Jeremy Larson: Cheater

It's been a little frustrating these last couple of months working on new string arrangements. The rate of growth in my violin playing is still unmatched by my ambition to create something "better". In other words, my technical ability is hindering my ability to fully realize the ideas in my head. So, what do I do? I cheat. I cheat in one of three ways-

1. I digitally speed things up so difficult passages can be performed at a slower rate.

2. I perform passages in small sections, sometimes only three notes at a time, so jumping difficult intervals becomes a non-issue.

3. I digitally pitch shift passages that I can't perform in higher registers. Some violin parts are pitch shifted an entire octave above where they are performed.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want to grow. I assume that after I confess this, I will work harder to actually become a better player. Plus, it becomes very un-musical to record a line of music three notes at a time. It's choppy and sloppy. It's tough not to take shortcuts when the ideas are coming faster than I can record them. However, if I would've stuck it out, and actually plowed through some of these technical problems last year, I would be able to play them with ease this year. I have a long session of strings today, and it will be a much longer session if I try to perform these parts with integrity. But that's exactly what I will do. Thank you for reading this, you are my musical priest, and this has been a good confession session.

Jeremy