Just Smoke and Tears

When asked how I’m able to do what I do, I often reply, ‘just smoke and tears, my friend.’

The truth of each goes deeper than you might think.

Let’s talk smoke. I manifest ‘smoke’ in a number of ways. And all apply to some degree or another. There’s smoke as in creating a deception – not a bad thing if your intention is merely to delight.

And then there’s the kind of ‘smoke’ that appeals to right brain predominance. No, I’m not talking a certain banned substance.

I’m talking about using sound and musical intention to move both myself and my listener into an experiential form of consciousness. The burning incense and Sage is for this purpose, actually.

‘And then, of course, there is the use of the word in the way you probably thought; something behind which one tries to hide. A screen, or cover.

Yes, I mean it that way too; of feeling just a light breeze away from being exposed a fraud in every way.

You know, just yesterday I heard read some of Graucho Marx’s letters read aloud. In one he admitted to holding that sentiment. In fact he felt convinced it was so.

Why did he feel this? – I know I’m digressing. Because he felt that humanity cannot know the true measure of anything. Well, with that in mind, how could he utter so much as one word without being tempted into irony. A comic genius is born.

OK, let’s move on to tears. Tears flow from feeling. The feelings can be of sorrow and joy, or of pain and ecstasy. They all come and go as I play, and I endeavor to take none so seriously as to hold on to it beyond its useful life. My job is to appreciate feeling, and to share THAT sentiment with my audience.

So there you have it, smoke and tears. That’s how I stay into violin playing.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Here’s a course that’ll have you in tears of joy doing moves on the violin you never thought you could.