Rachel Stott d’amore lesson

It was fabulous to have an afternoon with Rachel Stott ( https://rachelstottcomposer.co.uk/ ) recently, who is not only a fabulous d’amore player but also a composer who has written many works for the instrument.

We started with some basic techniques with tuning and trusting your bow arm to find the correct strings!

As I have mentioned previously, this is very much like being a complete beginner again and it’s difficult to let go of the usual high expectations I have of myself to pick things up quickly. This year has definitely been a slow burn….the hare ant the tortoise comes to mind. I am a natural hare in most things so it has been good for me to be forced to slow down and just take it one step at a time.

I have my sympathetic strings tuned to C, A, F, C, A, C (f major) and playing strings A, D, A, D, F sharp, A, D (D major) as I am currently tackling the d’amore solo from the opera “Les Huguenots” by Giacomo Meyerbeer

As you can see, there’s a lot to get your brain around!

Massive thanks to Rachel who has been a constant presence the past year, with my constant emails and questions! She has reassured me the the d’amore world is very supportive and keen to help each other which I have to say has been spot on for me so far.

with Rachel Stott