Why Sevcik Rules
When I met my wife, Tania, a number of new things came into my life. One of these was an appreciation for figure skating. And when you think about it, figure skating has quite a bit in common with violin playing.
Holding an edge whilst gliding across an area of ice is a remarkably apt analogy to edging a bow and drawing it across the old cat-guts.
Now, if you know anything about the process of acquiring skill on blades you’ll have heard of something called ‘school figures.’ As a matter of fact until some 15 years ago they were a part – though rarely seen part – of every skating competition.
School figures are graceful circles, figure eights and such traced and then retraced on the ice by skaters. Skaters were judged on matters of form while skating the figures and their conformity to the shapes on each iteration.
When school figures went out of competition many in the skating world thought a certain purity and style in the sport was also lost.
The same may be said of violin playing, though in place of school figures I would be talking about scale study and double stop study.
Today many violinists learn their stuff on a diet too rich in repertoire – especially repertoire that is above their head. A diet deficient in the vitamins and minerals that come with technical studies.
Much of the time it’s not the students fault. Many teachers either don’t appreciate the real value of these tools or lack the creativity to bring them to students in a way that is interesting and at the same time challenging.
As a young man Nicolo Paganini was able to sight read a very difficult concerto put in front of him to test his supposed violin mastery. And as a result of his dazzling success he was given ownership of a Del Gesu violin.
Now let me tell you something, this is certainly not the sort of mastery that comes from a willy-nilly approach to violin study. The kind that skips from song to song, piece to piece, student concerto to major concerto in a heedless rush to satisfy a teacher’s, parent’s or student’s ego.
I’ve seen the result too many times. Young people showing up to university slashing away at the Brahms, Beethoven or what-have-you with no clue what utter noise pollution they’re ‘creating.’
Yet it needn’t be so. There is a beauty, a purity, even a meditative quality that permeates the space around who exercises his or herself, with full awareness of proper form, on the double-stop studies of Sevcik.
And the results from this kind of practice inform every piece of music that person is likely to pick up. There’s an evenness, a sureness, a ringing-ness that emanates from such a player that sets him apart.
She’s the one of whom people say, ‘I could listen to her play all day long and not tire of it.’
Now you will know why, when you open the package on my Allegro Players
program you will find instruction on scales, shifting, double-stop exercises, and all matter of other technique building studies with each and every lesson.
It’s the only way I know to build a complete violinist. And that’s the only kind you want playing your violin.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
P.S. Yesterday I finished the 12th and final edition to the Allegro Players series. Now you can invest in the whole finger building, mind altering program and receive all the DVDs, CDs, music, and notes in one easy to use 3 ring binder. And, did I mention, at a new, reduced annual rate.
