When Your Practice Begins

I would venture to say that most violinists think that their practice sessions begin after the violin the case has been opened, the violin tuned, the music set out on the stand, and the first note has been drawn.

Not me.

My practice sessions begin in the very instant the decision to practice has been made. Right then and there the mental ‘warm-up’ begins.

As I climb the stairs to the second floor of our house I’m hearing tone and feeling the horizontal travel of the bow. As I unzip the case I feel the strings under the fingers of my left hand, the rate of oscillation my vibrato will take when I draw the first tones.

As I’m doing the above, or some variant of them, I’m also sensing what the most appropriate music is for me to begin with. Most often it is some form of scale playing, but certainly not always.

Sometimes I will begin with a Paganini Caprice, or a tricky concerto passage that has been on my mind.

You never know, after all, when you’ll be called on to play. It’s good to be flexible, and to know how to connect with your hands without benefit of a physical warm-up.

Over the weekend I was asked to play several times in the course of a non-music seminar we attended. With one exception – I did insist on a little warm-up before the 24th Caprice – I had to take the stage absolutely cold.

Let me tell you, the mental game becomes very important in these situations. And that’s why you want to practice ramping up your mental engagement any time a decision to play has been made.

One last thing, in a few hours I’ll be sending you another email. It’ll be something to consider very seriously.

Keep a good look-out.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Hopefully the U.S. Postal Service is getting back to normal after the tremendous volume of Violin Mastery shipments last week. I think the coast is clear now for those sensitive types out their who haven’t yet ordered ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 3 and 4” out of regard for the backs of mail carriers.

Magnify Your Intentions, Part II

Just looked up the definition of ‘intention’. He’s what it says about it in my Webster’s – ‘a determination to act in a certain way.’

Now let me tell you what I did in my practice session this morning.

I processed, and I trotted.

Sounds odd, doesn’t it; but here’s what I really accomplished. I enlisted the aid of my lower body to bring greater intention to the task of playing the violin. I felt incredibly strong and vitalized after doing this. And the music making went Deep, let me tell you.

There was, actually, an additional reason I chose to move during my practice today.

Tonight I will play the Adagio and Presto movements of the Bach G Minor Sonata for attendees at a seminar being conducted here in Asheville by a friend. Most of them won’t be what you might call ‘classical music affectionatos.’

But all of them will have some familiarity with breathing, movement, and using their imagination.

This is what I have in store for them.

In the Adagio movement I will have them visualize a large pendulum swinging back and forth at the rate of the quarter tempo – it’s Very broad. Simultaneously they will be encouraged to ‘belly-breathe.’

In the Presto movement I will suggest they visualize themselves riding in a horse-drawn buggy. The horse will be moving at a quick trot – e.g. the eighth note tempo of the movement.

They will be invited to allow these to inform their experience of the music.

As they do those two things I will be processing, and trotting, around the room playing the movements.

In essence, the experience will be a meditation – listening consciously to great music always is, actually.

I don’t know about you, but I think Bach would approve. He certainly wrote plenty of processionals in his time. And I bet the various gaits horses move in were an integral part of his life experience.

In any case, try bringing a little lower body movement into your practice. See if it doesn’t magnify your intentions.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Well, volumes 3 and 4 of ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery” are spreading out all over the globe, even as I write this. If you did not order yours during pre-publication I can still assure you it is a tremendous bargain; even if I’d doubled what I ask for it – don’t worry, I didn’t. And the fee fo

Have No Fear When Shifts Are Near

A student of ‘body language’ knows that a person telling you a lie, especially a child, will have great difficulty looking you in the eye when doing so.

It’s simply a natural instinct within us to avoid, or deny, what causes us discomfort. For most of us lying is quite uncomfortable.

This reflex plays out in violin playing as well.

The other night my wife quartet received its second performance; this time in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress – by the way, I learned after the concert that Bartok’s 4th string quartet and Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’ were both commissioned by the Library and given their world premieres in same venue.

As a group the quartet plays quite wonderfully. But looking at the first violinist’s technique there is one area in which he is in need of work.

You guessed it, shifting.

From an early age many of us acquire a fear surrounding playing out of tune. Shifts magnify that anxiety, for obvious reasons. This anxiety leads to a ‘fight or flight’ response.

The ‘fight or flight’ response results in decreased body awareness. Decreased body awareness results in unattractive body movements that in turn result in unattractive sounds coming out of the violin.

The player may end up playing ‘in tune’, but yet ‘tuning out’ the unsightly bulges of sound proceeding the shift movement.

Here’s the good news. You can have your cake and eat it too.

With a combination of patience and awareness you can transform shifts from ‘stabs in the dark’ to highly efficient and/or expressive devices.

Of course in the Kreutzer series I talk quite a bit about this. But just to get you started, remember that the shifting movements of your left forearm must not affect your bow speed. Nor should the downward pressure on the bow change at the moment of movement.

Whether you make a lightning fast and seamless movement from one position to another, or a slow expressive slide, the right arm must go about it’s business supplying a constant and even stream of sound.

Plain and simple.

Tune in to these and you will spare your audience the effort of ‘tuning out’ in order to enjoy the music coming from your instrument.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

Magnify Your Intentions

Put very simply, the strength and quality of your intentions are what determine the level of success you will enjoy on the violin. Of this, I am absolutely convinced.

To illustrate this critical point, let me share something very personal. It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing challenge that many of you know I’ve been dealing with.

A couple weeks ago, right after finishing the live performances of volumes 3 and 4 of the Kreutzer etudes, I was alarmed by a rapid worsening of the ‘focal dystonia’ afflicting my left hand.

As most of you know, I had hitherto been quite successful managing the condition with the techniques I teach in my instructional courses.

Suddenly, nothing I did seemed to arrest the downward spiral.

Whereas before it was mostly a matter of controlling the moments of the fingers, now I was having great difficulty lifting the 2nd and 3rd fingers at all.

In any case, I managed to stay ‘up and running’ to the point of finishing the DVD instructional material. Then the slide seemed to become free-fall as we traveled to Arizona and Washington for Tania’s concerts.

Well, yesterday something incredible took place. In fact, I would say it was only a cat’s whisker from being a bona fide miracle.

I’m serious.

I had come to the point of thinking my playing career was over. An hour into a nightmare of a practice session found me contemplating the calls I would make to the concert presenters to whom I’m committed by signed contract. It’s not a place I’d want anybody in this world to be.

Well, as tears literally welled in my eyes, my resolve to ‘punch through’ the wall before me suddenly became ferocious.

No, I didn’t just throw myself at the violin.

I willed my brain to create razor sharp images of how I wanted my fingers to behave.

I breathed in and out like a dragon in heat.

I barked out my counts like a Roman oar master shouting strokes to rowing slaves in the middle of battle.

I also bounced back and forth from Paganini to Kreutzer to Mendelssohn Concerto (I’m scheduled to perform it at the Vermont Mozart Festival) relentlessly searching for the key to unlock my neural pathways.

Suddenly something seemed to release. I felt strength return to my left arm. Control rushed into fingers of my left hand. How I played the 24th Caprice a few weeks ago at our friend’s home wouldn’t have held a candle to the clarity and velocity bursting forth from my Storioni.

Tania and Clara were in an adjacent room as all of this went down.

After the session I walked in to join them.

Tania said, ‘Something happened in there.’

‘Yep,’ I said, ‘I think I just experienced the closest thing to a miracle that I have ever felt’.

And I meant it.

I’m sharing this with you today to open your eyes to possibilities.

Focal dystonia results in the ‘smearing’ of neural maps in the brain that control movement. Seemingly it all takes place beyond the reach of the conscious mind – unwanted muscles fire, wanted muscles don’t fire, chaos rules the roost. Or does it.

What I learned yesterday, and brought forward to today’s practice, is that focus, combined with visualization, combined with energy, creates intention. Throw your very survival behind those three ingredients and your intention will blast through any blockage in front of it.

I am playing the violin with my conscious mind now. It’s like the person that learns to walk again after a stroke. The adult learner must use very different neural pathways than does a child.

But while we yet have breath they do exist and we can find them.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Seats are still available for both masterclasses. As I’ve said before, what you will learn there may go far beyond your violin playing. You can rest assured, however, that your playing will rise to a whole new level that you may have thought beyond your wildest dreams. Today’s email should set you straight on that account.

P.P.S. If the cost of accommodations is a concern to you, please know that there are affordable options just outside the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. Now come, get on board.

Puts Fight or Flight Down for the Count

If you’ve ever experienced the ‘fight or flight’ response prior to going before the public you may find this interesting.

One fellow subscriber asks if I do the counting technique in performance. You bet I do.

In fact, I regard it as a kind of ‘life-line’ to all my valuable preparation when the heat is on.

The reason for this is simple. When the fight or flight response is triggered and adrenaline courses through your veins, it not only draws blood away from your extremities, it draws it away from your higher brain as well.

Ever notice how difficult it is to think clearly during an adrenaline rush?

So, aside from ‘belly breathing’ you must find tools to keep your higher brain doing it’s job. Internal verbalization of the beat does the trick for me. It keeps me present – in the moment – and it keeps me thinking.

On many an occasion I have walked onstage, begun to play, felt fear getting a toe-hold; and then realized I wasn’t counting. Boom, I start to track each beat. Bingo, I’m right back in the music.

Remember, performance time is not ‘la-la’ time; you must Do everything you practice. Once you are at that point, the confidence will arise in you to accept the gifts of inspiration that arise spontaneously within each moment.

Never forget, ‘Chance favors the prepared mind – Louis Pasteur.’

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 3 and 4” will be officially published next Wednesday. What’s revealed inside these volumes may not only prepare your mind, they may just blow your mind.

A Time to Rebuild

I was thinking today – yes, I do it occasionally – and thought the gist of it might make sense to you.

Let’s say you’ve lived in a house for quite a few years. You love the location, but the house itself just isn’t your dream home. And you’re ready for it.

Problem is, your architect is trying to convince you to tear down the existing structure; that dear old house you’ve inhabited for years. Yes, you often curse its limitations, but tearing down all that square footage and starting over…it seems overwhelming.

Being a patient man, or woman, your architect gently brings you to understand the complexities of trying to integrate the old structure into the new plans. And when you open up the old structure you never know what you’ll find – faulty wiring, dry rot, disintegrating foundation, its all possible.

Finally you ‘see the light’ and surrender to his or her wisdom.

By now you all must know where I’m going with this. For many players the ‘old house’ of your technique just can’t accommodate the goals and aspirations you have for yourself.

Radical surgery is needed.

The decision to make a clean break with the old and embrace something entirely new, no matter how compelling the evidence, is a difficult one.

I understand.

In fact, I abandoned virtually all I knew, or thought I knew, about left hand technique after one summer with Milstein. And it didn’t stop there.

The good news is once you make the decision, and move decisively in the new direction, things can happen very quickly.

Now, my DVD courses Do lay out a compelling vision of a new house. They even go a long way toward pouring a new foundation and building the superstructure.

But to really speed the process, as well as to lavish ‘finish’ detail on your technique and musicianship, the personal attention at a masterclass/seminar is essential.

I know that attending these events may present a big challenge to you. Well, if not this summer maybe the Fall – yes, I do plan to hold more. Bottom line is, though, the sooner you can make it to the Biltmore Inn and share in the ‘barn-raising’ energy, the better.
All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Remember, I needed a plane, a train, a boat, and another train to get to Milstein’s class back in ’79. Yea, it was a long journey; but boy was it worth the effort.

P.P.S. Oh yes, we never got around to telling our webmaster to up the price. That means until we return from Washington D.C. on Thursday night you’re in at a big discount. Why not skip right on over to the registration page and begin planning your dream technique.

A Musical Healing

I’m happy to report that last night’s premiere of Tania’s 3rd string quartet was indeed a resounding success.

As I mentioned previously, the commission was funded by the estate of a dearly loved member of the Tucson community. About 20 family members and friends traveled, from as far away as Honolulu and New York City, to hear the performance.

The last two movements of Tania’s quartet transported us to an exquisite state of peacefulness; many of the audience members commented on feeling the effect. It’s why I called this email ‘A Musical Healing.’

Actually there’s another reason, but we’ll get to that.

The Artis Quartet of Vienna acquitted themselves beautifully throughout the entire concert. Theirs is a style of playing that is rarely heard in this country; always elegant, polished, subtle, and nuanced. You are swept away by the exquisite wealth of detail.

Happily, today I have some other exciting news
. I’m unveiling it for the first time Right Now. Go to check it out Now.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. You won’t want to miss this special announcement.

How Orchs Can Ruin Your Day

It’s a dirty little secret conductors don’t want you to know; playing in an orchestra can have a deleterious effect on your violin playing.

Now granted, under a particularly excellent conductor the gravitational effects will occur somewhat slowly and unnoticeably.

But after a while you awake to find your intonation is no longer pure and sparkling. Your tone seems to have taken on an uncharacteristic roughness. Much of the subtlety and nuance is gone from your playing.

Under a particularly bad conductor the downward spiral can resemble free-fall from a high building. Believe me, I’ve been there.

The good news is we can, with vigilance and commitment, defend against and, if necessary, reverse the course of events.

It’s somewhat like maintaining a garden – think Chauncey Gardener in the terrific movie ‘Being There’. ‘A garden must be cared for. All of the plants in the garden need water’ – If you haven’t seen the movie it’s a must.

Now, I don’t know about you, but the time I spend pruning, weeding, and watering my garden is time well spent – I’ll be pruning raspberry plants as soon as I send this off to you.

And there isn’t any better way to keep the garden of your violin playing healthy and in tip-top condition than with Kreutzer. Especially if you approach them creatively, with insight and purpose.

So if you’re playing is showing the effects of orchestral wear and tear, come pick up the antidote that’ll have you in the playing shape of your life, Presto.

You’re stand partner will love you for it

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. I began recording the instructional portion of Vol. 4 this morning. I’m talking etudes 32-42. They’re as good a preparation for Bach Fugues as you can find. Really great stuff.

The Possibilities in a Moment

Yesterday Tania and I visited with friends. Being music lovers they asked me to play.

Now, just to give you some context, we’d gotten together to do a little planning for a seminar on ‘prosperity thinking’, which will be conducted in Asheville next month by a very wise fellow named Peter Ragnar.

Our conversation had rather a philosophical bent to it – we’d just been musing on how one’s thoughts tend to become one’s reality. An interesting notion, to say the least.

After a few moments reflection on this, I was invited to play.

What came to mind was the 24th Caprice of Paganini. I had spent some time on it that morning, and thought I would test myself in this impromptu performance.

What I was not expecting, as I presented the theme, was how our conversation would inform and transform all that followed.

As I began moving through the variations I was struck at how each represented an entirely new and unique possibility that could emerge from the theme.

If the theme was seen as a moment in time, the variations were aural representations of the infinite possibilities that could spring from it.

Feeling that freedom as I moved from one to the next gave my performance a freshness and spontaneity that was quite remarkable.

The ‘colors’ and moods we all enjoyed could not have been calculated ahead of time. All I found myself doing was surrendering to moment, and going with the flow.

It also reminds me of Louis Pasteur’s famous line, ‘Chance favors the prepared mind.’

Well, I got myself prepared – as much as one can in an hour or so – yesterday morning. Then I allowed ‘chance’ to work its magic.

To get yourself prepared for a lifetime of violinistic possibilities add ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery” to your library. You’ll absolutely love the results.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

Put a Spider on Your Strings

No, I’m not trying to trigger your ‘fight or flight’ response, just give you an image to better inform your left hand.

A few mornings ago I managed a little jog in the hills surrounding our house. It had been a while. As usual I did a lot of visualizing as I ran.

Those of you that know my work, or have been following this newsletter for some time, know that I like to think in images. They are powerful tools for opening neuro-pathways.

On that particular dewy morning I was jogging along thinking about Kreutzer #27. It’s a legato etude in D minor requiring a lot of extensions and compressions of the fingers.

I planned to record the instructional material on it the following day.

Suddenly, my eyes picked out a spider web in the foliage off the road. I stopped briefly to investigate as it was a beautiful and symmetrical web.

Just off center was the spider itself, busily completing its creation.

As a watched, spellbound, I noted that the spider’s body remained almost motionless. Only moving quickly and efficiently to a new position as each section of web was finished.

While working on an area, the spider’s forelegs danced from strand to strand guiding new filaments into place.

Now, think of the base of your hand as the spider’s body. It rests quietly in place unless required by the music to move to a new position. The dancing forelegs are like your digits, stretching and compressing as needing to touch the pitch locations on the strings.

The movement of your bow finishes the picture. It merely spins out tone like the stream of filament emanating from the spider’s abdomen.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you think this a useful image for you, you’re going to love my image for #23 – think water bugs racing over the surface of quiet water.

Remember, Vol. 3 and 4 will not only be full of colorful imagery, they’ll have oodles of demonstrations to bring them to life. And today is your final opportunity to reserve a copy at the lowest pryce – yes, I do know how to spell the word – you will likely ever see it.