Don’t Try THIS at Home

By the time we reached my house I was cursing a blue streak.

And I knew then I wasn’t going to wait ‘til my wife drove me to the ER to act on the source of the most extreme pain of my life.

My day had gotten off to an excellent start. Double-shot, good practice session, and some fun writing a newsletter about my violin adventure in the Southwest.

After lunch I set up and taped a couple weeks of lessons for my Allegro Players. Then, as is my custom 3 or 4 times a week, it was time to strap on my in-line skates, grab my modified ski poles and head for the hills.

After cross-country ski/skating a couple miles, I ran into a snag. ‘Road Closed for Repairs.’

It was then I made the fateful decision. I skated down to a cross street below and decided to try a new route. Problem was, I hadn’t scoped it out for steepness.

Now, in-line skates are not like skis in one important respect. They don’t have edges to use as brakes.

Well, the short of it is this. A few minutes after making that turn, I was splayed out on the side of the road. Through the searing pain I saw my shoulder sticking out the front of my chest. Never a good sign.

Fortunately a car happened down the road just a couple minutes later. As the kind gentleman drove me to my house, the pain was increasing by the second.

After what seemed an eternity, we made it back to my house. As my good Samaritan ran to the door, I could take it no longer. I grabbed my arm and pulled with all the strength I could muster.

First I felt a couple ligaments twang past a bone. I pulled harder.

And then it happened.

There was a sudden dull pop, and my arm regrew 8 inches. I can’t begin to tell you how good it all felt.

Today I saw a specialist, and I’ll head in for an MRI tomorrow to see if I tore a rotator cuff. At the moment my left hand is still numb and almost useless. Needless to say, I didn’t practice this morning.

But don’t let that stop you.

In fact there are a number of courses at your disposal to help you do a better job of it than ever before. Come take a look now at http://www.violinmastery.com

All the Best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Don’t forget, 15% of every investment made in a Violin Mastery course this month goes toward a wonderful program to bring violin instruction to orphaned children in Zimbabwe – http://www.violinmastery.com

How My Vocation Spent A Vacation

Eight years ago, just after Memorial Day, my violin and I felt weary. I’d just finished one of the busiest Springs I’d ever had. Probably worked on close to 20 films in a three-month period, and managed to squeeze in several chamber music concerts to boot.

So I told my wife I was packing up the car and heading out for some down time. From everyone and everything. Well, Almost every thing.

My destination was the great American Southwest. Zion, Cedar Breaks, and the newly established Escalante National Monument were calling for me.

And in their call was a whisper. ‘Bring that violin of yours,’ it said.

Couple days later I’d been through Cedar Breaks – a must see, if you’re in the area – and was setting up camp in Escalante.

Now this is an Incredible place.

Isolated, rugged, vast, with surprisingly lush points of punctuation just waiting to be discovered.

Naturally the days were hot, which suits me, and my fingers, just fine.

And within hours of arriving I found an incredible natural amphitheater. It was framed in glorious red rock, trimmed with lush, trailing ferns, and it begged for one thing to complete its happiness.

The music of Bach.

Back I went to camp. 30 minutes later I was tuned up, fired up and ready to play. You see, all the previous year I had been spending time with the great C Major solo sonata of Bach. It was deeply in my fingers, and I felt it was time the rocks of Escalante heard it. And what a sound that little cathedral had!

On my way home from Escalante I stopped for a couple days in Zion, the ‘up close and personal’ counterpart to the Grand Canyon. Now, it’s much more of a challenge to do the unusual unnoticed in that world-renowned place. But I found a way.

One evening, as the stars began to emerge, I fired up one of my oil lamps, slung my fiddle over my shoulder, and began the ascent of ‘Angel’s Rest’, a spectacular rock promontory some 1800’ above the canyon floor. I didn’t go all the way up that evening, just 5 or 6 hundred vertical feet to a point I could stand and play out over the canyon arrayed below.

With my lantern hung on a tree a few feet away, I must have been quite a sight to anyone binoculars and a mind to investigate the strange glow high above the canyon floor.

Well, these were magical experiences. And I relate them to give wings to your own flights of fancy. To inspire your own musical dialogues with the natural world.

This is certainly an element I hope will be strongly felt at the Sedona master class. Bear in mind, there are only a few days remaining to take advantage of my special introductory rate on this class.

Oh yes, I’ve also found a wonderful little Hotel with incredibly reasonable rooms. They won’t last long either considering October is ‘high season’. So all around, now is the Best time to book your passage to the musical magic in Sedona

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. As you may recall, I’ve lowered the number of players to 12 for this event. That means plenty of one-on-one time for everybody.

Tennis Elbow and Your Bow Arm

Yesterday I said today’s newsletter would have something special in it. It concerns an adventure I took myself on some years back. But I’m going to wait ‘til next week to tell the story. The telling requires a bit more time than I’ve got today, and there is another question I’d like to address.

Got an email from a fellow experiencing tendonitis in his elbow. He felt that it might preclude him from using quite as much forearm in his playing than I recommend. Apparently he’s got very long arms, and I gather he’s of a slender build.

Now, a few things came to mind when I read his email. First, some of us are more prone to this kind of injury than others. Tall, slender folks have longer, more stretched tendons.

Additionally, reflexes tend to be slower in taller people simply due to the greater distance nerve impulses have to travel. This makes the coordination of quick, complex movements slightly more of a challenge.

So what all this amounts to is that it’s even more important for tall, slender players to have absolutely pure mechanics AND an active mind while playing.

Muscling through a passage or a piece of music, as I’ve seen many a player do, is not an option. Nor is getting behind mentally.

But before I go further let me tell you about my tennis experience.

When I played tennis I flirted with tendonitis quite often. Never developed a full-blown case, thank God, but the possibility always seemed there.

As a result I had to development my sense of anticipation to a high degree – I got myself into position to hit each ball as early as possible. By doing this I had plenty of time to take the racket back, relax, and breathe through my hit.

Now, the real enemy of the tendons is something that both tennis and violin playing share.

And believe it or not, it’s Vibration.

Not the vibrations of pure, consonant sound, mind you, but the shock wave type vibrations that travel through the racket when you miss-hit a ball, and through a violin bow when you change direction ineficiently.

Doing theses creates chaotic vibrations through racket and bow. In sound these are known as Clang tones.

These kind of discordant vibration is highly irritable to ears And tendons.

So, let me cut right to the chase.

My recommendation to my friend is to breathe more, count more, and definitely to get in touch with the Horizontal flow of the bow.

I feel All of these are key to keeping chaotic vibration to a minimum.

Where the rubber meets the road as far as the violin is concerned is really with the off string strokes. Strokes where the bow has a vertical travel as well as a horizontal travel.

If you’re having timing and or tension issues in these strokes, watch ouch!

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Now if you want my take on how to put together a bow arm you can take up any one of my courses and it’ll put a lot of instruction and demonstration at your disposal. Today I’ll leave you with a link for the intermediate player.

Do You Know My Friend, Don Juan?

The last two mornings I’ve been spending some time resuscitating an old friend. His name happens to be Don Juan. Maybe you know something of him.

Some, like Mozart, have thought him a libertine; an aggressive, womanizing rogue with no conscience. Richard Strauss knew him somewhat differently, more as a social delinquent; an unrepentant misfit.

Today the Strauss Don Juan would probably be diagnosed with ADHD and drugged into submission. At Richard’s hands, however, he suffers a much more dire and permanent fate.

But the truth be told, I’ve just been renewing my acquaintance with part of Strauss’s Don Juan, the violin part. Course those of you that know it also know it is no small part. In fact it’s considered one of the most challenging pieces in the standard orchestral repertoire.

And there isn’t an audition list of any professional orchestra that doesn’t include it. Want to play in a good orchestra? Master ‘Don Juan.’

Now, don’t get me wrong, my audition days are finished, thank you very much. But the gal coming over for an ‘intensive’ on the morrow is of a different mind. And when she leaves here she’ll be on the Fast Track to mastery of it, guaranteed.

‘So, what does that mean,’ you ask.

It means up-loading every bit of information into your brain that your hands need to be flawless. And through a high-speed connection at that.

It means scoping out fingerings that propel your hand through virtuosic passages rather than drag them down.

It means breathing life and energy into each and every note and musical gesture; becoming an actor in a great musical drama.

It means seeing with eyes and ears that do not miss the smallest detail. I’m talking the power of resolution in an eagle’s eyes and an echo locating bat’s ears.

And it means knowing how to take passages apart, get at the guts of them, and put them back into context at full tempo more efficiently than a lion bringing down a wildebeest.

Let me tell you, this is a lot to digest in one session. That’s why coming to a master class is so beneficial. Yes, you’re in the ‘hot seat’ in front of others. But you’re also getting time to absorb and observe in between.

And there’s no better place to ‘soak it in’ than Sedona, Arizona. Come get aboard. There are only 10 seats left.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

Why I Don’t Use My Wrist and Fingers

Last night, as I lay awake staring at the ceiling, I thought about some of the things Milstein said to me. I then remembered a fellow playing for him at the class at the first class I attended who was having a devilish time getting through the 5th Caprice of Paganini.

He kept tying himself up in knots when he came to the parts with a lot of string crossings.

As I watched the guy’s bow arm I could see nothing particularly wrong with it. But something was certainly going on with it. He kept starting and stopping like an car with a bad alternator.

Finally Milstein stood up and put an end to it. He said, with his strong Russian accent, ‘Vhy you play with so much wrist?’

‘Because I need my wrist to get the bow to bounce,’ the student responded.

‘I don’t use my wrist to play spiccato,’ Milstein replied.

At this point my jaw began to drop. Don’t use your wrist for spiccato? I thought Everybody used their wrist to bounce the bow.

‘Play from shoulder,’ Milstein went on, ‘like this.’

He then proceeded to start the presto section of the Caprice. And let me tell you, it was incredible; fast, fluid, and full of ‘caprice’ and invention.

Now, I didn’t see his shoulder moving one bit. What I could see moving was his upper arm and, to a lesser extent, his fore-arm. His wrist and fingers looked like they were sculpted from stone. Absolutely no movement there.

I must admit that I was at first a little confused by what I was seeing. After all, he had said ‘play from the shoulder.’ But it just looked relaxed and down. Later that day, as I walked back to the place I was staying, it came to me. He meant to use the muscles Behind and in front of the shoulder to move the upper arm.

Wow, who would’ve thought to play spicatto with the muscles in your back and chest.

Today I have reached a compromise with my own physique. My arms are long. And I would also venture to say that Most people’s arms are longer than Milstein’s – he stood about 5’2’’ in his stocking feet. So I use mostly forearm to generate a spiccato and I recommend Most students who work with me do the same – short armed players get to use the upper arm.

But I Definitely counsel against flapping around with the wrist and fingers. And here’s why.

You want the use the fewest moving parts possible to play the instrument. If you’ve got your fingers, wrist, forearm, and upper arm all active as you manipulate the bow across the strings you’re asking for trouble, big time.

Now, I won’t say it’s Impossible to be effective that way. But it will be one in a hundred that is, truly.

Milstein was a master of efficiency. His career spanned 70 YEARS as a result. In fact, his career stands as one of the longest careers of a world class performer in music history.

Learning his way of Thinking about violin playing is the smartest move a player at any level can make. Well, that’s the kind of thinking you’ll get at the master class in Sedona – and tailored specifically to your individual needs.

By the way, I’ve decided to accept only 12 players into this master class. I want each participant to get all the attention he or she deserves for putting their trust in me.

I hope you will be one of them.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop
P.S. A couple of spots have already been spoken for. The low, earlybird tuition will not last long so I’d make up your mind double quick if a nice discount is something you appreciate. http://www.violinmastery.com/masterclass.htm

What’s Up in Sedona

If you were reading a couple of weeks ago you know I’ve been plotting to do a master class in the extraordinary Western Lands of Sedona.

Well, it’s all set to go.

ALL ABOARD for the best darned, whistle-blowin’, rootin’-tootin’ violin experience you’ll find west of the Mississippi.

Oh, and just so you know, I’m limiting this one to 15 attendees AND lowering the tuition. The master class is open to all levels of players.

Yesterday I received a little note from a gal who’s benefited from the kind of one-on-one experience you’ll have at the master class. Here’s what she had to say,

‘Working with you, Clayton, has helped me grow tremendously.
I have spent so many years working on technique, and you have
helped me connect that to a deeper, inner core.
The coaching was not as much about mastering the piece
(Mendelssohn Concerto) as it was about mastering myself.
Thank you for shedding light on the path to a much higher
level of playing.’
Sharon Lawrence
BM, MM Peabody Conservatory

All the best,

Clayton Haslop
P.S. One last thing, there will be a one-day orchestral repertoire seminar following the master class. Anybody preparing or thinking about preparing for an audition should stick around. As a former acting concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orch., the Santa Barbara Symphony, the LA Music Center Opera, the Dallas Opera, and a finalist in several major orchestra titled chair auditions (concertmaster LA Phil, associate concertmaster SF Symphony, National Symphony, to name a few), I’ve been through this repertoire more times than you can shake a stick at. By staying on you’ll benefit from the kind of fingerings, bowings, and musical ideas that produce winning results. http://www.violinmastery.com/masterclass.htm

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.