Me practicing the Mendelssohn violin concerto 3rd movement

Video is below... scroll down. (YouTube video of Mendelssohn practice)

Mendelssohn violin concerto 3rd movement random practice segment captured on video.

I use Music Minus one to help with my practicing. This is of course far from perfect, but it's just an example of what I do with Music Minus One and my video camera to help me improve. They usually keep a very steady beat which can at times deter from your own rubato choices, but at least this will be similar somewhat to metronome practice.





Calvin Lee practicing (not performing) the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Third Movement with Music Minus One.

For more info see http://www.calvinleeviolin.com/


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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Plastic Surgery California, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Calvin Lee, Modesto, Botox in Modesto

Link to Hong Kong Medical Association website

http://tiny.cc/t4fWb - this has my brief bio on there (Calvin Lee/ USA). It also has the bio of other violinists who are Chinese Medical Doctors who play the violin - representatives from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. The concert is Sat August 22, 2009.

Biggest Key to Playing Violin - for me anyway

I love playing the violin. And part of being able to love playing to violin means that it has to sound good. I thought I'd share some practice tips to get to that goal of "sounding good."

The biggest key to playing the violin is breaking down "hard" parts down to simpler parts.

How do I break down complex passages into simpler parts?
Each of these items below are very important to me. The advice below is the same advice I give myself as I struggle through difficult passages. Breaking down hard parts in to simpler parts -takes some practice too. This process in itself takes some skill!

• 1st identify the challenges
• Work slowly. Slow work is key to accurate faster work.
• Use syncopation - dotted rhythms and be sure to do the reverse syncopation.
• Change the rhythms to speed/slow down the hard parts (similar to syncopation, but it's putting more fast notes together and holding out fewer notes than a 50/50 split with the syncopation)
• Use looping - playing the same passage over and over without stopping - it saves a lot of time
• Use lots of repetition. It takes time - be patient, and keep at it. But when you repeat a passage, keep the passage itself relatively short, so that your body and mind gets to "try it again" before too much time goes by and then "forgetting" sets in. In otherwords, if you make the passage you want to repeat 1 minute long, the parts that were played wrong don't get repeated till the next minute. It would be better if the passage were a 10 second passage or less. Thus in that 1 minute, you could repeat it 6 times. As you get closer to being concert ready - then the passages of practice of course need to be longer than 10 seconds otherwise the piece wouldn't seem like a whole (it would then seem like a bunch of fragments glued together - but this is for another discussion).
• Memorize the passage. This way you can wander away from your music stand. Play at a different corner of the room or a different location in your house. This may give you a different perspective on this passage - and of course help you fight some boredom. Once in a while, it's ok to let your mind wander a little as you develop some finger automaticity. But it's usually good to have an inner dialogue with yourself while you are practicing.
• Be your own coach. Hear your own voice telling you how to do it better and what was wrong.
• Visualize it before going to sleep at night or if you're bored somewhere - this becomes a good use of time.
• Love your metronome. It will help you as you crank up the speed. You can set it at a slow speed to start and inch it up. You can play these metronome games with yourself and it will help against some boredom.
• If you're working on a left hand finger technique challenge, do pay attention to the bowing. Know the correct bowing while practicing the passage, yet once in a while, purposely vary the bowing for variety - such as throw in a few up bow staccato for fun.
• Believe in yourself that amazing things will happen if you work at it.
• You may not get the passage right away in one practice session - let your body rest, and your mind will continue practicing. It might be better the next day.
• Pace yourself. Don't get injured. Some musical passages just seem like finger gymnastics - some can be harmful if practiced too long for fingers, hands and arms that aren't built up for them. I set a timer for 10 minutes and use it to remind myself to take a little stretch break (about 30 seconds), then I plow right back in my practice session.
• Another way to pace yourself is to pick two hard passages, and alternate practicing each one, so that the body doesn't get so over-used in the same repetitive motion. This adds some variety. So alternate practicing two or three hard parts is an idea. For example you could spend 5 minutes on the first passage and then spend another 5 minutes on the 2nd passage. Take a 30 second stretch break and then go back to the first passage, etc.
• Consider working backwards. I don't mean play the passage backwards, but I mean to start at the end of the hard passage (playing forwards), then work to the beginning of the hard passage - working out the segments, then put it together into one larger segment. For example if you were were a non-English speaker and wanted to say the word "Entertainment" start by saying "ment" then "tainment" then "tertainment" and finally "Entertainment". This might be another key that cracks a hard passage.
• Don't mind that some of these passages are easy for other people - every person's body is different and thus we all have different challanges.
• Overpractice - make these passages so automatic that they really start to seem easy. When we're on stage, we tend to lose some of our perfection... So make it better than "perfect".
• Xerox the hard passage and paste it on a separate piece of paper - collect all these "trophy" hard parts and make it part of your daily warm up - so that these hard passages will be under your fingers for life!

Hopefully the above server as a nice intro to how to practice by breaking down difficult passages into smaller manageable ones. Each bullet point could probably be a book chapter in itself.

Sometimes the biggest "secrets" are very simple - such as this one.

Good luck!

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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Botox in Modesto

Strings Magazine Article Text

Dr. Calvin Lee
Is Living His Dream

"I FEEL THAT MUSIC runs through my
body as blood runs through my arteries,"
says Calvin Lee, a Modesto, California, surgeon
and acupuncturist. "But I don't get
much opportunity to play music. After being
away from being able to express music, I
feel off-centered."

This spring, Lee landed a spot in the
YouTube Symphony Orchestra, winning an
online audition and performing at Carnegie
Hall with an ensemble of other enthusiasts
under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. "I
was in my surgery room in our office between
minor procedures when I got the call," he says.
"GooglelYouTube initially called my office
phone, and our receptionist at first thought it
was a prank call that I had won a competition
to go play violin at Carnegie Hall."

Before entering medical school, Lee
had taken his violin playing seriously.
"I had been concertmaster at the Brown
University Orchestra and had won the
concerto competition," he says. He later
secured a position in the first violin section
of the Illinois Symphony, but had to pass on
the job to complete his medical studies. "It
would have been a dream for me to play in
that orchestra at that time," he says.

His brief stint with the YTSO has
opened doors for Lee. He was featured on
the ABC World News, NPR, and other news
outlets. Folks took notice. "My audition [of
the Presto from Bach's Violin Sonata in G
minor] caught the attention of two medical
orchestras in Asia, one from Hong Kong and
another from Taiwan," he says. "They invited
me to solo in a concerto with them this summer.
I hope that people will be able to see me
as a musician and as a physician. I've always
believed that one is able to bring the most to
any field when one is an expert in more than
one area. There will be creative ways of intermingling
the seemingly unrelated fields. I've
found ways to break down difficult surgical
maneuvers into manageable basic motions,
very much like practicing a hard passage on
the violin."

-Greg Cahill

Strings (ISSN 0888 3106) is published 12 times a year by String Letter Publishing, Inc., 255 West End Ave., San Rafael, CA 94901. Periodicals postage paid at San Rafael CA and additio nal mailing offices.

Printed in the USA. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Strillgs, PO Box 469120, Escondido, CA 920-!6-9020. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to

BJeuchlp International, P.O. Box 25542, London, OK N6C 682.
90 September 2009 / Strings ALLThingsStrings.com

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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Botox in Modesto

Strings Magazine made contact with me - here's the original email and my email interview responses

Read the actual Strings Magazine Article (September 2009)


Hi Calvin,

Strings magazine has purchased an image of you from Philly photog Jared Castaldi. We're planning to publish it on our back page photo essay. I wonder if you could answer a few questions below about your YouTube Orchestra experience?

What made you decide to apply and how good did you think your chances were of being accepted?

Where were you when you found out you were accepted?

What was your response?

What was your previous orchestral experience? And what role does string music play in your life?

How would you summarize your experience during those rehearsal sessions?

How would you describe your experience of playing Carnegie Hall?

How has the experience empowered you as a string player? As a person?

Best regards,

Greg Cahill, editor
Strings magazine
255 West End Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

415/485-6946, x621





What made you decide to apply and how good did you think your chances were of being accepted?

I sent in my audition to the YouTube Symphony because I love music. I feel that music runs through my body as blood runs through my arteries. As a full time surgeon and acupuncturist, I don’t get much opportunity to play music. After being away from being able to express music, I feel off-centered.

Even if I didn’t get a spot in the YouTube Symphony, I would have at least used the application process as an excuse to get the violin out and record something. Now I have a video to show for my efforts. I need fun activities like this to break away momentarily from the never ending needs of a medical office. I often give advice to my patients to take breaks from repetitive motion activities. We also need to program in breaks into our daily work. In the end it will make us more effective and efficient.

I thought my chances would be pretty good. I’ve taken my violin playing seriously before I entered medical school. I had been concertmaster at the Brown University Orchestra and had won the concerto competition. As I saw more and more of the videos on YouTube, I became less confident in my chances.

I had studied violin with Mary Canberg in Nyack , New York . She had also taught many other wonderful violinists such as Jamie Buswell, and Joseph Lin. She passed away a few years ago. I really wanted to rememberand honor her teachings by recording it on a video for YouTube, and it would be even better if I could use those skills to play in the orchestra at Carnegie Hall.


Where were you when you found out you were accepted?

I was in my surgery room in our office between minor procedures. They had called me on my cell phone. I remember putting a syringe down to answer the cell phone when they told me I was accepted. I hadn’t really told my office that I had entered this competition. Google/YouTube initially called my office phone, and our receptionist at first thought it was a prank call that I had won a competition to go play violin at Carnegie Hall.


What was your response?

I was thinking – wow, great! Maybe Strings Magazine will finally write about me (partially kidding). I was also partially relieved, because I had told all my friends that I was doing this, so I was hoping not to “lose.” I did participated in a YouTube piano amateur competition run by the Cliburn Competition – I hadn’t won that one, so I had a history of trying out for YouTube related events and letting my friends down. In the end, though, I always feel grateful for friends that voted, and a better person for having tried. It’s ok for me to not succeed with the piano on YouTube, because I’m mostly self taught on the piano, but I’ve had formal and serious violin training on the violin. YouTube is my form of TV. I actually don’t have a TV in my house. I haven’t had one (that worked)

Historically I haven’t been a competitive person, and never liked competitions because of the stress. But I’m starting to see the incentive that competitions give, and I’m starting to like it more. In the end, if it makes me practice the violin, I don’t think it’s a bad thing for me as a surgeon.



What was your previous orchestral experience? And what role does string music play in your life?

I've played in university orchestras. I've tried out for the Illinois Symphony, conducted by Karen Deal (check spelling?) and got into the first violin section, but I was in my surgery training at the time and my program didn't give me enough nights off to participate in the orchestra. It would have been a dream for me to play in that orchestra at that time. I tried, but couldn't make it happen. It was enough of a feat to make it to the audition. I had to have my co-resident hold my pager for a few hours while I went to the orchestra audition. I was also concertmaster of various All-Area/All-State events in New York, where I was born, and lived till high school. After that, I went to Brown University in Providence, RI. Then went on to some surgery training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. My apartment was strategically located near CIM (Cleveland Institute of Music) where I was able to attend some of the great concerts there.

Music plays a big role in my life. I try to be as involved as possible. I'm on the board of directors for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. I also help organize an annual event entitled Docs Play the Pops - it is a fund raiser for music education for our local university - Modesto Junior college, where people from the medical profession get on stage and perform a recital.

Here's a quote (my own quote - quoting oneself... is that bad?) we have in our office and in some of our symphony support advertisements:

"The greatest sense of fine motor control comes from playing a musical instrument. There is nothing else that I know which develops as much discriminating ability for the hands. Diligent and purposeful practicing of musical instruments also allows one to develop habits and strategies that last a lifetime when it comes to perfecting other motor skills such as delicate surgical maneuvers. Playing the violin and piano has helped us become better surgeons. Dr. Wu plays piano, and Dr. Lee plays violin (and now plays the piano). Besides dexterity, music enhances the artistic capacities of our minds and helps us realize the art in our surgeries."


How would you summarize your experience during those rehearsal sessions?

It was exhausting because the two days of rehearsals before the concert were packed. My callouses weren't quite ready for so much playing. I realized that I hadn't practiced enough to develop my fingers and body for the hours of practicing. I started developing some sore fingertips. I learned a lot from everyone around me. Plus MTT had some very insightful ideas. I particularly liked his idea that the orchestra has to move together in order to play together. I've always been a player that moves while playing. I feel that it helps me express the music, and it helps me get into the music.


How would you describe your experience of playing Carnegie Hall?

This was my second time playing in Carnegie Hall. The first time was with the Brown University Orchestra in 1990. I had my last serious concert on the violin on April 15, 1993 before I entered medical school (also at Brown University). Coincidentally the Carngie Hall performance with the YouTube Symphony was on April 15 as well, but this time in 2009. In many ways, I'm hoping that this is the beginning of my return to the violin. I had to concentrate fully on my medical studies and the violin go relegated to the closet and a few fun gigs such as weddings and christmas parties.


How has the experience empowered you as a string player? As a person?

It has been a tremendous growth experience for me as a musician. I've been able to network with some of the world's existing and rising stars in the music world. It is further proof to me that YouTube will help revive the interest in classical music. It's always great to see other string players. It was great to see them at Carnegie Hall. And it's also great to continue watching them on YouTube. I've look to YouTube for inspiration for my music, just as I have always looked to Strings Magazine. I have issues from when I was just starting to learn violin.

I hope that people will be able to see me as musician and as a physician. I've always believed that one is able to bring th most to any field when one is an expert in more than one area. There will be creative ways of intermingling the seemingly unrelated fields. But in my violin and surgery mixture. I've found ways to break down difficult surgical maneuvers into manageable basic motions - very much like practicing a hard passage on the violin.

The YouTube symphony has opened doors for me. My video has caught the attention of two medical orchestras in Asia. One from Hong Kong and another from Taiwan. They invited me to solo a concerto with them in July and August 2009. It will be good to know that other physicians are very much into making music.

If it weren't so late, I would now go and practice my violin.

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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Botox in Modesto

Calvin Lee in Strings Magazine September 2009

Click on picture to get a larger version to read the text.

Strings Magazine, inside back cover, Sept 2009 issue.

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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Botox in Modesto

Calvin Bio #3 for Salida / Gallo Center for the Arts performance

Dr. Calvin Lee, MD is a board certified General Surgeon and acupuncturist practicing in Modesto, California. His musical studies of violin began at age 7 in New York with his teacher Mary Canberg. He took theory lessons at Manhattan School of Music. He later went on to Brown University to obtain his Neuroscience degree. While at Brown, he was concertmaster of the University Symphony. In 1993 he played the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with the Brown University Orchestra as a result of winning the concerto competition. He got his medical degree at Brown University as well, then traveled to Case Western Reserve (Cleveland) and Southern Illinois University (Springfield) for his surgical studies. He later studied acupuncture at Stanford University. In Modesto, California, he worked as a Trauma surgeon with the McHenry Medical Group then transitioned his practice to include acupuncture, veins and botox. He started Surgical Artistry, Inc. with his wife, Dr. Tammy Wu who is a Plastic Surgeon. For fun, he tries to play piano.

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I had a performace for a fund raiser located at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, CA. The above is the biography that we used for that program.

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Disclaimer: This website is not intended to create a physician patient relationship. There is no specific targeted medical advice here. Please see your physician in person. This disclaimer also applies to our other websites with generalized information: Plastic Surgery Modesto CA, Plastic Surgery Modesto, Cosmetic Surgery, Acupuncture Modesto, Veins Modesto, How to Choose a Plastic Surgeon, Breast Augmentation Modesto, Breast Augmentation FAQ, Tummy Tuck FAQ, Botox in Modesto