When I think of the greatest left hand I have ever seen, it is, of course, the hand of Jascha Heifetz that comes to mind. Of course, mine is a close second…joking.

Few will ever match the crystal clear articulation, the sheer velocity, or the virtual perfection of intonation he exhibited.

We mustn’t be discouraged. We can all play beautifully in our own way. You know, it’s kind of like looking at trees. Yes, there is that occasional specimen that is soo perfect and majestic it takes your breath away.

But there are also those whose twisted trunks and branches fascinate the eye and captivate the imagination.

In short, there are many shapes and sizes of left hands. Most have unique strong points and weaker points.

But in every case, there are things to strive to DO with them, and things to avoid doing.

You do, for instance, want to position your hand such that all your fingers are out over the string you are playing on. You also do want to relax your forearm and keep you wrist in line with your forearm.

What I really want to bring to your attention, however, are pitfalls that are readily evident to a trained ear. Pitfalls that mar the results of some of the most touted players on stage today.

And ones that are really unnecessary to fall into.

Number one, be conscious of your use of vibrato. If you are playing a melodic line that calls out for your most luscious and beautiful tone, make sure you ARE vibrating on every note. There is nothing so disconcerting to me, as a listener, than hearing a vibrato which appears and disappears like the Chesire Cat in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’

Number two, stop using vibrato all together when the notes are moving at a clip such that you can’t get At Least one full oscillation in on each note. The classic example is in Bach.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard violinists trying to vibrate the 16th notes in the first movement of the Bach Double. Bad Idea.

Number three, listen to your ‘portamenti’ with an objective ear. By this I mean, don’t just assume a slide sounds good because you are making it. LISTEN to it. I hear many otherwise very good fiddles today who are just lazy in this regard.

A ‘portamento’ is an expressive device and must be made with intention; with focus.

They are never lackadaisical drifts from one position to another. Unless, that is, you want your audience drifting away as soon as intermission arrives.

So, the bottom line is this. If you’re going to the trouble to play cleanly and with excellent intonation, don’t mar the final result not being on top of these little details.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. I just learned that attendees to the Masterclass/Seminar must make their reservation with the Biltmore Inn by Monday, 5 pm EST to qualify for the exceptional rate we have been given. I am going to leave the ‘special’ in effect on the class until then to make the remaining few spots irresistible. Come join us.

Lets have a little fun with this. I’ve just been thinking of the different bowing ‘syndromes’ I see, and hear, all too often, and I’ve come up with some expressive names for them.

Let’s take a look.

First is something I call, the ‘Roundhouse.’ This is what you get when the elbow is stiff and inhibited during normal bowing. The tip of the bow then hooks over the left shoulder on the up bow. And on the down bow the bow hand looks like it’s heading for the player’s back pocket.

Not a very pretty picture. And the sound isn’t so hot either.

Anybody that has taken a look at Kreutzer, vol. 1 should know how to root this bad habit from your playing. Something about a mirror and keeping the bow parallel to the bridge…

Number two I call the ‘Unsightly Bulge’. Oh yes, I’ve talked about it before. Recall the ‘Pass the Dramamine’ email on the subject some time ago.

The ‘unsightly bulge’ is produced by starting a stroke with a relatively slow bow speed, accelerating in the middle of the bow, and then slowing down again at the end of the bow. Just writing about it makes me feel queasy.

The cure is really quite simple. But you must open your ears to recognize the problem first.

Keep your bow speed even throughout the length of the bow, unless you MEAN to make a crescendo or diminuendo. It’s as simple as that.

Number three, the ‘Crunch’. Many players today are guilty of this one. You know, it actually works in a lot of hard-edged 20th century music, but it sounds terrible in anything before Bartok. The problem stems from striking the string vertically. Strings don’t take that very kindly so they will just emit a nice scratch in response to it.

Remember, bowing is a horizontal game. Even when a strong attack is called for, you produce it by moving the bow horizontally in an explosive manner.

Number four, the ‘Trap’. This one I cover in the Martele etudes. The ‘trap’ is where the player stops the bow on the string so aggressively that the tone is strangled in the process. You hear it quite often in Martele bowing.

It takes some finesse with the bow to play martele without doing this. Those ‘in the know’ will know that I spend a good amount of time demonstrating and talking about this in Kreutzer, Vol. 1. You must be able to decelerate the bow to a halt without chocking the ring of the violin in the process.

And finally, the ‘Whiplash’. Yep, it can be just about as uncomfortable to hear as the word implies. Ouch. OK, so you’re at the end of your bow and ready to change to a new bow: A. speed the bow up dramatically just before the change with a quick flick of your wrist, or B. stay cool, maintain a constant bow speed in and out of the change.

If ‘A’ was your pick I think it safe to say you’ve got a lot of listeners leaving your concerts with sore necks.

The cure is simple. Play up bow until you play down bow. Don’t get fancy with a lot of wrist movement. It isn’t necessary.

So there you have it. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, you’ll find great visuals in Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, and a whole lot more.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. The ‘Bach and Kreisler for Violin Artistry’ has done so extremely well these couple of days I just don’t have the heart to raise the price just yet. You may have 1 more day. You may have 2 more days. But surely my heart will recover over the weekend. Take advantage of this offer, if you haven’t already. It’s too good to miss.

The game’s afoot.

Day 1 of the Special Holiday Sale’s coming at you.

I think you’re going to like this one. So run on over and see what just arrived.

Best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. The clocks ticking. 24 hours from now it’ll be time to move on. So pick up your heels, my friend.