Playing Beyond Your ‘Headlights’

Yesterday I recall finishing my newsletter by saying I’d have some more to say about shifting. This is what came to me during that extra time practicing.

Imagine you’re driving on a moonless night high in the mountains. You’ve never been on this stretch of twisted road in your life.

Bear, Cougars and Elk are known to be the majority species in area.

Given that scenario you’re going to be very conscious of speed and timing. You’re not about to drive faster than you can react to anything that comes into your headlights. You will be quite focused on the farthest reach of your headlights, in fact.

Your pulse is in high gear. You are more excited than afraid. And you rarely feel so alive.

Now think of how you practice. Are you putting all your attention to ‘what’s at the edge of your headlights’; are you that alive.

My major focus practice and performance now, from note one on, is to recognize the ‘throw’ of my headlights and stay within them.

That means that when I’m playing I’m also conjuring the coming musical landscape in my minds eye. And I’m keeping my ‘vehicle’ under control to the extent I CAN ‘drive’ it cleanly.

If I screw up, so be it. I will bring something new to that passage on the next go.

That simple fact is, we just don’t understand how much we rely on autonomic memory to carry us through; autopilot.

Now, in some cases you may recognize that playing ‘clean’ requires you to play at a snail’s pace. So be it.

But don’t EXPECT to be there tomorrow. You’ve got to push a little bit each day, some days more than others.

I am as apt a case-in-point as you are ever to be, trust me on this. The advantage I do have on most is that I not only received some good training early, which I USED to rely solely on, I also have applied myself over many years to understanding what lies beyond mere good habit.

Good habits will only take you so far. It’s like being a good driver, but your headlights aren’t switched on.

So as much as I talk about and demonstrate the movements of arm, hand, and fingers in all variety of shifts, I also emphasize the importance of imagination in the mix.

When the imagination gets switched on and understands WHAT needs conjuring, watch out, good things are going to happen.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. This month my Allegro Players students will attend the reach of their ‘headlights’ like they’ve never been extended. Particularly where it comes to shifting and the legato potential of violin. Why not join us?