Break All the Rules

There hasn’t been a rule devised by man that didn’t require breaking in some special situation or another. And violin playing is no exception.

For instance, I was told, as a young student, that I shouldn’t make ‘scratch’ when I played. Turns out that a little scratch now and then can add a little spice to the earthy music of, say, Bela Bartok.

And when I have some sort of awkward triple or quadruple-stop to negotiate with my left hand, I might momentarily lose the ‘V’ shape my thumb generally maintains with the base of the index finger.

But just like the old saying goes, however, it’s ‘the exception that proves the rule.’ In other words, when, for some extraordinary circumstance, you have to bend or break a rule, the return to the rule will tend to confirm its usefulness, for the great majority of cases.

Let’s take my preparation for a performance. In practice I will be quite fastidious when it comes to breathing, counting and visualizing. At concert time, however, I will be more relaxed about these things. Yes, I will do them, but I’ll do them within the flow of the performance.

So if my mind gets distracted momentarily by a cough in the audience, no big deal. I’ll gently pull myself back in and refocus. And the small amount of time I was on autopilot will pass, completely unnoticed by my audience.

If I stay on autopilot, however, I run the real risk of allowing the performance to get off-track. I, nor you, want that to happen.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Speaking of getting on-track. The first month’s lessons for the Violin Mastery Beginners Circle will go out tomorrow. I am really pleased with the result and think this is truly going to be a great program.