And Where THAT Leaves Relaxation

This morning I further amplified something I’ve been doing in my practice for many years. And if you are working with one of my courses – and PRACTICING – I’m happy to say that you are doing it too.

And you might not even realize what it is.

But whatever it is, and I’ll get to it eventually, it doesn’t answer the question posed in your inbox today. Specifically, where does ‘timing is everything’ leave relaxation?

It doesn’t leave it. In fact, without relaxation there can be no timing. Not really.

You see, trying to time, or coordinate, the many precision movements the body makes to play without relaxation is about as hit or miss as duck hunting with a blindfold on.

So getting relaxed is something that by all rights should ‘go with the territory’ when it comes to violin playing.

When it comes to ANYTHING you are becoming effective at, in fact.

And what, may I ask, is the greatest single tool God gave us for staying relaxed. Why, the ability to breathe.

When I type and breathe, like right now, it sure feels good.

The only thing is, we – yea, you AND me – often forget what’s good for us. We forget how potent and important this gift of breath truly is.

Some folks are so forgetting, in fact, they won’t Consciously draw air into their lungs for weeks on end. They’re too busy loading up their shoulders with the weight of the world.

Well, if this is you, too, all you’ve got to do right now is chuckle, and then draw a nice, deep sweet breath of air all the way down to your toes. I bet you’re feeling an order of magnitude better.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

So What’s in a Bow Hold

Pretty funny scene here. I’m seated in the library of a high school writing, and in walks my daughter, along with 20 or so compatriots, to rehearse their role in a Missoula Childrens Theatre production of ‘Princess and the Pea.’

They are ‘dust bunnies.’ Decibel level just went up about 12 fold. Ok, concentrate.

Now, a good bow hold can be rather elusive, in spite of all the schools of thought that have developed over the years. In fact, what makes it elusive for many players has little to do with the shape or form of it.

Understanding how to use balance, friction, and tactility to control the bow is the real secret of the bow.

It’s a continual game – how to do more with less.

You see, challenging movements of the bow, if met with a clench, will spread tension right up the arm, into the shoulder, across the upper body, and even down the opposite side into the fingers of the left hand.

And the tone that comes out won’t be too good either.

Thus grasping the bow as if in a caress, with all the sensitivity this implies, is exceedingly important. And to do so one must never lose the ability to relax; I ‘breathe’ my bow hold in the same way I ‘breathe’ music.

There is no separation.

So when you find your right hand in a clench set the fiddle aside for a bit and get in touch with how you’re breathing – some very valuable help with this, and the specifics of a good bow hold position, may be found here. http://www.violinmastery.com/order_breathcontrol.htm

Once you get yourself breathing from your diaphragm allow the relaxation to flow up your torso and down your arms, right to the tips of your fingers.

When you pick up the bow again I think you’ll find things have changed for the better.

Just keep breathing as you set bow to string.

Now, you may be surprised to learn that, though my hand is as soft as fleece on the bow, my fingers are quite still; you will rarely even see my fingers flexing at bow changes. What you WILL see is a flexible wrist, elbow and shoulder joint.

These are the real heroes of a fluid bow arm.

Now, before I leave you I want to remind you to keep an eye on your inbox. Summer’s about to arrive in a big way.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. Wow, I never knew that ‘dust-bunnies,’ those little balls of fluff you find under beds, could sing and dance. Pretty cool.

A Great Way to Enjoy Time

Well, here I am. And I’m happy to report the master class went extraordinarily well over the weekend. Matter of fact I’d say it was, as promised, the best so far.

‘So what were the differences that made it so,’ you may be thinking.

Each time I conduct one of these I become clearer on how to best structure the class, how much to allow folks to play versus how much I demonstrate and explain.

This class went seamlessly and fluidly, covering virtually are aspects of violin playing in a way that could benefit many levels of playing.

That’s no small feat, me thinks.

In fact I was so inspired by what took place I’m thinking to celebrate the arrival of Fall with another one. So do stay tuned.

Now, one of the marvelous accomplishments of the class was bringing home what it means to ‘play in time.’ In order to fully enjoy playing the violin one must, after all, understand something of playing in time.

And as you yourself may feel, quite a number of players find this challenging to do, when the music starts filling up with black – you know what I’m talking about, the fear of getting behind or losing time when you’re confronted with difficult passages.

Most folks actually rush forward and get ahead of ‘the time’ when confronted with a lot notes. Fact is, there is more time than you think.

And that’s just for starters.

The trick to overcoming the tendency to lose track of time is the trick of learning how to breathe.

It’s the trick of truly learning how to take possession of the beat.

It’s the pleasure that comes from understanding and taking the time to enjoy the rich combination of pure, efficient movements that comprise violin playing.

Funny thing about the whole thing is, the more one enters into all the above, the more enjoyment and gratification gets extracted from each passing moment.

Well, that’s about all I have to say today. But before I go let me just leave you with this little tidbit. In a couple of days it will be celebration time for a couple of other reasons than the completion of a master class.

And I’m going to bring you into the celebration in a very SPECIAL way. Maybe you know what I’m getting at. In any case, don’t go far from your computer this week. You don’t want to miss what I’ve got heading your way.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

Radical Acceptance

In just two days, now I’ll be sequestered with a small group of violin doers looking deeply at the process of playing the violin. I wish you were going to be here.

There is, however, one concept that will be central to the weekend that I can share with you right here and now.

It’s the title of this newsletter.

The concept of personal acceptance is certainly not new; one can find it in any number of self-help books. What may be new, as it was for me, however, is to hear it paired with the adjective ‘radical.’

Yet to make real, substantive progress on the violin I think it very true that a radical acceptance of what is, in this moment, is essential.

To RADICALLY accept a way of playing something is to know it and take possession of it at a very deep level. The ‘wishful thinking’ type of violin playing gets checked at the door.

Radical acceptance implies owning up to and indeed taking possession of that which is, in an inspired and creative way.

Surprisingly, many violinists, those raised in a censorial environment particularly, have difficulty doing this.

The self-criticism born of this reaches such heights, in fact, that often fear and denial preclude any real creativity and enjoyment from the process; meaningful growth, as you can well imagine, quickly grinds to a halt.

Well, happily, this will not be the case for those spending the weekend with me. The violin, like life, is a game to be played for fun and enjoyment. And knowing ‘what is’ is just the first play in the game.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. One of the secrets of practice is knowing how to find out what you really know versus what you fool yourself into thinking you know. For an intermediate player this secret is revealed in Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, my best-selling course to date.

Those Annoying Little Finger Sounds

Just returned from the City of Angels last night. No recording sessions this time. Just a special screening of the movie ‘Up’ – for the orchestra – and some family time.

‘Up’ was indeed an up experience; a touching, genuinely funny, worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours.

And the music was more effective than even I thought it would be.

Anyway, this morning I took a look through emails piled up from the past days. A few came with questions. Here’s one you might find interesting and relevant to yourself.

“Hi Clayton. Greetings from Singapore!

“I received your Kreutzer for Violin Mastery (1+2) last week and started viewing them. From the intro, I read that you are willing to entertain our questions via email. I jumped with joy as I am currently without a teacher (though I do try to practice “with much thinking” 2 hours a day in addition to taking care of 2 young kids).

“Please enlighten me regarding my long-standing difficulties:

“1) e.g. first playing a G (first pos, D string) then a B (first pos, A string). Short, detache strokes. Somehow when I lift the 3rd finger (which corr. to the first note), it will make quite a very audible ring.

“I have seen this discussed on Youtube, but the answer didn’t really help me.

“What is the fundamental technical flaw there? I always thought I was quite good in finger lifting, putting down and articulation in general.

Thanks for your help,
Renee

Ok, no problem. There are 2 possibilities here. Renee, either you are drawing your finger slightly sideways as you lift it, hence the little pluck, or there is ‘surface tension’ developing between your finger and the string, resulting in a ‘pop’ when the finger is lifted.

In both cases I would take a look at the amount of finger pressure you are bringing to the string.

The less pressure you can use, and still maintain the tone you want, the better.

That being said, in humid conditions a little ‘tackiness’ between finger and string may be unavoidable. In recording sessions, in fact, I’m very careful not to lift fingers from the string at the end of quiet cues – many times I’ve heard sound engineers complain of having to trim those little sounds away.

As far as plucking the string goes, the cure must be pretty self-evident – lift straight up. But again, using less force on the strings will make everything more relaxed, fluid and clean; and you may find that just doing this one thing remedies the problem.

Now, in my Beginners Circle program I do teach a little left hand pizzicato exercise; it’s excellent for developing control and flexibility in the small muscles of finger and hand.

It is not, though, meant to be the model for left hand articulation in general.

And one last thing. In slow, quiet sections one can avoid the surface tension I talked of by sliding the finger slightly up or down the string as you lift it. Obviously one’s bow cannot be in motion as this is done. We’re talking the ends of phrases or before rests here.

So, this evening you do have my permission to take the night off to see ‘UP’. In fact, it’ll make my day if you do. Enjoy the violin solos too!

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. Developing ‘touch’ in one’s left hand is essential to the full enjoyment of the violin. That’s why my Beginners Circle program, for those new to the violin, is filled with in-depth demonstrations and explanations of just how it can be cultivated and maximized.