, then BRING OUT the 3rd time -open up a bit!
Line 4: Now, a little more worried, tense. MAYBE ONE SLEEPING DOG SEEMS SICK?
Line 5: MUCH MORE ENERGY ON HIGHEST note! The gradually bring it back to gentle, same low energy, relaxed like beginning.
MIDDLE SECTION:100% different character - SCARY!
Use very FAST BOW! Much more energy! WHOLE bow in some parts.
Change bow speed!!
Last 3 lines, going up little by little So start with less bow -and INCREASE by 1.5 inch each time.
Line -2. P, then forte! Bring out nervous character!
Page 11, line 1: More intense! Crescendo to high point!!
I have hundreds, maybe thousands of these. They have a long history. Even when the girls were little, because I tended to be too harsh in person, I’d leave little notes for them everywhere—on their pillows, in their lunch boxes, on their music scores—saying things like, “Mommy has a bad temper, but Mommy loves you!” or, “You are Mommy’s pride and joy!”
With dogs, you don’t have to do anything like this. And if you did, they probably couldn’t understand it anyway, especially not Pushkin.
My dogs can’t do anything—and what a relief. I don’t make any demands of them, and I don’t try to shape them or their future. For the most part, I trust them to make the right choices for themselves. I always look forward to seeing them, and I love just watching them sleep. What a great relationship.
24
Rebellion
Lulu, age thirteen
The Chinese virtuous circle didn’t work with Lulu. I just couldn’t understand it. Everything seemed to be going exactly according to plan. At considerable cost—but nothing I wasn’t prepared to pay—Lulu succeeded in all the ways I’d always dreamed she would. After months of grueling preparation and the usual fights, threats, and yelling and screaming at home, Lulu auditioned for and won the position of concertmaster of a prestigious youth orchestra, even though she was only twelve and much younger than most of the other musicians. She received a statewide “prodigy” award and made the newspapers. She got straight As and won her school’s top French and Latin recitation prizes. But instead of her success producing confidence, gratitude toward parents, and the desire to work harder, the opposite happened. Lulu started rebelling: not just against practicing, but against everything I’d ever stood for.
Looking back, I think things started to turn when Lulu was in sixth grade—I just didn’t realize it. One of the things Lulu hated most was my insistence on pulling her out of school to get in some extra violin practicing. I felt they wasted a lot of time at Lulu’s school, so several times a week I’d write a note to her teacher explaining that she had a recital or an audition coming up and requesting permission to take her out of school during lunch period or gym class. Sometimes I’d be able to cobble together a two-hour block by combining lunch, two recesses, and, say, music class, where they’d be playing cowbells, or art class, where they’d be decorating booths for the Halloween Fair. I could see that Lulu dreaded the sight of me every time I appeared at her school, and her classmates