On the Mastery of Two Skills

I am happy to report that after 5 days and nights, Star, our new puppy, is getting the potty thing right about 80% percent of the time. Actually with ‘poop’ he’s been 100% for two straight days.

And boy does it smell a lot better around here!

But hang on, these are not the SKILLS I was going to write about today!

Two questions came from players at very different places in their violin lives. One arose from the rather uncomfortable challenge of sight-reading Saint-Saens’ ‘Organ Symphony’ – a rhythmically tricky piece.

The other, from a beginner, and addresses the challenge of putting fingers to string accurately and reliably.

First the question regarding sight-reading. Here are the basic priorities, in order, that a good musician should hold: awareness of the BEAT; dynamics, rhythms, articulation, and finally, the notes.

Now, for some, the order of my priorities may come as a surprise. They were to me when I first learned them. After all, I thought ‘getting the notes’ was the deal.

Uh-uh.

Awareness of the flow of time is numero uno. And along those lines I have conducted experiments with myself that have proved very interesting.

When I count the beats, even as I sight-read whatever is in front of me, I find that I am no less effective at getting the dynamics, rhythms, articulations OR the notes than when I don’t, in fact I tend to be better. AND I’m a heck of a lot more steady and aware of the conductor, the other instruments, and the pace of the music as I do so.

You see, for some reason the conscious act of forcefully engaging another part of the brain – the language center – OPENS the mind big time to other challenges.

Now, that being said, if I have a few moments before the conductor starts in, I will take a quick look through the music, finding the ‘tricky’ spots and mentally visualizing my way through them.

And certainly if the opportunity to play a little – quietly – is there, I will take it. And here is what I do.

I do my slow, verbalizing-the-beat-while-playing practice – with no regard for even staying in time – until I can coordinate the notes with my count.

Listen, I’ve had some REALLY tricky music put in front of me, rhythmically complex, notey, you name it. Yet when I spend even a couple quiet minutes in this practice the payoff is enormous when the ‘reading’’ begins.

The off-the-beat rhythms of the Organ Symphony are tricky. Yet once the hands and count are ‘Locked’ in this way, it is VERY difficult for anything to shake them apart. Even the most annoying gesticulations of the typical wanna-be conductor!

But again, first thing is time, then dynamics, then rhythms, articulation, and finally, the notes.

All right, on to the basics of putting fingers to string.

Here again, the key is in your thinking. Well, hang on, let’s say the first step begins with the ear. If you can sing the note you are trying to place, you’re more than halfway there.

The next step is to connect the ear to your fingers. And this is about mastering some spatial relationships – where things are on the fingerboard – and developing discrete control over each finger.

Now both of these have primarily to do with the brain, unless, that is, you have nerve damage between brain and fingertips. Yet assuming you don’t, and I hope this is the case, the key is to go SLOWLY. Don’t move until you’ve computed some idea in your head of where that next note lies.

And when you do move the finger, consciously relax the hand – and breathe – such that the second finger is free to move independently of the first; and that it purposefully takes position on the fingerboard where your mental image dictates.

If the image you projected was wrong, well, you just learned something new. If it was correct, why you just moved closer to ‘hard wiring’ the location of F# relative to E in first position on the D string.

And there you have it.

Beyond this I really recommend the beginning violinist to my Beginners Circle program. In the weekly lessons are a tremendous amount of detail on hand position, finger movement, and much, much more.

Heck, many people spend a lot more on their morning Starbucks than you will getting a natural high from the benefits of this instruction.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. I’m quite pleased that the Art of the Violin Seminar/Masterclass is filling up so quickly; it warms the cockles of my heart, as my former benefactor used to say. Yet there are a few seats available. Come join us!

How to Master the Fingerboard

As you know, I place quite a bit of stock in how one Thinks when playing the violin. And just to illustrate this a little bit, let me give you an example from my practice this morning.

While warming up I set a goal for myself to play a 3 octave B flat major scale in ‘broken thirds’, rapidly, and using separate bows. Now, if you’re not yet familiar with broken thirds simply think of the following pattern where each number corresponds to a note, or degree, of the scale; 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, etc.

Now in order to complete 3 octaves I had to ascend into the upper positions on the E string and return back down. And this is where my ‘thinking’ really needed to make a difference.

You see, on the way down I was having a little difficulty, at first, with coordinating my down shifts with my right arm. I also noticed that the accuracy of my intonation was slightly off.

And after repeating the little exercise with the same result a second time, it struck me that I, yes I, was being quite lazy. I was trying to let old ‘auto-pilot’ do the lion’s share of the work for me. I was, in fact, trying to avoid thinking at all about pitch locations, form, or anything as I came down.

Yep, wishful thinking, guilty as charged.

Now having had SOME experience in these things I recognized the ‘fix’ immediately. I needed to have a very clear ‘picture’ of the form I wanted my left hand to trace on the way from 9th position on the E string right down to 1st position, and I needed to have a rock-solid sense of the distances between each interval my hand covered along the way.

So what did I do? I resorted, briefly, to my ‘glissando technique.’

Now for those of you well into my Allegro Players you’ll know exactly what I mean by this. It is surely one of the cornerstones of learning the fingerboard.

Yet for those of you not in the program, and hungry for a bit of insight, I can say this. My glissando technique is a way to isolate the movements of the hand/arm up and down the string without the distraction of individual finger movements.

So in this example I used one finger, in this case the 2nd finger, and slid in a controlled, continuous motion from 1st to 9th position, listening intently for the pitches that would become ‘arrival points’ when the passage is played as intended.

In this case we are talking about a series of thirds; G, B flat, D, F and A. Coming down the first shift is a major third, the second a minor third, and so on. Putting the hand in motion and timing it to ‘hit’ each of these pitches accurately while allowing the position of the hand/arm to ‘morph’ as needed to accommodate the shape of the instrument teaches you a lot. And fast.

Now, for the uninitiated this is a little tricky to pick up, in all its subtlety. If you are an ‘intermediate’ player and are having some challenge with shifting and mastering the range of the fingerboard I HIGHLY recommend you consider getting involved with this program.

Remember, I just lowered the tuition to make the Allegro Players truly affordable for all.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

Getting Two Hand Playing as One

The other day I wrote some words about playing with a partner. The Bach ‘Double’ was the particular piece in question. And in the course of thinking about that venerable masterpiece, I began thinking about another concern many violinists have; getting the two hands knit together.

In the first movement of the Bach, for instance, there are numerous places where the players have to leap across two or three strings, or suddenly shift from 1st to 3rd positions, while maintaining the steady, uninterrupted flow of 16th notes.

In the haste to make these moves it is not uncommon for the two hands to lose sync with each other. And once that happens, certain ‘sound artifacts’ begin to appear that would definitely have raised an eyebrow or two on old man Bach.

Let’s begin with the case of a shift between to 16th notes.

The tendency here is for the left hand to leave early, while the bow hand is still drawing the previous note. And this is due to the very natural anxiety we have of getting our finger on the note we’re shifting to in time.

In the case of crossing multiple strings, it is usually the reverse. The upper arm, controlling the change of string, wants to ‘jump ship’ early to get to the new note.

Now the solution is really quite simple in both cases, yet it does require discipline and careful mindfulness to technique.

The technique first involves actively visualizing the new pitch whilst not getting ‘pulled away’ from the old. Once you are certain that no automatic, anticipatory movements get triggered by the THOUGHT of the new note, you’re ready for step two.

Step two is to consciously link the change of bow direction, change of string, and change of position. And I have a little trick I use for doing this.

I imagine wearing two gloves connected by a string running across my back and down my arms. Any movement in one hand will produce a corresponding movement in the other.

Now, using this image I think of the change of bow DIRECTION as the linked, ‘trigger’ for the shift, and or change of string.

If you employ this image yourself, you will find that all the elements are suddenly happening as you would like them to be; simultaneously.

Now the only challenge remaining, if there is one, is to arrange for ‘the event’ to happen within the even flow of 16th notes. And that simply means getting back into the counting groove.

Again, this sort of training can be done slowly and out of tempo at first. Once you ‘get it’ you’ll find the way back up to speed can happen very quickly indeed.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. IMPORTANT NOTE – Recently I made the decision to lower ALL the prices on my courses by 20% due to the economic realities many face. Additionally, for the entire month of January, I will be putting aside 10% of all orders toward emergency relief for Haiti and its beleaguered people. Bottom line, this is a great time to invest in your own growth AND to benefit those in great need.

How Two Come to Play As One

I don’t know whether you are a fan of figure skating, and if not please forgive the brief digression from the subject of this newsletter.

Last night the senior ladies skated the first of 2 programs that will decide the national champion and lead to the selection of 2 skaters to go to the winter Olympics next month. The big news was the amazingly artistic and talented Sasha Cohen, who began her much anticipated come back by landing herself in second place, and just tenths of a point from edging out another extraordinary talent Marai Nagasu for first.

Mind you, this is someone who has not competed in four years, a tremendously long absence in a sport as physically and psychologically challenging as figure skating.

We were able to watch the competition live online last night. On Saturday you can catch the action in the ‘long’ program on NBC. At this point the top 3 gals are within a point of each other. Only 2 will be able to go to the Olympics.

It’s going to be quite a dogfight.

Alrighty, just had to get that off my chest, hope you’re still with me.

A couple days ago I had a question regarding the Bach ‘double’. Specifically I was asked how to go about creating ensemble with another player.

Now with Bach the challenge is really just two-fold. Both players must play in tune and in time, it’s about as simple as that. But hang on, that is certainly easier said than done. And don’t think I don’t know it.

So here’s how you train.

To begin with, you’re not going to get anywhere if you cannot ‘live’ within a tempo. The first challenge, therefore is mastering the flow of time.

And this is where my counting technique is so important. Though metronomes are well and good, they are no substitute for being able to take personal responsibility for ‘time’ while playing.

Now this may mean an investment of time in playing SLOWLY while you master the ability to verbalize the beats while playing the music. As you begin this process, you may even surrender keeping a steady tempo all together in favor of putting beat labels and notes together.

When you force yourself to account for the beats as you play, you began to get control of the music at a much deeper level.

Yet I’ll say it again. This takes patience and discipline. You must believe me when I say there is a breakthrough moment when the mind opens and the learning process springs forward like water bursting through a dam.

The secret is to take it down to the lowest common denominator. Where speech and physical movement can be absolutely knit together.

Once you CAN verbalize as you play only THEN do you begin focusing on the steadiness of the time, gradually raising the bar as you are able.

A brief note here. In a previous email I said that I don’t spend a lot of time at ‘medium’ tempos, and this is true. Yet someone new to the process of verbalizing the beat will find these medium tempos very necessary. After you’ve gained experience with the technique you may find that a couple times through at a slow tempo will suffice for getting most music ‘in your fingers.’

Of course the other challenge is playing in tune, and with that I include ‘cleanness’ of execution. Now we are getting into all matter of issues involving left and right hand technique. And though I’d like to, there is no way I’m going to be able to ‘work through’ the Bach Double in an email.

What I would recommend, however, if you want to master works of Bach such as this, is to subscribe to my Allegro Players. In this course I take you all manner of works, including a Handel Sonata, which will prepare you beautifully for Bach. And it’s a great time to do so as ALL the prices on my courses have just been reduced 20% for 2010.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. One final word about this counting thing. Once you have the control to do this playing with another person becomes a snap simply because all the excess conscious control you have can now be brought to bear on LISTENING to your partner, with no sacrifice in what is coming from your own instrument. Now all you’ve got to do is convince your partner to do the same for you!

How to Dump That Excess Adrenaline

Before I get into the topic of the day, I’d like to mention that as the list of subscribers to these newsletters has grown so have the number of questions and comments that come in daily.

And I’m thrilled to receive them, believe me.

Yet because of the numbers I find it challenging to respond to all of them, and I know that occasionally an important question may fall through the cracks. So if you write in with a question and don’t hear from me in a timely manner, please do not hesitate to resend the email after a few days. Thanks.

In response to yesterday’s missive there was a question related to controlling ‘nerves’ in performance. I’d like to say a few words about it.

The ‘fight or flight’ response behind what we call nerves is an automatic response challenging to eliminate once it has taken hold. Judy Garland was famous for the severity of her performance anxieties I learned recently.

Yet not every performer experiences them. And some will have them at auditions, for instance, yet not be troubled particularly in live performance. It is indeed an individualized kind of thing.

I have a number of strategies I employ in dealing with mine, which can very considerably, by the way, depending on the situation I’m in.

First, is breathing. There is nothing like diaphragm breathing to relax the upper body and smooth out the effect of nerves, particularly in the bow arm. Yet this becomes even more effective when combined with consciously visualizing the smooth outward and inward movements of the hand as you are actually playing.

When I played the violin solo at the Academy Award show last year I was thinking and doing these in spades.

Now if there is time for a warm-up before the performance I will get to the venue very early and literally play myself through the fear or flight response. After all, the body only has so much adrenaline to throw at one situation. If I can burn the bulk of it off in a vigorous warm-up I find myself generally free to go about my business when I get onstage.

The danger here, however, is draining yourself so completely that you have nothing left for the performance. So you have to use some judgment, balancing the energy needs for the performance with dumping the excess fuel that comes with the moment.

When I performed the Tchaikowski Concerto for the first time, some years ago, I put quite a bit of pressure on myself. And I began warming up 90 minutes before the performance – bear in mind, I’d already run the concerto once that day at the morning dress rehearsal.

This is a lot of playing on the day you’re going to play a 50 minute ‘knucklebuster’. Yet I felt ok with it because I had trained going into it for 3 plus hours of heavy playing at one sitting. The warmup and performance, then, was well within my means.

Had I been touring the piece the need for the extended warm-up would no doubt have diminished as I gained specific, repeatable experience.

The bottom line is I can generally judge how much a factor nerves will play, in advance, by pitting my level of preparation against the level of ‘threat’ the situation presents. No, it’s not a perfect science, yet you will be surprised at how effective you can become by seeking to evaluate and manage ‘risk’ in this way.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Speaking of managing risk. Paganini’s 24 Caprices have an abundance of risky moves for a violinist to make his or her peace with. Paganini for Violin Virtuosity, Vol. 1 is a resource to help you manage those risks with an ease you never thought possible.

When Thinking Turns to gold

A few days ago Tania, daughter Clara and I watched in awe as Jeremy Abbott jumped, spun and otherwise skated his way to a second title as U.S. men’s figure skating champion. And as the top skater in a field as deep as the United States has ever seen, he didn’t do it by a slim margin either.

He did it walking away, beating his nearest competitor, Evan Lysacek by some 10% in accumulated points.

His free skate missed being the highest scored EVER, in the history of figure skating, by just tenths of a point.

Now, I do a little skating myself. Well, just enough to know how incredibly remarkable it is to do what he does on those two blades. And he made it look like a hop, skip and a jump in the park.

Naturally I wanted to hear what he had to say about his performance afterwards. And sure enough, in the interview he said something that really hit home.

He said, ‘I’m not the kind of skater who can just go out there and skate on autopilot. I have to think of every little detail in the program as I do it.’

You know, so often I hear people talk about ‘just letting it happen.’ And I’ll admit that there are times when the mind does interfere in a negative way with what people are trying to accomplish. Yet at the same time I would feel remiss if I set a student adrift with this as the FINAL answer to an interfering mind.

You see, a neutral mind is Very, Very, difficult to hold on to when the pressure is REALLY on.

This is, after all, when the questions start flying. ‘Am I up to this, what if I fail, etc., etc.’

There’s nothing to send your adrenaline to peak levels as those thoughts.

So what I have recognized, over the years, is that the more accurate and rich is your consciousness of ‘all the little details’ in practice, the more easily your mind can become entangled with useful, affirming thoughts at crunch time.

There is no substitute for exercising your ‘knowingness.’

Recently I had a music teacher write in complimenting me on how I explain my thinking continuously as I go through the music in my courses.

And of course, the above is precisely why.

Every bow change, string crossing and finger location is worthy of having my conscious intention behind it. As I see it this is what supplies meaning to what I do; and it’s where the pleasure of fulfillment gets realized.

So if you’re having difficulty ‘putting your finger’ on HOW to place your finger, you may want to take advantage of my thinking behind even this sort of basic violin skill.

It’s the very kind of thing you’ll find in my Beginners Circle, which is now available at a new, reduced rate.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Just about to release dates to my next seminar/masterclass which will be conducted in a whole new format. Stay tuned, I think you’ll find it irresistible!

The Fear of Success

A few days ago I wrote about some of the challenges and, ironically, opportunities arising from Beethoven’s loss of hearing; specifically as it impacted his spiritual life. And, as I said, the source for these thoughts was J.W.N. Sullivan’s book wonderful book of 1927, ‘Beethoven, His Spiritual Development.’

Well, what I really meant to get to, and what I got pulled away from as soon as I started writing, was how the fears arising from an attachment to selfhood can keep one in shackles in the best of circumstances, when success is there for the taking.

On many an occasion I’ve coached violinists who produce quite wonderful playing when provoked, prodded or otherwise coerced, only to fall back into their business-as-usual ways after walking out the door.

I’ve often wondered WHY THAT IS. Fact is, I’ve been guilty of it myself.

Now I think I can see things a little more clearly.

The opportunity of change, even positive change, is a challenge to the equilibrium our sense of selfhood is constantly seeking to maintain.

In effect we become bound to comfort zones of our own making.

Now, a lot of ‘new age’ thinkers talk about ‘visualizing’ yourself in the new reality you want to inhabit. And I don’t have a problem with that, other than it is likely to be wishful thinking unless backed up by something more substantive.

Real, lasting changes have to take place in long-term memory. And there is a physical transfer that must occur in the brain. We have areas in the brain for short-term memories, and other areas for long-term.

If you do not instruct the brain to remember, not by wishful thinking or saying to yourself ‘please remember this,’ but by DOING with conscious knowledge of the doing, repeatedly, no fundamental change will take place; at least not on the violin.

Today I worked quite specifically with the mechanics of my left hand. For reasons I won’t go into – injury related – I’ve been experiencing a temporary deficit in the execution of certain finger patterns.

Now that I see exactly where the solution lies – reasserting conscious control of lifting specific fingers – I’m making strong headway in rectifying matters. Mind you, these are things I haven’t had to think about this since I was 8 years old. Now, until neural networks and long-term memory are rebuilt, I do.

You know, it feels great to find solutions, and to literally feel the changes taking place as they become hard-wired into the mind. Incidentally, perhaps you notice this too, I am often aware of a pleasant sensation just inside my forehead during this work.

Yet for any of it to happen there must be a shift, from passive ‘selfhood-consciousness’, to ‘mind-linked-to-body-doing’ consciousness. And when this happens, all fears connected to self-preservation disappear like magic.

A nice bonus.

Now before I go, I’d like to mention that I have lowered the tuition rates on the monthly subscriptions to ‘Beginners Circle’ and ‘Allegro Players’ by 20% from the regular price in 2009. Even if you are currently subscribed on a monthly basis at the old rates you should see a reduction in your monthly billing from now on. Good news!

All the best,

Clayton Haslop