Ah, where to begin. This morning I continued my Kreutzer review focusing for some 40 minutes or so on #18 – it’s in volume 2 of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.

On first glance it looks like just another trill study; there are 10 in this section of Kreutzer’s book of etudes.

On second, third, fourth glance, however, it becomes much, much more. And on one of the deeper levels it’s about leveraging ‘timing’ to create the complete illusion of force, or power.

In fact, powerful playing on the violin is almost COMPLETELY illusion. If, in the search for ‘power’ on the violin, one brings more and more muscle to bear, the results can quickly devolve into cacophony.

Not something most of us want.

Rather, the secret of creating power-full effects on the instrument lies in timing, and the very precise use of small, yet focused amounts of ‘muscle.’

Kreutzer #18 is a great case in point.

In the middle of the etude there is an extended passage of ‘prepared’ trills with little ornaments at the end of each that take you to the next one. The whole passage has the implied expressive marking of ‘con forza’ – ‘with force’.

However if physical force is what one brings to it, unless he or she happens to be a 20 year old dynamo, I can almost guarantee one’s left hand and arm will freeze up solid in short order trying to play this passage.

If, on the other hand, you use the muscle between your ears to ‘problem solve’ – i.e. Lighten the finger pressure to a minimum, and sharpen the timing of the grace notes, bowing accents and ornaments – something quite force-full can emerge.

Now, this is just one small example of using LESS to create the effect of MORE.

I do the same with literally every aspect of my playing, whether it’s vibrato, triple stopping or playing ‘gran detache.’

The real power comes from the powerhouse lying between my ears. Of using it to maximize the efficiency of every inflexion and movement my arms, hands and fingers make.

Keep your attention on this and your playing will take off like gangbusters, only to be outpaced by the pleasure you’re getting from it.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. You know, there’s a very nice discount to take advantage of when you invest in all 4 volumes of Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.

This morning I was doing a little viewing on Youtube for fun. In the course of things I listened to Perlmann play Paganini’s Caprice #5. I say listened because his performance of the Caprice was taken from a LP recording done some 35 years ago.

Youtube wasn’t around then, as you may recall.

And in case you don’t know the tune, the bulk of it is a running stream of 16th notes that are performed quite rapidly. The tempo indication is ‘presto.’

And the effect of a brilliant performance such as Perlmann’s on a casual listener can be quite exhilarating indeed.

Yet this morning I didn’t listen casually. I became an ‘informed listener,’ a participant, if you will. I stayed with him, in my head, playing right along side him, note for note.

And as I did so I was aware of a very pleasurable ‘tickling’ sensation inside my brain. A sensation clearly produced by the firing up of the neural networks I’ve set in place for this piece of music over the years.

There was a brief section, however, where the party stopped. It was only for some 5 seconds or so, and had I been actually playing along on my violin my fingers would have carried me right through.

But there it was, made all the more apparent by my NOT having the violin in my hands.

So after he finished I resisted the urge I had to grab my violin and play it. Instead I retrieved the music – which I haven’t looked at in quite a while, sat down, and re-entered the missing data.

Then I put the music aside and rehearsed it a few times. Again, only in my head, going back several measures in front and ‘playing’ right through the offending section.

After I became satisfied I could nail it, I hit the play button once again on the maestro’s performance.

Ah, sweet success.

Just goes to show that some of the most useful practice time you will ever spend is time where you only Think of playing. When you do so you are perfecting the art of visualization.

And you’ll really know you’re getting somewhere when that little ‘tickle’ starts flitting around inside your skull whilst doing it.

Why, I had one go through now just thinking about thinking about playing.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

Several days ago, whilst still in LA, my little family and I spent an evening at the home of a remarkable musician/song-writer/producer. Now, as if playing five or six instruments weren’t enough, Chris recently decided it was time to tackle the violin as well.

In the course of the evening our violins came out and I had a look at what he was doing. His bow-hold, and upper arm were working quite nicely.

What needed serious attention, however, is what connects the constellation of Orion to one’s bow arm, at least in my mind.

As he drew the bow up and down there was a glaring problem. His wrist joint was almost frozen; not a particularly good thing if you care to use the entire length of the bow without it weaving across the strings like a snake on steroids.

So what I said to him is what I say to everyone viewing month 1 of ‘Beginners Circle.’ That is, ‘imagine three points; one on your hand just below the wrist joint, one on the first knuckle of your index finger, and one on the second knuckle of your index finger’ – just below where the bow stick crosses the finger.

Then I said, ‘I think of them like they were the 3 stars that make up Orion’s belt.’

Now, as soon as I said that I thought to myself, ‘He’s going to think THAT a strange comment.’ Yet I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Chris said, ‘Great, now I’ve got stars in my hand. What a cool thing.’

You see I find poetic metaphors like this one to be most useful in my practice. If I’ve got stars traveling through space in my bow arm I imagine they add a little radiance to the tone I’m making.

In short, such images inspire me to take what could be a rather pedantic concept magnify it to where it does more than just straighten out a bow stroke.

Now some folks might find such thinking burdensome or unnecessary. They may only want to understand what to do with those 3 points.

Something you just might care to know as well.

What is done with those stars, or points, is to draw them through the entire length of the bow stroke without them changing their orientation relative to the bow stick – using the middle of the bow as the point of reference.

If one does this the wrist will flex forward and backward the way it should, staying within the two dimensional plane of movement for each string.

Now, if this kind of basic instruction is what you’ve been missing – and a little poetic imagination appeals to you – then I think you an excellent candidate for my instructional DVD course called the Beginners Circle.

All the best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. One or two more things. We are never talking a ‘death grip’ on the bow. Nor are we talking about making a religion out of what I just talked about. We’re talking, rather, about relaxing and allowing the bow to travel from stem to stern in the most efficient manner possible. With all the arm joints flexing to accommodate a stable bow hold in the right hand.

Last week I wrote a newsletter on playing in tough conditions, such as heat, cold and high humidity. I received quite a few responses to it, so I guess it struck a nerve with a lot of players.

Now, one of the folks that wrote in has a very simple and effective way of dealing with high humidity, apart from my comments. He suggests using a little talc – baby powder – where the left hand contacts the neck of the instrument.

Yet remember, if you forget the baby powder at home you’d better have a fallback plan. And that’s where what I had to say comes into play.

Ok, so let’s talk shoulder relaxation.

As you know I’m a great believer in the power of diaphragm breathing to relax the upper body.

Yet it might still surprise you to know that I still have to remind myself, on occasion, to relax my LEFT shoulder. It’s an old habit formed when I was young and under the impression the chin and shoulder held up the violin.

Now I merely rest the violin body on my collarbone, and support the neck in my left hand as I play. Virtually all my movements around the violin rely on balance, timing and clear mental pictures.

It’s not muscle, it’s about finesse and efficiency.

Matter of fact, I like trying to be so loose with the instrument that shifts are almost drop-and-catches done with lightness and precision.

These days I also am more aware than ever of the role my upper arm can play in shifting, especially large shifts. Those in my ‘Allegro Players’ find just how active a role the upper arm can play when they begin playing scales and arpeggios on one string, with one finger.

These are a wonderful way to learn what I call ‘position playing’; as important in violin playing as it is in chess.

Yet the key to success remains with maintaining a relaxed left shoulder, and holding good form – something I illustrate quite explicitly in the later months of the Allegro Players Course.

All the Best, Clayton Haslop

P.S. The Allegro Players course is remarkable for the amount information and demonstration packed into it; truly a must-have for any aspiring intermediate level violinist who really aspires to mastery of the instrument.

Maybe you’re wondering, ‘what happened to Velocity 101,’ or, ‘I’ve got Velocity 201, I just can’t get myself quite up to Velocity 301, or X-01.’

The fact is, though, at times music calls for us to rise up off our backsides and haul arse, to put it poetically.

And 99% of violinists asked if they’d like to play with greater velocity and precision in fast tempos would answer ‘yes, most definitely’.

So here we go.

Preparation is everything.

And often we’re wasting much of that time trying to play fast too soon.

Sometimes it’s boils down to basic things, like taking the time to REALLY know the notes, where they fall relative to the beat – are you counting? – and whether we’ve considered all the fingering choices available.

There may be an issue with our left hand, the fingers not being out over the strings.

Or maybe we’re articulating too hard generally, or hitting harder with one digit than another.

Or our shifting isn’t dynamic and efficient – perhaps the left wrist is flexing during shifts, introducing inefficiency in the movement.

Or our bow stroking and string changing aren’t concise and knit to the movements of the left hand fingers.

Or we haven’t connected to the patterns and harmonic movements in the music that promote ‘flow.’

Yes, there are a lot of better ways to increase facility in fast passages other than by ‘running over them’ again and again.

And fortunately this kind of error is quickly shown the light of day when you begin practicing with my instructional courses.

All the best, Clayton Haslop