Perseverance...no other way

This is the motto for getting the annoying scales and arpeggios right on every single note. The shifting of positions messes the sequence up. We now have to master the melodic as well as the harmonic version of the minor keys. Bleah! I use the metronome for scales. Found a website which shows you how to play with the metronome. Of course THIS makes you believe it...rather than your poor teacher telling you this fact almost every lesson. That's the power of internet for you. Somehow reading/ watching it on youtube makes it more believable. How silly...:) Picture of my scale book...the pencil markings are the teacher's attempt to get them fingering and shifting positions right. 

Short fingers at work

“I was much distressed by next door people who had twin babies and played the violin; but one of the twins died, and the other has eaten the fiddle, so all is peace.”
Edward Lear

At about 7:40am on most Saturdays, I would peel the eyes open and just about that time, give or take a couple of minutes, the urge to practise grips me right in the right wrist. From then on, the stool is pulled and the notes turned to the right page, and the blasted "scales and Arpeggios" book is on on the music stand. The neighbours deserve an award for their patience with my playing. But I should like to gently point out that they are in a posession of a baby who cries ( according to my tuner in C sharp and E flat....some nights). So we're pretty even for now.