Back in the ‘70s there was a meditation rage in this country. America was hungry for a new ‘consciousness’ and most of those looking for it found it in TM – Transcendental Meditation. The more esoteric minded went for Zen.

I was one of them.

My practice consisted of sitting on a few pillows – I was never able to get into the ‘lotus’ position – about 3 feet from a wall, lowering my gaze to just above the floor, and following my breath. A session would normally last 20 minutes or so.

Now fast-forward 30 years. I am still meditating. Only now it is on the violin.

The essence of meditation is combining a very high level of consciousness – i.e. focus – with deep relaxation. This is exactly what I want during my practice.

No more pillows, no more staring at walls.

I am still aware of my breath, it is what determines the depth of relaxation I achieve while playing. As for being highly conscious, I use the tools of visualization and counting to keep my focus right where it needs to be; the forward edge of NOW.

Tonight I began my second practice after a long, physically taxing day. My shoulders were tight, my arms exceedingly heavy.

Started slow. Breathing first, then turning the count on. Soon I found the mental wherewithal to image what was coming. Had to move slow for a while longer. Took a few moments to stretch a little. Came back and moved the fingers a little faster…

By the end of the first half hour I was as limber and warm as a circus monkey. Just like magic!

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. For the real inside scoop on getting ‘dialed in’ when you practice, get your copy of ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1” now.

Yesterday I happened on a little book for children that we had purchased but never read to our daughter. Now that I’ve done so I can’t tell you how excellent it is, and how invaluable the lesson within its pages.

In fact, it’s message is so timely I will share the story with you, in brief.

It tells of a time in Africa, long ago, when there was no food in the land of short grass for the animals. The animals finally gathered together and decided to cross the big plain to find food.

Once they had crossed the plain, they came to a tree laden with fruit.

Only problem was, it was too tall for the giraffe to reach the fruits and too smooth for the monkeys to climb up. The animals cried and wailed because they were so hungry and couldn’t reach the fruit.

When they had exhausted themselves, an old tortoise spoke and said that his grandmother had told him that only those who knew the name of this special tree could eat it’s fruit. The old tortoise further revealed that only the lion, the king of beasts, knew the name of the tree.

Well, the lion had stayed in the jungle – he, apparently, hadn’t needed food. It was decided that the gazelle would go and ask the tree’s name of the king.

The gazelle ran quick as a flash across the plain, proud of it’s ability to run faster than any other animal. It got the name of the tree from the lion and raced back. Just before reaching the other animals, however, he tripped in a rabbit hole, took a tumble, and banged his head.

When the animals rushed to him and asked the name of the tree, he couldn’t remember.

Next, the elephant volunteered. She said, ‘I never forget anything.’ So pleased was she with her memory that she named all the trees, animals and plants in the jungle as she walked back. Just before reaching the others, she too stepped into the rabbit hole. Her foot became stuck fast. She pulled and pulled, until finally, with a mighty heave, she pulled it free.

By that time the other animals were crowded around her. ‘The name of the tree, they implored.’ The elephant had forgotten.

Finally, a young tortoise volunteered to make the journey. Of course the other animals laughed, saying, ‘you’re too slow and too small to accomplish what the gazelle and elephant couldn’t.’

Nonetheless, the tortoise went. And when he got the name of the tree he repeated it to himself all the way back, over and over again. When he reached the rabbit hole he actually fell to the bottom of it. But he never stopped repeating the name.

All the animals were gathered round the rabbit hole as he crawled out repeating the name of the tree as he came. And thus the animals finally learned the name of the tree.

There you have it. Physical ability will take you only so far. Mental capacity also has limitations. Patient, single-minded focus wins the day.

Count while you play. Breathe while you count. Visualize while you breathe.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you want to get this story – it’s a must for parents with young children – it’s called, ‘The Name of the Tree’. The book can be found at Groundwoods.com.

Those of you who still have a TV in your home, and a hope it’s a very few indeed, might be interested to check out the CBS Evening News broadcast these days. Not for the news, mind you, just for the music that introduces it.

A few weeks ago I wrote an email on recording the new music for CBS News. Well, it’s now out there for the world to hear.

If, for some reason, you want to know what I had to say about that recording session, you’ll have to get over to my site and look it up under ‘Violin Secrets.’

More interesting to some of you may be what it takes to make a living as a free-lance recording violinist in Hollywood.

Well, unless you are closely related to Steven Spielburg, it’s pretty much a given that you have to play the instrument at a fairly high level, that’s number one. However, if you are a gifted gabber, and the contractor in question is not a professional musician, which is often the case these days, you can lean more in the direction of fairly rather than high.

All this means is, what we call ‘politics’ – a little euphemism for ‘favoritism’, in this case, can be found anywhere where results are not measured by a stopwatch.

On the other hand, if you have any socially frowned on habits – you can use your own imaginations – you had better be an amazing fiddler if you want to work at all.

Again, all this means is, you’ve gotta fit in with the pack. Having extraordinary ability on the violin will give you a little wiggle room to exercise your eccentricities, but not much. There are too many other very capable violinists wanting your nice, warm chair.

So what are the great ones like, the ones that are called year after year by virtue of their merits, that earn more in their royalty check than a ‘titled chair’ player makes in a major symphony orchestra in a year?

They are terrific players. They are socially well adjusted, comfortable with themselves, and a pleasure to be around. They have rock-solid rhythm and intonation. They ‘read’ like you read about. They’re quick to take direction, and they get the gist of things, pronto.

In short, they are my colleagues and I am honored to play with them.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. A few of them ordered my course. It’s my hope that they found one or two things in it worthy of thinking about on the next John Williams picture. If you aspire to join such an orchestra, you would do well to order a copy now and see what this veteran thinks is im

It’s one of the great questions of our lives, is it not. When to move on…

But, no, I am not going to get all philosophical on you – some might think I do quite enough as it is.

The title of today’s email is only in response to a question posed by a gentleman aworkin’ through Vol. 1. He asked whether he should be able to play an etude up to speed before moving to the next.

My answer is a conditional no, actually. First of all, I like having a few things I’m working on at any given time. I actually suggest on the teaching DVD that numbers 2, 3, and 5 make a nice ‘set’ which you can work up together. One could, however, work on three very diverse etudes at the same time.

What is important is that you achieve something excellent on an etude before going to whatever comes next in your practice, be it an etude, piece, or whatever. Excellence is about achieving something you haven’t done before, something that puts a point of distinction on your session.

I can’t even say what it should be because it will be different for each person, and for each practice session. That’s what makes practicing so interesting. Uh oh, I’m starting to feel philosophical again…

I don’t mean to trivialize this. In my own practice I will occasionally find myself drifting, not really playing to a specific purpose. THAT is what you want to avoid, at all costs. Now, if I sense that fatigue is at work, causing the drift, I will chasten myself by insisting on at least one small ‘point of distinction’ before I put the fiddle down.

That little act of defiance is a training device for when I have to perform tired. It happens, and you’d better be able to pull yourself together and focus when it does.

Now, let’s look at getting up to speed. When I see a fast tempo marking in the upper left corner, I begin salivating. I get HUNGRY for speed. Not reckless speed. Controlled speed. E Type Jag speed.
Keep asking yourself what you can do to be more efficient. Push yourself, get your passion aroused, your mind in high gear. Place new demands on your hands and give them all the mental assistance possible.

It is sometimes a VERY GOOD thing to bring a sense of urgency into the mix. Put yourself on a deadline. ‘I will play at allegro vivace by so and so date’.

Whatever strategy you devise, don’t get yourself spread too thin and begin making ‘compromise’ your middle name. Sometimes taking a break, going to something else for a while and coming back, is a great move. Just make sure you DO come back, and hold yourself to showing improvement when you do.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. I still have 5 copies of ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1” available with the audio CDs included. If you haven’t ‘gotten with the program’ now’s the time to do it while those CDs come with it, free.

There are two types of dreams. There are the ones that come unbidden in our sleep and there are the ones that we conjure in our minds in waking hours. Obviously I’m here to talk about the latter.

Now, one must be very careful and honest about waking dreams.

What is commonly referred to as ‘day-dreaming’ can be an insidious form of addiction. It creates in the dreamer a false sense of empowerment.

Daydreamers, as a rule, never act on their imaginings. With chronic inaction the disparity between dream and reality grows. The result can be a confidence diminishing, spirit-debilitating spiral toward frustration and, ultimately, a failed life.

Ironically, the daydreamer can reach a point where the friction between reality and fantasy drains away the ability to dream altogether. It’s a place nobody wants to be.

Now for the good news.

The fact that you are here reading this missive should be proof to any of you that your dream power is quite intact. And the dream is to achieve violin mastery.

The question now is how to break the dream down into specific, step by step goals leading inexorably toward dream fulfillment.

Well, for intermediate to advanced players reading this, I have some good news.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Kreutzer has already quite brilliantly broken violin mastery down, from the point you are at now, into 42 progressive ‘goals’ – anything beyond them is icing on the cake, REALLY.

Next step, the mastery of these goals.

And this is where my course comes in. In order to fully master each etude you first need a vision, a very detailed vision, of what it should sound and feel like. You inform that vision by watching me play a given etude and then by listening carefully to me talk about it. You not only want the sound of it in your ear but the feel of it in your hands as well.

Even as you inform your ‘vision’ of an etude you begin taking stock. My counting method is one of the best ways for you to get accurate feedback on where you really stand with a piece of music. Of course you should have your ears wide open as you do this.

To bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be, you breathe and you image. Again, many violinists are held back by inefficiencies in their playing. Let go of those, and actively use your Mind to lead your fingers, and you are there.

Yes, we might have physical challenges. You can push through them. The keys are passion and commitment. Practice well, my friends.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Still haven’t picked up your copy? Your dream is waiting…