Regarding Your Audience…

Some time ago I was at a concert in Los Angeles given by principles of the LA Phil. The playing was really quite good. Some of the stage presence was really quite not.

At the end of the performance the violist decided it was time to have a chit-chat with the cellist. Problem was, he was doing it all the while the audience was trying to express their appreciation for what they had just heard. It was one to the rudest displays I have ever seen on stage.

That player was in effect saying, ‘I don’t really care if you liked it or not.’ Hell of a way to treat a customer, don’t you think?

The point is, from the moment we walk on stage we are sending messages to the audience. You want yours to be ones of respect, intention, confidence, enthusiasm, and good will.

Aloofness, timidity, insensitivity, lack of interest – I see that at many orchestral performances – are all signs of self-centeredness. No one wants to put themselves to the trouble of attending a concert, much less paying money to enter one, in which they must suffer such behaviors.

If you don’t like your conductor, your stand partner, or your hair that night, get over it, NOW.

As musicians we are on stage to inform, inspire, and enliven.

I walk on stage in character. If it is a Mozart Concerto I will step lively, with a smile on my face that mirrors the affection I feel for the music. On the other hand, if I am walking out to perform the Bach A Minor Sonata Unacc., my countenance might be less exuberant but nonetheless focused, warm and purposeful.

I never shuffle, lope, amble, or plod. And that’s Equally true of bows.

In a past email I wrote on the value of visualization in banishing stage fright. You can also use that same power of visualization to establish the report you wish to have with your audience; from the first step you take from the wings of the stage.

If you haven’t already, come put this great expression of human potential into the very fabric of your playing, right now.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. One last thing, just because you may be sitting in the back of the 2nd violin section don’t think what you do doesn’t matter.

My wife and I attended a performance of the Berlin Philharmonic in Costa Mesa, CA a few years ago. We sat near the front on the right as you face the stage. Claudio Abbado had sat the seconds on that side, opposite the firsts, and we could see the last stand QUITE well.

Let me tell you, they played like they were possessed – in a good way, naturally. At the end of the concert they stood and shook hands. Tania and I were really moved by this. And it is why that orchestra is finest large ensemble in the world, for our money.

The Power of Breath, Part 2

I have been thinking, and breathing, further. Thought you ought to know the rest.

The real ‘letting go’ part of the belly breath is the intake. Take a breath – a real breath – and notice what must happen. Your abdominal muscles must release to allow your internals to get out of the way. This action sends a powerful message out to the body.

I trust you feel it.

Now you should know something more about using your breath to play relaxed. Practice your most awkward moves on an ‘in’ breath. Do it slowly at first until you coordinate your breathing with your movements. Now, count and visualize as well. Beautiful!

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Hey, all you hot shot ‘PROS’ out there. When’s the last time you played through the last 5 Kreutzer Etudes? Go back and really play them beautifully, at the tempos marked. Number 40 doesn’t have a marking. I do it at 184ppm with 3 note turns. If your having a little problem with this maybe you should pick up my course.

The Power of Breath

Was flipping through a music catalogue last night checking to see what new instructional DVD material there is out there. One that caught my eye focused on ‘techniques for playing more relaxed.’

Well, let me tell you. There is just one thing you need to know to be completely, utterly, and totally relaxed.

And that one thing is how to breathe.

If there is anyone out there who is using my DVD course, is doing what I say to do relative to breathing, and is still having a problem with tension, I want to know about it.

Now, some may forget to stay aware of their breathing and, as a result, revert back to their previous state. The solution to that is self-evident, isn’t it. Stay aware.

Funny thing is, you become more aware by breathing from your belly.

So, that should tell you not just to be aware of your breath while playing but throughout the day. Put notes up around your house, in your car, your place of work. Each time you see a note, breathe from your belly 3 times, deeply.

And, of course, breathe this way when doing any physical activity.

When you move the diaphragm muscle – as you do to breathe well – it sends a signal to the rest of the body to ‘let go’. There is an override, however. That is your mind, which can instruct the body to perform a physical task.

Curiously, when the ‘let go’ reflex meets with the ‘instruction for action’, only muscle movement directly associated with the specific action is allowed.

In short, with have a built in ‘efficiency filter’. We just have to remember to use it.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. The next step to violin mastery is to know what instructions to send to your fingers. Come pick up your copy of”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1” for the purest, no-nonsense instructions your fingers are likely to get, anywhere.

Einstein On Playing The Violin

Many of you know that Einstein played and loved the violin. Well, what you may not have know, I didn’t, is something my wife told me a couple days ago.

Einstein credited his violin experience – specifically periods of improvisation – with leading to some of his greatest insights. Remarkable, yes, but not unbelievable. And those of you using my practice methods should have some idea why.

The secret lies in activating several brain areas simultaneously. I have you do it through counting and visualizing while playing. Improvisation is a form of visualization, plain and simple.

Now, was he counting? Let me answer by telling you a little anecdote at Albert’s expense – I don’t think he would have minded this one.

Apparently he once sat in with members of the Budepest String Quartet to read some chamber music. He kept losing his place and coming in wrong. Finally the interruptions got the better of 1st violinist, Alexander Schneider. He turned to Einstein and quipped, ‘Vats vrong vith you, Albert, can’t you count?’

Well, there’s your answer. Just think what he would have accomplished in his life had he counted during his improvisations.

Anyway, I hope you all are counting. You can use the extra mind power to remake the world of physics after your practice session.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Maybe he didn’t count, but I bet he did breathe. For all parts of the equation of violin success get your copy of ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1” now.

A ‘Fiddler’ Goes To Hollywood

As this communication reaches you today I will be in the midst of a music scoring session for a brilliant film entitled, ‘All The Kings Men,’ starring Sean Penn and an incredible supporting cast. It looks to be an outstanding piece of work.

The music accompanying the live action will be equally memorable.

Composed by James Horner – ‘Titanic’, ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘Brave heart’ – the score features haunting themes, sumptuous orchestrations, and…here’s the part that should really pack the theatres…gorgeous violin solos.

Now, for this picture, I had advanced notice of the solos. Often I do not and am expected to just read whatever is set in front of me.

In any case, a couple days before the first day of scoring I received a package with some simple looking, 16 bar melodies enclosed. The instructions with the music said, ‘Appalachian style, very free.’ Being the kind of diligent preparer, I am I immediately went to our local alternative CD shop and purchased a couple discs. You know, the ’50 Years of Mountain Music Classics’ type thing.

Big mistake. What I heard was the most horrendously out of tune, whiney kind playing you could imagine. Our 4 year old did enjoy one ‘hammer dulcimer’ ballad, but then insisted on hearing it over and over and over again. But other than that, my effort at preparation was largely a bust.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have heard some very good, in tune, blue grass players. And there must be one or two fiddlers with an ear in Appalachia. They just weren’t on my CDs.

So there I was at the first scoring session not having a clue as to what maestro Horner is looking for me to do. In my first reading I added quite a bit of ornamentation but stayed very much in pitch. I then waited for the rest of the piece to be played to hear his reaction.

Well, I got the ‘in tune’ part right. Turns out, he really wanted me to play these solos very purely and simply, like an adolescent singer.

I did add a few portamenti here and there, which he tolerated, but otherwise I just made good use of long, flowing bows, and a singing left hand. The effect is subtle and nostalgic, but without being over the top.

I can heartily recommend this picture to any who appreciate epic tragic dramas. It’s in a class all it’s own.

And speaking of a class, I have a masterclass ‘in a class all it’s own’ coming your way in Jan., ’07. I’ll be sending you some details real soon. In the meantime, build yourself a playing foundation second to none.
You never know what musical adventure awaits ‘round the next page turn.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Anybody see ‘Cars’? The ‘one man band’ movie-short shown before the film had some fiddling of an entirely different sort…the ‘Gypsy Airs’ sort. Had some real fun with those.

Know Your Fingerboard, By Feel

Many years ago a well-known violinist was walking the streets of a major European city. As he passed a small but elegant hotel he heard the familiar sounds of the Tchaikovsky Concerto coming from the second floor suite.

The strange thing was, although it was being played exquisitely, it was all sounding one half step low. By listening for open strings the man determined that the violin itself was tuned down. His curiosity getting the better of him, he went into the hotel and asked who was occupying the 2nd floor suite.

It was Nathan Milstein.

When I heard of this story, sometime during the period I was seeing him regularly, it made immediate sense to me. ‘He’s forcing himself to play by feel,’ I thought.

Now, if you think this is an easy feat, try playing some highly chromatic music that takes you into position, with your instrument tuned down. Unless you really don’t have an ear, and have been playing by feel all this time, I bet you are going to find yourself pulling your hand sharp for quite a while until your ear ‘detunes’.

It takes discipline AND a good amount of mental exertion to keep yourself on pitch. The mind-expanding benefit, however, is that when the pressure is on, as at performance time, your left hand will be locked on the notes like a laser guided missile.

For a great left hand workout play through Kreutzer 2,3,5, 8, and 10, with the violin tuned down. Remember, the notes must remain in tune relative to your open strings.

It’s like in the movie ‘Star Wars’. Yoda says, ‘Master your feelings, Luke.”

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. If you’ve been working with my practice methods you should be way ahead of the game in achieving this. If you haven’t, I suggest you get started right now.

Kreutzer, Paganini, and Bach

Some months ago, before beginning my ‘Kreutzer project’ I worked out pretty exclusively on Paganini and Bach. And I mean Worked Out. I had a set of 12 Caprices I played daily along with the Bach Chaconne and other movements from the various Sonatas.

Once I got started on the Kreutzer project I added the first 12 of those to the mix. I was in pretty good playing shape.

For the last 2 months, however, I have dropped Paganini completely and have focused almost exclusively on Kreutzer.

The whole book.

Last night, after warming up, I decided to see what effect this has had on my Paganini chops. What I found was very interesting.

I found that my left hand was stronger and more ‘set’ than before. In the 5th caprice I more easily thought in ‘blocks’ of notes. In the 24th all the double and triple stops lay effortlessly under my hand. My intonation was more pure and consistent.

I couldn’t have been more pleased.

You see, Kreutzer builds you up. It is specific and rigorous in it’s way, but not overly stressful to the two hands. It will find every weak area and technical challenge to your playing and gently strengthen it.

But you must have patience, insight and passion for the process to work it’s magic. Slovenly playing, carelessness, lack of attention to detail, or incomplete understanding (vision) will severely compromise your results.

In short, you must reach for perfection. To achieve it you must be relaxed, efficient, and clear. You are flow, and flow is bliss. This is truly what my practice methods are designed to develop and support.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Breath, Count, Visualize. They work.

Put ‘Hunting-Lion’ Focus In Your Practice

We’ve all seen and been held, riveted, by footage of big cats on the hunt. The focus and concentration of those magnificent animals is truly awesome at such times.

Truth is, lions have such concentration because their very survival depends on it, plain and simple. Natural selection has done its work to perfection. Only those animals able to hold their hunger in check, who wait and watch for just the right moment to spring forward, will be graced with the ultimate reward, survival.

It is difficult to imagine human beings having that level of ferocious concentration. OK, maybe in life threatening situations, but violin practice sessions, no way.

Let me tell you something. There is a way.

The lion is motivated to that level of focus through physical imperative. Humans can achieve it through the exercise of will and imagination.

To bring ‘hunting-lion’ focus to your practice you must first create tremendous hunger for results. You must convince yourself that this hunger will not be satiated until the goal you have set is achieved.

Once you fully understand that failure is not an option, that success is the only outcome, you are ready to do some serious work.

Now, you gather facts into your mind like the hungry lion gathers scent on the wind. The goal is held firm in your mind’s eye the way the lion’s gaze is locked on his prey. Now…PLAY IT!

That’s the process. Not every individual hunt is successful for a given lion. The lion does not give up. He takes what he is capable of learning from the failure to the next attempt, again, and again until he brings down a meal.

You must do the same.

When you have done what your best guess tells you is sufficient slow preparation, you make a passionate, focused attempt to do a given passage, technique, or whatever, at tempo. If you fail in that attempt, you increase your concentration while playing slowly, at all times looking for the missing ingredient that will mean success at tempo.

Some of you would be amazed to know how much ground I have to cover to get successful results, at times. I have some physical challenges that some would deem insurmountable. But I am here to tell you that there has been, and always will be, a way through them.

That is the importance of playing the violin to me. I hope it is for you, too.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. I used to think that Vince Lombardi was ‘unevolved’ for saying; ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.’ Now I know better.

It’s A Trilling Experience

In ‘early music’ days – pre-baroque – trills were referred to as ‘shakes.’ I find it somewhat ironic, actually, because as a student I was always cautioned against shaking my left hand when trilling.

There is a good reason for this.

The problem with shaking your hand – in effect using vibrato – to produce a trill is that the trill tends to sound wobbly and unsettling. You know, time to take out the Pepto-bismo.

Kreutzer was obviously hip to this. He was also hip to the challenge that many fiddlers have producing clear, facile trills. Trills are made possible by ‘fast twitch’ muscle.

Problem is, we’re not all gifted with the same amount of the stuff.

Some people have too much, actually. I heard one player at the Milstein class whose trills closely resembled an electric doorbell. Imagine the effect of such a device in a Mozart slow movement. You’ve just settled back to enjoy a beautiful aria when BRRRRING…who’s there?

I make fun of that overly endowed person only because I myself suffer from the opposite affliction. You could call it ‘laconic trill syndrome’.

In any case, Kreutzer has provided us with some wonderfully crafted studies to address all levels of ‘fast twitch’ endowment. These 8 caprices, and 2 others dedicated to legato string crossing, will make up vol. II of my Kreutzer quartet.

As I review these studies I am amazed at Kreutzer’s attention to detail. Each etude covers a very specific way of approaching and executing a trill. Some are intended to be measured, some unmeasured.

The finger movements required are delicate, graceful, fleet, and subtle. You can see the experience as an opportunity to connect with your ‘butterfly nature’; quite a cool thing, really.

OK, that’s my tease for Vol. II. Now get back to work mastering ”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1”. I don’t want any excuses for not being ready for the next installment, when it comes out.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Sir Thomas Beecham once remarked; ‘Great music contains, at once, the maximum of virility and the ultimate in sensitivity.’ It is remarkable that even the smallest movements of a finger can embody both these qualities.

Shift, Don’t Schlep

Those of you working with my course will perhaps know by now that a shift is a decisive move, made with the arm, from one position to another.

That being said, it is possible to be highly expressive with the movement. Obviously it is in slow tempos that a portamento – expressive slide – becomes attractive.

Now, there are portamenti and there are schleps.

The schlep is a lazy, unconscious movement that can either sound like the music is suddenly being played backwards or like an ‘unsightly bulge’ that mars the flow of the music.

Here is what you should be aware of while making a portamento slide.

Keep the bow speed constant. This is the biggest contributor to the ‘unsightly bulge’ schlep. There is a natural tendency for the right hand to mirror the left. When you make a quick move with your left hand the bow will want to speed up. Don’t make that mistake. All it takes is your awareness.

Next, keep the shape of your left hand left hand stable during the portamento. Many people start reaching with the finger they are shifting to before the shift. Not a good idea.

Also, the wrist should not flex either. The hand and forearm are one unit. If the shift will take you up into a high position then the wrist will flex during the portamento only to the extent necessary to accommodate the shape of the violin.

Portamenti can be made with any number of finger combinations. I can’t go into the permutations here, however, but I can say that all good expressive slides, whatever the fingering, display the same basic mechanics.

The last factor to consider is timing. The length of the portamento must fit the flow of the music and the effect you want to convey to the listener. Obviously this must be worked out on a case by case basis; but one should have some reason, however intuitive and personal, for the portamento. The shift speed should purposefully convey the meaning to the listener. In other words, feel, and infuse your shift with that feeling.

”Kreutzer for Violin Mastery, Vol. 1” deals with ‘clean’ shifts. It is a good idea to master those before exploring expressive shifts.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. To really hear the beauty of expressive shifts one must, of course, listen to Kreisler. But don’t neglect the other masters of the 20th century, like Milstein, Shumsky, Grumeaux, Heifetz, Thibaut…the list goes on.