Thirty Years Ago Today

I don’t often take trips down memory lane, yet today I’m gonna make an exception. I say gunna, ‘cause what did I know back in 1979 anyway.

But there I was, not 22 years old, ready to take the world of classical chamber music by storm. And guess what, in some cities, I think we did, my 3 colleagues and I.

That is, I hesitate to tell, a lot of cities under populations of 50,000.

We were the 4 muskateers in my mind. Heck, the cellist was a pilot. On several occasions we flew our own tour. Eating out every meal, a dream. And I liked being on the road in a car with 3 other people, there was always somebody that wanted to talk.

When the piano quartet was formed, the next youngest member to myself was 29. The pianist and violist were in their early fifties; some 30 years separated us.

The pianist, as we soon found out, liked to drink. I’ve one vivid memory of collecting him at a bar, one morning. He started early and finished late, on tour.

Yet in spite of all, that guy was in a class with Clara Haskill when he sat down to play Mozart. And I liked him, looked up to him, and tried to make music that he would feel good about.

The violist was the only female; an incredibly soulful Jewish girl from New York. Crazy as heck, I would come to feel at times, but someone who MADE you listen when she played.

Our cellist had only a couple years before finished a Master’s degree in chemistry. One day, while sitting in a lab, he thought, ‘I’ve got a choice here. I can spend my life working in a lab, mostly by myself, or I can get back practicing the cello and have a life!’

We were lucky to have him, he made it happen, really. Together the two of us plied the managements, and within the first year had landed a spot on one of the most coveted managements in New York.

Classical music was just reaching the top of a long expansion phase. Today things are tighter, maybe, I don’t really know. Couple years back when I had the New Hollywood String Quartet things seemed a bit tighter. A weeks earnings on the road in the late seventies seemed to go a wee bit further than a weeks earnings on the road in 2002.

Well, anyway, thought I’d just give you a glimpse of what it was like. If you’d like more, just hollar.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. And if you’d like some challenging things to stimulate your love for learning the violin, at any level, you’d better get over and find out how I’m gonna help you out. http://www.violinmastery.com/products.htm

What You Need Between the Notes

Well, I’ve been away for a bit. Only two of the days was I out of town – you gotta hear about them, truly extraordinary – the others were me being a root in rocky soil trying to find a new direction to grow.

Don’t know if you’ve been there, it’s not always a picnic in the park.

But wouldn’t you know, I’ve come out of it with something valuable to offer, so now it’s back to the business of sharing.

Frankly, what I’ve been investigating – ‘cause something in me is forcing me to investigate it – is a new way to play the violin.

If you try to imagine playing the Mozart D Major Violin Concerto with one finger you’ll have a very good sense of what I’ve been up to.

And you’d be MOSTLY right to think it must sound horrendous. Much of the time, in the first couple of days, it was. But now, when my little gray cells are tuned, in just the right way, real magic happens. I’ve been able to play the most tricky virtuosic passages with remarkable clarity, with just one or two fingers on one, sometimes two strings.

And this is with just days of practice.

Now I see that it is no more of an accomplishment to play a Mozart Concerto this way than it is to sing the ‘coloratura’ role of a Mozart Opera.

Another thing I’ve noticed in taking the time for this is that the movements I’m using to do it feel wonderful. And they’ve had a liberating effect on my playing in general.

Now, the secret to it lies inside the left shoulder; specifically in the very types of muscles birds and bats use to fly. They are ‘core’ muscles and if you want to see them used elegantly watch a pigeon bring itself to a landing.

If those wing movements were transferred onto the string of a violin I’m convinced they would produce a wonderful result. Something like Joan Sutherland on the violin.

The good news is, this whole thing is not nearly as difficult as it may sound. In fact I’ve been introducing some basic ‘how-tos’ to my Allegro Players for the past 2 months now, and this month they’ll be ready for my advanced lesson on it.

Come, I invite you to subscribe to this dynamic, full-spectrum of violin learning today.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Oh yes, I must explain the title of today’s newsletter. This concept has tremendous implications for the expressive potential of your left hand. The major component of left hand expression is not the vibrato, as most think, it’s the underlying flow of arm movement that tells the REAL tale.

How to Master the Fingerboard

As you know, I place quite a bit of stock in how one Thinks when playing the violin. And just to illustrate this a little bit, let me give you an example from my practice this morning.

While warming up I set a goal for myself to play a 3 octave B flat major scale in ‘broken thirds’, rapidly, and using separate bows. Now, if you’re not yet familiar with broken thirds simply think of the following pattern where each number corresponds to a note, or degree, of the scale; 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, etc.

Now in order to complete 3 octaves I had to ascend into the upper positions on the E string and return back down. And this is where my ‘thinking’ really needed to make a difference.

You see, on the way down I was having a little difficulty, at first, with coordinating my down shifts with my right arm. I also noticed that the accuracy of my intonation was slightly off.

And after repeating the little exercise with the same result a second time, it struck me that I, yes I, was being quite lazy. I was trying to let old ‘auto-pilot’ do the lion’s share of the work for me. I was, in fact, trying to avoid thinking at all about pitch locations, form, or anything as I came down.

Yep, wishful thinking, guilty as charged.

Now having had SOME experience in these things I recognized the ‘fix’ immediately. I needed to have a very clear ‘picture’ of the form I wanted my left hand to trace on the way from 9th position on the E string right down to 1st position, and I needed to have a rock-solid sense of the distances between each interval my hand covered along the way.

So what did I do? I resorted, briefly, to my ‘glissando technique.’

Now for those of you well into my Allegro Players you’ll know exactly what I mean by this. It is surely one of the cornerstones of learning the fingerboard.

Yet for those of you not in the program, and hungry for a bit of insight, I can say this. My glissando technique is a way to isolate the movements of the hand/arm up and down the string without the distraction of individual finger movements.

So in this example I used one finger, in this case the 2nd finger, and slid in a controlled, continuous motion from 1st to 9th position, listening intently for the pitches that would become ‘arrival points’ when the passage is played as intended.

In this case we are talking about a series of thirds; G, B flat, D, F and A. Coming down the first shift is a major third, the second a minor third, and so on. Putting the hand in motion and timing it to ‘hit’ each of these pitches accurately while allowing the position of the hand/arm to ‘morph’ as needed to accommodate the shape of the instrument teaches you a lot. And fast.

Now, for the uninitiated this is a little tricky to pick up, in all its subtlety. If you are an ‘intermediate’ player and are having some challenge with shifting and mastering the range of the fingerboard I HIGHLY recommend you consider getting involved with this program.

Remember, I just lowered the tuition to make the Allegro Players truly affordable for all.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

How to Play for Hollywood

Yesterday I received an inquiry from a gifted 17-year-old violinist looking to play for motion pictures. Here’s what I have to say about it.

First off, it’s important to know that there is no formal audition, as there is for regular orchestral positions. A recording artist in Hollywood exists in the business solely by the regard orchestra contractors and other players have for his or her playing and ability to work productively with others.

Naturally your playing must be ‘top drawer’ to become a regular. Yet equally important is the ability to be a team player; to take an interest in each and every project you are called for.

Sometimes this can be difficult, believe me. The temptations are many that lead to complacency and indifference in the often tedious process of making movies.

And once you have let your professionalism slip, even a little bit, it can be difficult to recover.

Especially in the eyes of your colleagues.

Now, to get a reputation in town one must get out and play concerts. Contractors and colleagues DO appreciate those who are out in the ‘real world’ proving and improving themselves.

For a young violinist, playing in the local professional ensembles is a must, as are participation in chamber music and solo recitals.

I was 18 years old when I began working in film. And largely it came about from my successfully becoming a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Granted, I may have gone a little over board when I showed up at the first rehearsal in a suit and tie – one of my colleagues gets great amusement out of recalling that day.

Yet my enthusiasm and respect did not go unnoticed, and within weeks I was being called to play on major motion pictures.

Now, I feel compelled to let my young friend know that things have changed in recent years. The number of major motion pictures and television shows being recorded in LA is down significantly – we can thank the globalization of the musical market place for that.

My hope is that things will swing back our way soon, at least to some extent. Hollywood is still the center of motion picture production. And it remains THE place where you can find an incredible diversity of highly talented musicians ready and able to record a score in very short order.

In fact it is just that ability, to read and come to terms with complex music quickly and efficiently, that is the recording artist’s greatest calling card.

This largely acquired skill comes by constantly refining how and what you think about, when music is set in front of you.

Toward this end I advise advanced players looking to increase their game to really consider investing in my course, Paganini for Violin Virtuosity, Vol. 1. In it you will learn the kind of thinking that enabled me rise to the top of a very challenging and competitive area of music making.

Oh yes, and since we’ve been speaking of music in film, this year you might just want to check out the Academy Award show. I will be the concertmaster of the orchestra providing music for the star’s on this grand occasion.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. You know, Milstein used to talk a lot to me about efficient practice. A lot of the advice you will find in my Paganini course came straight from the master himself.

Go Finger

In the US of A we are celebrating a national holiday in honor of the civil rights movement and its central figure, Martin Luther King, Jr.. The Holiday exalts the finest achievement of Man; namely, the triumph of spirit over flesh.

I find that it means more to me with each passing year.

And I do pray that our new administration and too profligate nation rally now to the cause, as never before

Now let’s talk violin playing.

These days I’m finding the line – no pun intended on my last newsletter – between what is appropriate to do with a separate finger versus the same finger is becoming increasingly blurred.

Now it’s good, me thinks, to receive a solid foundation in position playing; that is, in changing pitch through changes of finger. One should know first position, second position, third position, etc. as well as one’s hand will possibly allow. There are plenty of places where digital facility is a godsend.

Yet when the digits can’t or won’t play ball – as can happen in cases of arthritis and focal dystonia – it’s nice to have alternatives.

Two alternatives, actually.

There’s the use of ‘same finger playing,’ and there’s the clever art of string crossing. Both can take up the slack, or even out perform the digital approach when it comes to getting around the violin.

This is not the end of left hand technique, mind you. It is really multi-dimensional expansion of technique. Each direction you move in has its own set of rules. The more pure and efficient are your rules the greater the rewards you reap.

Now, where it comes to position playing there is no better place for an intermediate player to ‘cut his/her teeth’ than with the Kreutzer Etudes. My course, Kreutzer for Violin Mastery will liberate your left hand digits to realize their fullest potential. It’s an important, important step in the process.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you’re a lower intermediate player, however, you may want to join the Allegro Players program of violin learning. Over the course of a year’s study you’ll get a foundation to serve a lifetime of playing.

How to Extend a Line

Here I am, sitting in my studio watching a great day take shape. Already got in a good practice before the sun came up. Hope you’re doing as well.

So here we go.

The art of ‘extending a line’ lies at the very essence of communication. Yep, whether you’re telling a joke, or playing the Op. 94 quartet of Beethoven – ‘Serioso’ – the way you play the line, the line of underlying sense, determines how effectively you will communicate with whomever listens.

When I study music, one of the greatest concerns I have is identifying the musical line of the music and doing my utmost to say as much as can be said with it.

You might just call it ‘modulating the line.’

In order to do so I’ve got to be as honest as is humanly possible with myself. I’ve got to want to explore thoroughly what lies in the darkest corners of my technique and my musical understanding.

Now, there are many banes to playing a meaningful line. The one that I’d like to focus on here, though, has to do with crossing strings. Especially when over 2 or 3 strings. And when a shift is involved you really have to watch this.

There is a great temptation to rush the string crossing; to leave the station early; to telegraph the punch.

Oh, does that ever let an audience off the hook. Whatever tension, expectation, suspense, or growing emotion that was there is suddenly broken.

All you’ve got left after such an event is polite listening behavior.

Yet when you’ve sought out every last string crossing or shift that breaks your line, and you’ve made transformed them into the opportunity they REALLY are, you’re ready for business, big time.

Kreutzer #9 is a great place to face down this little demon. There is no better Etude in the world to learn how to hold a line; IF, and this is a big IF, you know what you are looking to do. Utterly.

Volume 1 of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery covers this and all manner of other techniques you need to learn to play the violin in spades.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop
P.S. Etude #11 is the second best etude for carrying a musical line through shifts and changes of string

Gotta Love Those Wings

I’m pleased to tell, right now, that because you opened this newsletter you’re violin playing just got better. Read on.

A couple days ago I had an inquiry from one of my Violin Mastery Beginners Circle students wanting to know more about the one-finger playing and the shifting motion that makes it possible.

As a result I’m going to turn you on to something that’s not even in the ‘Allegro Players’; yet.

First off, let me ask you when the last time you tried to fly was. For most of you, some time, I imagine.

So it’d be a good idea if you rose out of your chair, bent over parallel to the floor, and got some air in your feathers, right now.

Go ahead, flap with an extended rigid arm a couple of times. Now slow it down and feel which muscle(s) raise your arm; those are the very ones you will use to move the left hand/arm up and down the fingerboard.

Only difference is, your upper arm is more wrapped around the front of your body to play the violin.

It’s a yoga-like thing; it all stems from the middle of your back.

Your arm, hand and fingers merely stay balanced. They maintain they’re ‘attitude’ to the string while your ‘wings’ do the flying.

Those muscles are very strong, mind you, once you have control over them they can do amazing things for you. And fast, too.

Now you have the real secret of legato playing, at least where the left side is concerned. You also have the secret of controlled, accurate shifts.

You see, it’s not ‘in the wrist’, as people like to say. So the next time someone compliments your beautifully expressive portamenti you will answer, ‘It’s all in the wings.’

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. I am going into this in considerable detail in the Allegro Players. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Just imagine what moving pictures of one who slides with the best of them could do for you. Especially when I do it in slow motion.

Biava Quartet Scores Big

You know, Sedona isn’t all beautiful red rock views and crystal shops. One can also hear some pretty fine music making. Yesterday was a case in point.

The four players, Austin Hartman, Hyunsu Ko, Mary Persin, and Jason Calloway, gave sensational performances of Mozart’s ‘Hunt’, Ginastera Quartet No. 1,’ and Grieg’s ‘Quartet in G Minor, Op 27.’

With the exception of slight stutterings in the Mozart, a few beginnings and endings of phrases, the ensemble was spot-on the whole afternoon; their intonation in unisons, uncanny; and the energy, watch out.

Yep, two thumbs up. Go out of you way, if you have to, but get out and see them.

Now, this morning I was continuing with an experiment. It’s progressed from hypothesis, through research and development, to laboratory testing, and is almost ready for field-testing.

Not to worry, I’m not going to blow myself up.

What I’m doing is learning my repertoire in a new way. I’m playing it with one finger.

Yep, one finger, and I plan to do it on the unicycle too, eventually.

Now, before you commit me to an asylum or the wastebasket of your email program, hear me out. This is not the screwy machinations of a Sedona crystal hugger – in some of the shops they ARE big enough to hug.

If you remember Bobby McFarrin you’ll know where I’m going with this. He used to vocalized all manner of instrumental music. And it was Spectacular, from my view.

So here I am, playing the instrument closest to the human voice, and hardly EVER taking advantage of the greatest advantage the two share; pure legato. That is, one pitch can flow seamlessly to another.

Now, the thing is, for it to really work, at the artist level, one has to understand something of process. You’ve got to have technique.

And to acquire the technique you’ve got to understand a thing our two about body control, and how to get it.

It’s the kind of technical understanding I’m getting into deeply with my Allegro Players program these days.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to turn everybody into one-finger-wonders here. It’s all part of liberating yourself to learn the violin.

But what you will take away, with even a basic understanding of the principles involved, is a much greater ability to express yourself on the violin. Your technique will just be BETTER, plain and simple.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Now for those of you still learning to WALK around the violin, you may get your steps in Ballroom shape by heading over THIS WAY.

The Art of the Sidestep

Don’t know how the weather looks for you, today, but out here in paradise we’re looking at another day of weather perfection; sunny, and in the mid-fifties.

Now, I know you weren’t looking for a Sedona weather report when you opened this, yet I had to throw it in. It’s just too beautiful out.

In any case, today I’m going to talk about one of the greatest lessons I learned from Milstein. You could call it ‘the art of the sidestep.’

This is where you see that you have a difficulty. In fact you’ve examined your difficulty from many angles; slowly, lightly, forcefully, with this in mind, with that in mind. To no avail.

Now enter the sidestep, if up-bow spiccato is not your thing you say to yourself, ‘Is there anything else a can do here that creates as good or better an effect.’

Milstein did just much of his repertoire, most folks just don’t know where to listen. ‘After all,’ he would say the case of a non violin playing composer, ‘who knows how to play violin best?’

Sir Thomas Beecham, to digress, I know, was famous for changing the music. He even said, ‘I always made changes.’

Now don’t get me wrong. I only change the music when I perceive a violinistic or musical reason for it. And if I can’t come with something that sounds as good or better, and is easier for me to execute, I pick up a new piece of music.

Let’s take stiff fingers that find reluctance playing the ‘Minute’ Waltz’ of Chopin. Guess what, it’s possible to play 99% of it with one finger and be effective. In some ways more effective than ever.

The thing is, though, you have to think how to do it.

This is just the sort of thing I bring to my teaching philosophy; how you think when you do something. We all have physical limitations. Yet it is amazing how many you can sidestep, or give very little impression of when given the full intention of your mind.

In practice I sometimes call it, ‘smoke and tears.’ But there’s nothing wrong with a ‘conjurer’s’ smoke and a supplicant’s tears.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. We are just now getting caught up with our 2009 restocking, so it pleases me to say we can get any of my courses to you now in record time. Here’s where you can get a quick summary off all Violin Mastery’s instructional DVD courses.

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?