How To Get To Carnegie Hall

You may’ve heard this one before, but I’m going to tell it anyway.

A young person, holding a violin case, stops a passing cab in New York city and asks the driver, ‘Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall.’

The cabbie, without hesitation, quips, ‘Yea, practice.’

Yes, it does take practice if you want to take your fiddle onto the stage of Carnegie Hall. No getting around it. But certainly How you practice affects your chances of doing so as much, if not more, than How Much you practice – and yes, I do realize we don’t all intend or desire to get ourselves on stage at Carnegie Hall.

But I bet you want to make the best use of your time that you can.

Here’re a couple ways you can improve practice efficiency.

Don’t be in such a hurry to play fast. When I was doing a lot of private teaching I found that virtually ALL my students tried to play things faster than they were ready.

Big waste of time.

Now, don’t just drift along playing slowly either. The point of slow practice is to get your hands AND mind around the music. This means inputting into your brain all the physical feelings associated with carrying out the music. It means making sure you are moving as efficiently as possible, playing in tune, coordinating shifts and string crossings to perfection, etc.

When you make a mistake, pause for a few seconds to allow your body and mind to sort itself out.

If you want to see a picture of somebody being ‘reined in’ for not taking time to Think, go to my website and find the picture of Milstein
standing next to me restraining my bow arm. I was being guilty then of exactly what I’m preaching about now. I’d made a mistake, and immediately launched back into the passage, making exactly the same mistake again.

It’s one of the biggest lessons a player can learn. Take a moment, breathe, visualize what you want; then repeat.

Now, if the same mistake happens a third time, look for some underlying cause for the problem; a bad fingering or bowing, trying to play too fast, incomplete visual picture, etc.

And finally, use your imagination to listen objectively to what you are doing – ‘How does what I am doing sound to someone seated across the room.’

This is a handy way to put yourself on the spot. To get the juices flowing and your best efforts coming forth. I use this tactic all the time.

From what I’ve said it’s pretty evident what a successful practice session requires is a high level of consciousness; not just of what is, but of what can be as well.

The beauty of my instructional courses is they keep the visions you want to have right in front of you. They show you the goods, and they show you how to get them. Kreutzer for Violin Mastery is the perfect choice for intermediate players.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. This morning I spent time on month 8 of my Beginners Circle Members have been taken from picking up the violin for the first time to playing real repertoire – this month a Tango by I. Albeniz. Along the way I’ve been imparting all the goods on quality violin playing.

Set Your Memory in Stone

Yesterday I got a question about memory from a gal set to play the last movement of Lalo’s ‘Symphonie Espagnole’, no small accomplishment. And by the way, it’s not just any performance, it’s her violin jury at school.

But there’s a problem.

It seems she has difficulty remembering music when playing in front of others. Says she’s fine in the practice room, but loses it rather badly when there’re live bodies about.

I know she’s not alone.

In my early days my memory failings were almost legendary, at least to me. Every performance felt marred, to the point I left off playing from memory completely for several years. I just wouldn’t do it.

Is there any shame in that? No, I can’t say there is, really. But yet, at the end of the day I wanted to taste the feeling of freedom I knew accompanied the ABSENCE of a music stand. And I couldn’t help feeling a little silly playing well-traveled concerti with the music in front of me.

So I began turning my fear around. I made it my counselor and not my enemy. I used it to inform the process. I invited it into the practice room with me and I competed against it.

As a result I began to learn How to memorize for the first time. No more rote playing for me. I made myself see the music as I played, every note of it.

And while I saw it and played it I counted it, and I breathed relaxation into it.

And then finally, when I felt ready for the ultimate test, I brought an imaginary audience into the room and tested my visual/sensual/auditory memory against them.

Those audience members weren’t just anybody. Heifetz, Milstein and Kreisler were sat down in front of me. And they didn’t leave ‘til I sensed they’d truly Enjoyed what they heard.

You see? If you have a question as to the worth of your music making, you’re very foundation is shaky.

This is how you set memory in stone. Playing through, playing through, and playing through are like building a house of straw. I little blowing wind and you’ve got cow feed.

You’ve got to make it Matter. Matter like your life depends on it.

And in case you think that’s not a very good image, ‘life depending on it.’ One time I asked my father about being afraid in combat, he was in the last ‘Great War.’

He said, ‘Actually I was too busy minding how I was using my gun. Not allowing it to over-heat, not shooting off the tail of the airplane accidentally. That sort of thing. I was too busy to be scared.’

Well, that’s how I feel when I perform for memory. I get myself so busy remembering I don’t room left for nerves.

You can’t pussy-foot around with memory. You must treat it like any other kind of conditioning. You must have technique, and no stone can be left unturned.

By the way, my young friend says she’s saving up for Paganini for Violin Virtuosity. When she gets it she’ll be building the house of her technique out of stone too.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Oh yes, today is Tuesday. On every Tuesday this month I’m reminding folks that 15% of all investments in Violin Master programs go to help parentless kids in Zimbabwe receive the gift of violin study, free. Intermediate players can help others And themselves by joining me a thorough study of the violinists Bible.

They Got Me for a California Stop

Yesterday I received a little nicety in the mail informing me my credit card had been automatically docked $100.00. Seems I was caught on camera in my last rental car for ‘failure to stop where posted.’

When the ticket came back to the rental car people they just paid it. I was accused, tried, convicted and charged without even knowing a thing about it.

Gotta love all the wiz-bang gadgetry we’ve got today.

Now just so you don’t think I’m a reckless menace on the road, forgive me if I tell you just how ticky-tack this violation was.

I was coming out of a parking area for some hiking trails in the Santa Monica mountains. As I approached the stop sign in question I was going about 5 miles an hour, and I had a clear view of the street I was turning right onto for a good few seconds.

There was no chance of my not seeing traffic coming from my left.

It was a bogus ticket if ever there was one.

By the way, that ticket came from the California Parks Authority. Seems they’ve found a great cash cow to offset budget cutbacks. Bet they’re doing quite a business on that little stop sign.

Alrighty, now that I’ve got that off my chest let’s turn it around and see if there’s anything that can be learned about violin playing from the experience.

Phrase endings in music are a lot like stop signs. Only difference is, in music they’re not there to check for onstage cross-traffic.

They give the music punctuation; they allow it to breathe. And they allow the meaning of the music to sink in to the listener.

Phrasing is almost synonymous with breathing, actually. The better a breather you are the more likely you are to give phrase ending their full do. But as those of you with some experience reading these newsletters know, it’s not just any kind of respiration we’re talking about here. Shallow, chest-heaving gulps aint going to get it done.

The real action is in the diaphragm, aka belly.

Now, all my courses talk about this and give you insight into how to do it. But the best little lesson you can get on this indispensable and neglected skill is found on a DVD called Dynamic Breath Control for Violinists.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Just finished recording a great set of lessons for my Allegro Players yesterday. This is a wonderful program for lower intermediate players needing a few more ‘chops’ before heading into ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.’ Come take a look.

How Fast IS Too Fast

When I was an even younger bloke, quite a few moons ago, my teachers would often complain that I played too fast. But though I understood the words they were speaking, and would try to oblige them, I usually found myself slipping back up to warp speed before I knew it.

I just couldn’t seem to help myself.

Then, I didn’t know the secret of control. In fast tempos I was like a train on a downhill roll without a brake to pull. And to be honest, a part of me thought that was the way it should be.

You know, I used to think I was getting a compliment when people said things like, ‘Wow, that sounded Hard,’ or, ‘I’m still trying to catch me breath after what your just played.’

But as I grew I finally began to realize that brakes weren’t just for sissies. But I hadn’t found one that never failed me.

Milstein used to say, ‘Vhy you run away. Play the ‘armony.’ And to a degree, and for some music, this helped. But it didn’t solve my little problem completely. In some fast music I just couldn’t seem to grab hold of the harmonies enough to use them effectively, every time.

Then I discovered counting. No, not the toe-tapping kind. No way that could keep the likes of me in check.

What I’m talking about is the real McCoy, the pure, verbalization-of-the-beat kind. It’s the kind that makes you Think, and Keeps you thinking.

Now I’ve got a monster-size brake at my disposal. And when you’ve got a brake, the listener Gets a break, know what I mean?

After all, even the fastest music has cadence and structure. If you’re rushing through it like a run-away train, none of that detail is going to register with the audience. Why, they’ll be too busy praying that when the train jumps the track it won’t take them with it.

Now, you know how I talk about velocity. I’m all for it, believe me. But not when it’s reckless, heedless, or out of control.

And this kind of control is precisely what’s needed in Paganini. You’re going to get it in spades when you spend time with Paganini for Violin Virtuosity, Vol. 1.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. The secret of counting isn’t the only thing an advanced player will take away from the Paganini course. All manner of ‘tricks’ are revealed in ways that make them doable for just about any player.

Rubbing Your Belly and Tapping Your Head

Last night after supper my daughter and I played ‘challenge.’ It’s a little playful game we do together, kind of like ‘follow the leader.’

In the course of it I challenged her to rub her tummy and tap her head, at the same time. We both had a good laugh as she struggled to overcome the tendency for her dominant arm to over-ride the other.

Her hair got pretty messed up in the process.

After a several attempts I had her do one at a time. Then I asked her to do them both together, but slowly.

Bingo, in less than a minute she had it down.

Now, if you think about it, violin playing is really just a more sophisticated variant of this challenge. Granted, the movements of each side are much more complex and nuanced.

But the idea of isolating each side and understanding them completely before putting them together is incredibly important. And once you Do put them together it is equally important to do it Slow Enough that you can get your mind around both simultaneously.

Every time I pick up the violin I remind myself of what each side is doing. I ‘feel’, in my mind’s eye, the horizontal flow of my right hand in a straight line through space. On my left side I feel the violin freely resting on my shoulder and nestled in my left hand. And I visualize my fingers moving lightly, independently, and yet in the context of a consistent hand position.

Of course things do get a little more complicated than that. But everything you do on the violin is Vastly more doable if you keep these basics in mind.

And I mean as deeply in mind as your appreciation of beauty, and your love of truth.

You see, the love of beauty and truth are the fuel you need to stay the course, to piece through the fog of confusion.

‘Course it certainly helps to have a good example to follow – that’s what my courses are for, in case you haven’t figured it out!

This month the vanguard of my Beginners Circle are getting a very comprehensive look at shifting and vibrato.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. In case you didn’t know. Both the Beginners Circle and the Allegro Players – my more advanced monthly program – give you weekly lessons on DVD along with music and written notes to follow. And they leave no stone unturned on the path to mastery. Find the ‘Allegro Players’ at http://www.violinmastery.com/allegroplayers.htm